“Steve Nalepa is something of an anomaly in the music industry. The seeds of his success stem from a genuine selfless dedication to helping others achieve their personal best. He’s tutored thousands on the fine points of production in his Dubspot tutorials and his courses at the prestigious Chapman University Conservatory of Music have incubated a hotbed of West Coast talent, helping artists such as Djemba Djemba and members of LA-based TeamSupreme develop into internationally recognized exports. Steve has also been a behind-the-scenes gun for hire, running the complex back-end systems that help some of the world’s biggest artists perform supersized live sets across the globe.” –Ableton

Steve Nalepa is a Californian polymath known for his vast network of artistic collaborators and groundbreaking work in electronic music, film scoring, and publishing. A founding member of the influential beat collective TeamSupreme, he releases music with The Acid, Airspace, and Sunfeels, while mentoring top artists in Ableton Live.

Nalepa has devised and engineered live rigs for artists such as Blood Orange, MGMT, and The Weeknd and has scored acclaimed documentaries, including The Rising Tide and Pearls on the Ocean Floor. His band The Acid created the immersive, globally celebrated nuclear-themed project The Bomb, performed at Tribeca, Berlinale, Glastonbury, and the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony.

A Yale graduate with a mathematics degree and an Academic All-Ivy football honoree, Nalepa has collaborated with legends like Bill Laswell, George Clinton, Lili Haydn and Pharoah Sanders, performed with the LA Philharmonic, and DJ’d an eclectic range of events—from art openings to festivals to dinner parties for Nobel Prize winning scientists.

Beyond music, he co-founded Dilettante Press, publishing award-winning art books featured in Artforum’s “Best of 2000.” As an educator, he has shaped the next generation of artists through Chapman University, Dubspot and Futureproof Music School, solidifying his role as a key figure in electronic music and creative technology.

“Nalepa’s own compositions reveal a strong ear for melody and structure, but his most significant contribution might be the wisdom he’s imparted to his pupils. Within Southern California, Steve Nalepa may be the closest approximation to Richard Dreyfuss’ famed music teacher in the Academy Award-nominated 1995 film Mr. Holland’s Opus.” – Jeff Weiss