Steve Solamar (1950 - ) Musician

Solomar grew up in Hampshire, and as a teenager used the name ‘Sol Amar’ (two words) and had a first experience of being in a band at age 14. In the mid 1970s, Solamar (one word) was in the band Joe Panic and they had moved to Manchester, where Solamar worked as a computer analyst.

“We were basically an improvisational group that was focused on many long solos and complete 'reshapings' between the opening and closing verses of the songs. And also instant compositions where one member of the group would start with a spontaneous improvisation and the rest of the group would join in. I was aware that I then had an unusually low voice so I deliberately experimented with this. It was with Joe Panic that I first started to experiment with 3 to 5 octave vocal jumps, which became a fairly individual aspect of my singing style.”

In late 1976 Joe Panic split, and Solamar got a gig DJing for two Sex Pistol concerts at the Electric Circus – a gig that continued for Solamar for a year at the club until it was closed by the fire service. During that year Solamar had been writing songs using only an acoustic guitar – which became the tracks on the album Past and Parcel (the first track includes the line: 'Sometimes I think I should have been a woman'). Solamar put a new group together mainly of younger musicians and named it Spherical Objects. Solamar also set up a new label Object Music, initially for Spherical Objects alone, but later for other groups – most of them playing post-punk explorations.

The track “Regular Condition” on 1980’s Further Elipses refers to transition: "Don't worry, this is a regular condition/Thousands of people have to deal with this every day”, and “Don’t worry about me” contains "Don't worry about me, I've got my therapy/The image in my mind's eye, it just frees me”.

Solamar was the only one in the group who had learned to drive and therefore was the one who rented a van, drove down to London to get the printed LPs and then to various record shops to sell them. The album and a single got good reviews in the music press, and recouped their cost. A second album with the same lineup was released in1979. But the latter albums had different musicians. In late 1979, early 1980, Solamar re-united with Steve Miro who had been in Joe Panic and recorded improvised tracks that were released as a double LP, Sheep from Goats.

By this time Solamar knew that transition to female was an imperative: 

“Before my fourth birthday I realised that I was actually female. This caused me to have a breakdown, but when I was seven I knew I should have been in the girls' part of the school instead of with the boys. Finally in February 1981 I had a full realisation that I was female. My choice was either to commit suicide or correct my body and lifestyle, as I could not continue living a lie. The realisation resolved all of the problems and contradictions that my life had embraced and so during the pre- and post-realisation time many songs came through me.”

Several of the tracks on the final album, No Man's Land, reflect Solomar’s direction. The first track states: 'Made up my mind, just one-way out’. ‘The Cruellest Twist’ refers to the fact that Solamar had just started a new relationship with a woman before deciding to transition. ‘Wipe’, ‘Resting Place’ and ‘No Man's Land’ also refer to the transition. The album came out in July 1981, and is the last release from Object Music, as no-one else wanted to mange the label. 

With time, Spherical Objects, Object Music and Solamar became obscure, but more recently have been re-discovered, and the albums re-issued as CDs in 2008.

Louise Alderman gives us a 2008 update: “Today, the former Steve Solamar lives a quiet spiritual life, writing extensively, and recalls her past post-punk adventures in Manchester with detached affection. 

'I'm amazed at how good a lot of it still sounds,' she admits, 'as I've not heard any of this music for nearly thirty years. Maybe I abandoned a musical paradise, but I had to take the path I then took. However music is still absolutely central to my life, and I hope you enjoy listening to these recordings.’ “

• Spherical Objects. Past and Parcel. Object Music, LP 1978. Remastered 1979.
• Spherical Objects and others. Objectivity The Object Singles Album.Object Music, LP 1979.
• Spherical Objects. Elliptical Optimism. Object Music, LP 1979.
• Spherical Objects. Further Ellipses. Object Music, LP 1980.
• Noyes Brothers. Sheep from Goats (100 Minutes of Solamar/Miro). Object Music, 1980.
• Spherical Objects. No Man's Land. Object Music, LP 1981.
• Louise Alderman. “Spherical objects \ Biography”. LTM Recordings, July 2008. Online.
• “Spherical Objects, ‘Further Ellipses / No Man's Land’ ” Brainwashed, 25 January 2009. Online.

EN.Wikipedia(Spherical Objects)

All albums mentioned are available on YouTube.