Previously he has conducted the orchestra of Chișinău and won a series of prestigious awards in the field of classical music.

The final of the O melodie pentru Europa 2010 pre-selection took place in Chișinău on 6 March 2010, with the song gaining the maximum 12 points from both the jury and SMS-voting.

An entry was made for SunStroke Project and Olia Tira to represent Moldova in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest with the single "Superman" but it did not make the next stage of selection.

In 2023, the band participated once again in the Moldovan national final with the song "Yummy Mommy" and placed second behind the winner, their former one-time lead singer Pasha Parfeny.

[9] Sergey Stepanov's saxophone solo in "Run Away" became famous across the Internet as a meme known as "Epic Sax Guy" or "Saxroll".

Run Away also became a popular choice of background music in "Best Moments" compilations in video games like Hearthstone and Rainbow Six Siege.

[citation needed] In December 2010, SunStroke Project appeared on the Moldovan TV programme Sare şi piper and sang a song titled "Epic Sax", named after the meme.

[25] The phrase "Epic Sax Guys" forms part of the lyrics of the SunStroke Project's single "Superman", when they unsuccessfully attempted to represent Moldova in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest.

Stepanov himself acknowledged his viral fame playing the "Run Away" saxophone riff when the group was interviewed during the first semi-finals of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest.

[26] During the performance of "Hey Mamma" in the 2017 contest, Stepanov again became a minor internet meme in the form of "Ultra Sax Guy".