Troy Von Balthazar
Encyclopedia
Troy Von Balthazar is an American singer and songwriter
who fronted the Los Angeles
based indie rock
band Chokebore
. His work can be described as lo-fi
pop music
.
EP
s under the moniker "B. Balthazar", performing all instruments (mainly acoustic
and electric guitar
s, drums
, vocals
and taped samples
) himself. His solo debut, the Sweet Receiver EP (2001), was followed in 2002 by the Red Spider EP, which was exclusively available as a digital download from the artist's homepage. These two EPs were re-released together on the B. Balthazar MCD
, which was sold exclusively at shows during Balthazar's first European tour in 2003.
This tour earned him increasing support in the European indie rock community, allowing him to sign to French record label Olympic Disk. Reverting to the moniker he used with Chokebore, he released the self-titled Troy Von Balthazar EP in November 2004 on Olympic Disk. After a small French tour supporting this release, he flew back to Los Angeles to record his debut album at Elliott Smith
's "New Monkey" studio. Troy Von Balthazar performed, recorded and mixed all the tracks himself, with the exception of some female vocals contributed by French musician Adeline Fargier. The Troy Von Balthazar LP was released by Olympic Disk on October 10, 2005. An extensive European tour followed, spanning most of the year 2006.
In early 2007, Balthazar returned to Los Angeles to record his second album, this time backed by the band The Black Pine
. During the fall of 2007 he toured Germany, Austria and Switzerland with the German rock
band Tocotronic
, supporting the German release of his self-titled album Troy Von Balthazar by Sinnbus
on October 26, 2007. The same year, he published his first book titled "3 Girls", which was distributed via Sinnbus.
In 2009, having not yet found a label for his second album, Troy put together the TVB 3 EP, a collection of three EPs comprising previously released EPs Sweet Receiver and Red Spider, along with several new or previously unreleased songs. In October 2009, the TVB 3 EP was released in vinyl format as The TVB LP by Czech label Silver Rocket Records.
In 2010, he and his former band mates reactivated Chokebore to play a handful of European shows during the month of February, then some festivals during the summer.
On August 27, 2010, French label Third Side Records released the Troy Von Balthazar single Dots and Hearts as a digital download, that was soon followed by the release on September 13 of Troy Von Balthazar's second full length album How to Live on Nothing to critical acclaim. An American release is scheduled for September 2011 on the label "This Is The New Black" from Southern California.
Troy is currently touring Europe in support of How To Live On Nothing, editing his 2nd book, and writing his 3rd album.
On several tours, Troy has also performed with supporting musicians Adeline Fargier on guitar and Jérôme Laperruque on drums, replaced in 2010 by Chokebore drummer Christian Omar Madrigal Izzo.
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
who fronted the Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
based indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band Chokebore
Chokebore
Chokebore is an American indie rock band formed in the early 1990s in Honolulu, Hawaii, and subsequently based in Los Angeles, California.-Biography:...
. His work can be described as lo-fi
Lo-fi music
Lo-fi is lower quality of sound recordings than the usual standard for music. The qualities of lo-fi are usually achieved by either degrading the quality of the recorded audio, or using certain equipment. Recent uses of the phrase have led to it becoming a genre, although it still remains as an...
pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
.
Biography
Expanding on the slow, sad landscapes of Chokebore's later works, Troy Von Balthazar first released a series of homemade CD-RCD-R
A CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session....
EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
s under the moniker "B. Balthazar", performing all instruments (mainly acoustic
Steel-string acoustic guitar
A steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound...
and electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
s, drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
and taped samples
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
) himself. His solo debut, the Sweet Receiver EP (2001), was followed in 2002 by the Red Spider EP, which was exclusively available as a digital download from the artist's homepage. These two EPs were re-released together on the B. Balthazar MCD
Mini CD
Mini CDs, or “pocket CDs” are CDs with a smaller diameter and one third the capacity.-Formats:Amongst the various formats are the* Mini CD single, a small disc. The format is mainly used for audio CD singles in certain regions , much like the old vinyl single...
