Martland was born in Liverpool, England and studied composition at Liverpool University and in the Netherlands with Louis Andriessen. He works almost exclusively with artists outside classical institutions - Dutch and American groups, freelance musicians and especially his own Steve Martland Band which tours his music internationally. He has also worked with the King’s Singers and Evelyn Glennie for whom he wrote Street Songs. Martland was composer in residence at the ETNA Music Festival in Sicily in 2006 and 2007.

Usually amplified, muscular and powerfully rhythmic, his music has been extensively choreographed: Dance Works commissioned and premièred by London Contemporary Dance Theatre has received many new productions around the world, and Remix was awarded the SACD Prize for Video Dance Choreography Music after being choreographed for BBC TV by Aletta Collins.

His Principia was adopted as the theme music for the BBC radio programme The Music Machine. Dance Works is also used as the title music for a Dutch TV programme. He also wrote and directed A Temporary Arrangement with the Sea, a film about Louis Andriessen. In August 1998 he collaborated with the band Spiritualized on a project for the Flux Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Martland’s preoccupation with the function of the composer in society is reflected in his commitment to music education. He believes in the educational impact of creativity: "Creativity is everything that is against what's going on in the world right now. It's to do with tolerance and understanding other people." Martland has directed many composition projects in schools both at home and abroad and he initiated and ran for many years Strike Out, his own annual composition course for school children.

His music is published by Schott Music.