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SYNOPSIS

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Cofounder of Gotthard together with Leo Leoni, Steve Lee was defined by critics as one of the best voices in the panorama of international rock.

His passion for music was already inherent at a tender age. When he was nine years old he discovered the drums, his first love. In the course of the second half of the 80’s he performed as a drummer with some local Ticinese bands, following the path of the typical garage band rocker, still a long way off from the glories to come. His day job in fact was something else, that of a goldsmith; an art that was refined, required precision, solitary, in which it is perhaps possible to recognize a reflection of Steve’s personality.

His ability in working with “metal” will find however it’s maximum expression in his career as a singer of “metal” in the bosom of Gotthard. In truth however, his role of front man wasn’t necessarily ideal for his temperament and feelings. Having grown up in a secure and protected environment, Steve soon developed a personality that was closed, introverted, and timid, but also with a soul that was profoundly noble and gentle. These aspects of his nature often contrasted with the needs of a stage presence and group life, often generating conflicts, both within himself as well as with the other members of the band, in which he generally was unable to assume a clear position, neither to sustain his own opinions nor to express is most authentic emotions. A criticism often leveled at him was in fact that he wasn’t authentic, that he only made an appearance at the surface. For friends and colleagues, he represented an enigma: The family Gotthard, as he liked to call it, didn’t feel like they really knew their son and brother, who kept his private life and emotions closely veiled, “The other side of me” is emblematically the song by Gotthard that more than any other, most reflects his nature. Over the course of time, through a gradual and difficult overcoming of his fears, anxiousness, and sense of inadequacy, Steve was nonetheless able to find a delicate equilibrium within himself and with others, perhaps also in part due to his great passion for the Buddhist culture and the art of bonsai. But above all thanks to his overwhelming sense of duty, that had always sustained him and driven him since the beginning of his career.