, which was sold exclusively at shows during Balthazar's first European tour in 2003.
This tour earned him increasing support in the European indie rock community, allowing him to sign to French record label Olympic Disk. Reverting to the moniker he used with Chokebore, he released the self-titled Troy Von Balthazar EP in November 2004 on Olympic Disk. After a small French tour supporting this release, he flew back to Los Angeles to record his debut album at Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith
Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...
's "New Monkey" studio. Troy Von Balthazar performed, recorded and mixed all the tracks himself, with the exception of some female vocals contributed by French musician Adeline Fargier. The Troy Von Balthazar LP was released by Olympic Disk on October 10, 2005. An extensive European tour followed, spanning most of the year 2006.
In early 2007, Balthazar returned to Los Angeles to record his second album, this time backed by the band The Black Pine
The Black Pine
The Black Pine are an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. They formed in 1999 and have since released three albums.-History:The Black Pine consists of Mitch Cichocki , Jason Bacher and Emma Kathan .The band formed in 1999 and played their first show in 2001 at a local Los Angeles club...
. During the fall of 2007 he toured Germany, Austria and Switzerland with the German rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Tocotronic
Tocotronic
Tocotronic is a German rock band founded in 1993 . Similar to Blumfeld or Die Sterne they are considered a part of the Hamburger Schule movement...
, supporting the German release of his self-titled album Troy Von Balthazar by Sinnbus
Sinnbus
Sinnbus is a Berlin based independent record label founded in 2000.- History :It first started as a loose network of friends, musicians and artists. The label itself was founded in 2002...
on October 26, 2007. The same year, he published his first book titled "3 Girls", which was distributed via Sinnbus.
In 2009, having not yet found a label for his second album, Troy put together the TVB 3 EP, a collection of three EPs comprising previously released EPs Sweet Receiver and Red Spider, along with several new or previously unreleased songs. In October 2009, the TVB 3 EP was released in vinyl format as The TVB LP by Czech label Silver Rocket Records.
In 2010, he and his former band mates reactivated Chokebore to play a handful of European shows during the month of February, then some festivals during the summer.
On August 27, 2010, French label Third Side Records released the Troy Von Balthazar single Dots and Hearts as a digital download, that was soon followed by the release on September 13 of Troy Von Balthazar's second full length album How to Live on Nothing to critical acclaim. An American release is scheduled for September 2011 on the label "This Is The New Black" from Southern California.
Troy is currently touring Europe in support of How To Live On Nothing, editing his 2nd book, and writing his 3rd album.
Live performances
Troy’s one man band live performances incorporate looping techniques and several distortion techniques. Many people have commented that his live performances, when performed in this fashion, are equal in strength to his studio recordings and his lo-fi analog and intimate recording style.On several tours, Troy has also performed with supporting musicians Adeline Fargier on guitar and Jérôme Laperruque on drums, replaced in 2010 by Chokebore drummer Christian Omar Madrigal Izzo.
Albums
- How to Live on Nothing (Third Side Records, 2010)
- Troy Von Balthazar (Olympic Disk, 2005; SinnbusSinnbusSinnbus is a Berlin based independent record label founded in 2000.- History :It first started as a loose network of friends, musicians and artists. The label itself was founded in 2002...
, 2007)
Singles and EPs
- Dots and Hearts single — digital download (Third Side Records, 2010)
- TVB 3 EP (self-released, 2009; released on vinyl as The TVB LP by Silver Rocket Records, 2009)
- Troy Von Balthazar EP (Olympic Disk, 2004)
- B. Balthazar MCDMini CDMini CDs, or “pocket CDs” are CDs with a smaller diameter and one third the capacity.-Formats:Amongst the various formats are the* Mini CD single, a small disc. The format is mainly used for audio CD singles in certain regions , much like the old vinyl single...
(self-released, 2003) - Red Spider EP — digital download (self-released, 2002)
- Sweet Receiver EP (self-released, 2001)