Steven Severin (born Steven John Bailey; 25 September 1955) is an English songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer. He is best known as the bassist of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees which he co-founded in 1976. He took the name "Severin" from the Leopold von Sacher-Masoch character who is mentioned in the Velvet Underground song "Venus in Furs". Severin had earlier considered "Steve Spunker" for his stage name. After the split of Siouxsie and the Banshees in 1996, Severin created his own label RE: and released several instrumental albums via his official website. In the late 2000s and the early 2010s, he regularly performed live in solo, playing music over footage of silent films. Biography He grew up in Archway and moved to Bromley at the age of 11. On a Sunday afternoon in 1971, he discovered German rock band Can thanks to a schoolfriend's elder brother in the army who was stationed in Hamburg. At 15, Severin saw Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band in concert in London which was a life changing experience. His favourite writers when he was a teenager, were William Burroughs and Jean Genet amongst others: he said, "Since I was very young I’ve always felt the need to retreat into my head and scratch around the rim of my imagination to shut out the trivia and carelessness of the world outside". Siouxsie and the Banshees Severin—who was known as Steven Havoc when he joined the band in September 1976—was the co-founder. He was a full contributor to Siouxsie and the Banshees' musical output from the first release: the B-side to the top 10 single "Hong Kong Garden", was a Severin lyric, "Voices". Although the entire band often was credited for songwriting, the lyrics were usually indicated as the work of only one or two members. Severin would contribute lyrics to many of the album tracks, singles and B-sides produced by the band. He also initially wrote many of the songs recorded by the band, composing earlier versions that the band would work together to perfect. In the same way he would add his input into potential tracks contributed by Siouxsie Sioux or others. He recorded 11 studio albums with the group. Since their split in 1996, he has been supervising the entire back-catalogue, choosing extra tracks for reissues. Other artists and bands During his tenure with Siouxsie and the Banshees, Severin was also