Stephan Nance was born in Eugene, Oregon, but raised outside any municipality, in the unincorporated area of Santa Clara. Like his childhood home, Stephan’s songwriting resists annexation; he specializes in awkwardly charming vegan straight-edge queer alternative piano folk rock. His is not the voice of the majority, nor the voice of a generation... but it is a voice worth listening to. Stephan’s piano based style can be described as quirky yet dark. His music is compared to that of piano-based songwriters such as Regina Spektor, Ben Folds, and Fiona Apple, but is praised for achieving pure originality time and time again. Nance crafts his songs without the overproduced polish of a modern studio, opting for earthier sounds like piano, unaltered vocals, guitar, and cello. One reviewer suggests that Stephan's music contains "large amounts of genuine wonderings on top of layers of upbeat melancholy and optimism." Cuddlefish lyrics: All my antics and my gibberish Put a damper on my sentences; I'm a [cuddlefish/cuttlefish] Trying to cover up my incompetence. Maybe your fancy just isn't ticklish— Maybe your heart belongs to another fish— But on your part that'd be foolish. Baby, I think you ought to think through this. The sea is big, big, big, And it's full of scary things! Like great white sharks, And colossal squid! And I'm worried about you... I don't want you to get hurt. I don’t want you to get hurt... I don’t want you to get hurt. If you love something (So they say) You should set it free. But I disagree— 'Cause I can safely say that Catching and releasing Isn't what I'd want for me. I know I know better than you do What is best for you to do— Can't you see the logic there? It's superlogical. My perspective is an outside one, And that's really saying something 'Cause we don't have mirrors And since we're under the water, There isn't a surface For you to see your reflection in... Not that you don't look nice! (In fact, how wonderful you look Is exactly what the problem is....) The sea is big, big, big, And it's full of scary things! Like great white sharks, And colossal squid! And I'm worried about you... I don't want you to get hurt. I don’t want you to get hurt... I don’t want you to get hurt. It guts me every time I hear you're frequenting Such sketchy dives. It's not like it's a crime, But what if you get caught by a scuba diver Just like Nemo and I can't find you? Still I'd never cease my quest for you— What else would there be for me to do? Sure, there are plenty of fishes in the ocean, But not one of them could ever get a hook in my devotion. So my love for you supports recent scholarly publications Reporting that fish have a greater capacity for memory Than was previously believed, And I will miss you for the rest of my life.