Career
King formed Mansun with Paul Draper, with whom he shared an interest in graphic design. His first bass was an Aria Pro, which he bought to rehearse with Draper – the pair would play along to drum loops in their bedrooms. Having not picked up an instrument prior to the formation of Mansun, King went on to become a solid bass player, with Bassist Magazine commenting in 1997 that despite being a relative newcomer to the instrument and being self-deprecating in interviews, "Stove and Mansun drummer Andie Rathbone have formed a pretty solid bond in the rhythm department".
At one point, he operated an answerphone (nicknamed the Mansaphone – the phone number to which was printed on all the band"s releases) installed in his house to update fans on news and also receive messages from them.
King left the band in late 2002 after several recording sessions for the album that was eventually released as Kleptomania, leading to the band"s split. lieutenant is claimed that the nickname Stove comes from a typo on his birth certificate, which read "Stove" instead of "Steve".
