Steph was born in California and grew up in many different places. Without the advantages of early musical training, but raised in a musical family, she taught herself to read music and play the piano by the age of s even. By 12 she had begun to write music and play a large array of musical instruments, including piano, guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin and percussion. Recognizing her talent, her father, Jackson J. Waller, a Jazz, Big Band and Dixieland drummer, made certain she took up an instrument in school. This encouragement led her into seven years of clarinet studies under Robert Raleigh and Henry Kline respectively. After graduation, Steph began a music career via club dates, concert tours, recording and frequent television and radio appearances. Over 200 of her songs and pieces have been published, covering a wide array of styles.

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"In 1985, disillusioned with popular music and consumed by a hunger to grow musically, I began teaching myself to compose classical music by virtually sequestering myself for a year with only with tomes on theory, harmony, counterpoint, orchestration, conducting and music history as my companions. Thus, as an autodidact I learned from the best: Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Handel and Chopin, to name only a few. I taught myself first by imitating them, then by exploring my own inner musical landscape. Then, the real education began."