Troy Von Balthazar

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.

Biography

Expanding on the slow, sad landscapes of Chokebore's later works, Troy Von Balthazar first released a series of homemade CD-R EPs under the moniker "B. Balthazar", performing all instruments (mainly acoustic and electric guitars, 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. In the winter of 2007 he toured Germany, Austria and Switzerland with the German rock band Tocotronic. TVB has also been reportedly acting in french indi films with feature film requests and has recently released his first book 3GIRLS. He is currently writing his 2nd.

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 in fact superior to his studio recordings, others prefer his lo-fi analog and intimate recording style. On several toursTroy has also performed with supporting musicians Adeline Fargier on guitar and Jérôme Laperruque on drums.

Discography

Albums

* "Troy Von Balthazar" (Olympic Disk, 2005)

EPs

* "Troy Von Balthazar" (Olympic Disk, 2004)
* "B. Balthazar" MCD (self-released, 2003)
* "Red Spider" — digital download (self-released, 2002)
* "Sweet Receiver" (self-released, 2001)

DVD

* "Live in Paris" — limited edition of 150 (self-released, 2006)

External links

* [http://www.troyvonbalthazar.net/ Official web site]
* [http://www.vonbalthazar.com/ Personal homepage]
* [http://www.myspace.com/troyvonbalthazar Official Myspace page]