STEVE BALBI - MOVING ON (BalconyTV)
- 5 years ago
STEVE BALBI performs the song "MOVING ON" for BalconyTV.
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PRESENTED BY CASSIE WALKER
Steve Balbi has lived a remarkable life. His is the sort of story that sells books, and shifts movie tickets. It's a tale of incredible highs and rare lows, a rock 'n' roll reality with all the trappings that come with being a familiar face from one of Australia's biggest bands of the late 80's and early 90's. It's a tale of excess. Of reinvention. Of surviving, and thriving.
Steve Balbi has walked the line. And his story is now being told in Balbi's own way- through music. Former Noiseworks, Electric Hippies and Rose Tattoo bass player and guitarist has released his first solo album, 'Black Rainbow'. It's a work that reflects where he's come from, and where he's going.
There was a time when Balbi took risks of a different kind. Like many high profile artists, Balbi has battled with alcohol and substance abuse. But unlike many of his peers,. he overcame what he describes as a "personal disease." Balbi has now been abstinent for 14 years- and counting.
"What I learned was that I'm not as great as I thought I was, and I'm not as bad as I thought I was. I've learned that my ego is really destructive and I try and keep that out of my life as much as possible. It's made music a real blessing. I was one that couldn't take compliments but I find I can take compliments now. Because I really believe music is a gift and it was given to me to share with people. I don't know what I believe in. I'm an ego manic with an inferiority complex and there's no way of living with that, and that's just humility."
Balbi has created something beautiful, with a hint of darkness. "Black Rainbow" has an overarching sense of optimism. It's a sincere set of works with a touch of "epic". What could lie at the end of Balbi's dark rainbow? Black gold, perhaps? " No. It's gold, absolute gold." he laughs. "Adversity can be the greatest teacher as long as you don't give up. In a way that's what this record is doing, it's summarizing my past and brining me right up until now, so I can more on in a forward direction."
The album also carries a handful of songs written in recent years with Balbi's former band, Move Trees. And there's a reworked version of "Touch", a top 5 hit for Noiseworks in 1988.
There was a time when Balbi shunned the mainstream pop-rock band that Noiseworks had become. Noiseworks, with it's clean-cut looks and big radio-friendly sounds, became the antithesis of where Balbi was headed. The bass player left the group with fellow Noiseworks bandmate Justin Stanley, he formed the Electric Hippies project in the early 1990's. It was a creative revolt. "The freedom of jumping off that," says Balbi, "it was really liberating." With the Electric Hippies, he recalls, " we glammed-up and put on some mirrorball suits and recorded the smallest guitar sounds.It was just so liberating to feel like we were making art again.We were doing what we really always set out to do. To connect with people via music, rather than just be successful."
A life long musician, Balbi has found a new sort of liberation. His solo album is self-produced. And he's taken it through the independent route, with Social Family Records. He is at ease with his place as a popular, elder statesman of Australia's music scene.
These days Balbi runs a studio in Sydney, and he's made a full time career as a producer. He's still happy to talk about his Noiseworks days. But he's always looking forward." I fought this thing but I'm still that guy from Noiseworks. It really doesn't matter," he says with a laugh.
Remarkably, Balbi has ideas for a follow-up album. After so many years as a band-man, Balbi has really found his feet as a solo artist. The fear of going it alone has evaporated. " I've had a lot of adversity in the last decade and a half. And I fear nothing now. I've climbed my mountain, I've fought my war. And I really just landed thinking, there's no point in making music without taking risks and without the possibility of failure."
http://store.socialfamilyrecords.com/artist/steve-balbi/
CREDITS / SPONSORS
Australian Institute of Music: http://www.aim.edu.au/
Ravesis Bondi Beach:
http://www.ravesis.com.au
Madison Entertainment: http://www.madent.com.au
Global Media:
http://www.globalmedia.com.au
Executive Producer: Justine Moyle
Assistant Producer: Sinead Barrett
Presenter: Cassie Walker
Camera: Joe Andrade
Mixed and Recorded by: Carl Nagy
Tune in again to BalconyTV //
Subscribe to us right now at http://bit.ly/15yj4oc
'Like' us on Facebook - http://Facebook.com/balconytv
Follow us on Twitter - http://Twitter.com/balconytv
PRESENTED BY CASSIE WALKER
Steve Balbi has lived a remarkable life. His is the sort of story that sells books, and shifts movie tickets. It's a tale of incredible highs and rare lows, a rock 'n' roll reality with all the trappings that come with being a familiar face from one of Australia's biggest bands of the late 80's and early 90's. It's a tale of excess. Of reinvention. Of surviving, and thriving.
Steve Balbi has walked the line. And his story is now being told in Balbi's own way- through music. Former Noiseworks, Electric Hippies and Rose Tattoo bass player and guitarist has released his first solo album, 'Black Rainbow'. It's a work that reflects where he's come from, and where he's going.
There was a time when Balbi took risks of a different kind. Like many high profile artists, Balbi has battled with alcohol and substance abuse. But unlike many of his peers,. he overcame what he describes as a "personal disease." Balbi has now been abstinent for 14 years- and counting.
"What I learned was that I'm not as great as I thought I was, and I'm not as bad as I thought I was. I've learned that my ego is really destructive and I try and keep that out of my life as much as possible. It's made music a real blessing. I was one that couldn't take compliments but I find I can take compliments now. Because I really believe music is a gift and it was given to me to share with people. I don't know what I believe in. I'm an ego manic with an inferiority complex and there's no way of living with that, and that's just humility."
Balbi has created something beautiful, with a hint of darkness. "Black Rainbow" has an overarching sense of optimism. It's a sincere set of works with a touch of "epic". What could lie at the end of Balbi's dark rainbow? Black gold, perhaps? " No. It's gold, absolute gold." he laughs. "Adversity can be the greatest teacher as long as you don't give up. In a way that's what this record is doing, it's summarizing my past and brining me right up until now, so I can more on in a forward direction."
The album also carries a handful of songs written in recent years with Balbi's former band, Move Trees. And there's a reworked version of "Touch", a top 5 hit for Noiseworks in 1988.
There was a time when Balbi shunned the mainstream pop-rock band that Noiseworks had become. Noiseworks, with it's clean-cut looks and big radio-friendly sounds, became the antithesis of where Balbi was headed. The bass player left the group with fellow Noiseworks bandmate Justin Stanley, he formed the Electric Hippies project in the early 1990's. It was a creative revolt. "The freedom of jumping off that," says Balbi, "it was really liberating." With the Electric Hippies, he recalls, " we glammed-up and put on some mirrorball suits and recorded the smallest guitar sounds.It was just so liberating to feel like we were making art again.We were doing what we really always set out to do. To connect with people via music, rather than just be successful."
A life long musician, Balbi has found a new sort of liberation. His solo album is self-produced. And he's taken it through the independent route, with Social Family Records. He is at ease with his place as a popular, elder statesman of Australia's music scene.
These days Balbi runs a studio in Sydney, and he's made a full time career as a producer. He's still happy to talk about his Noiseworks days. But he's always looking forward." I fought this thing but I'm still that guy from Noiseworks. It really doesn't matter," he says with a laugh.
Remarkably, Balbi has ideas for a follow-up album. After so many years as a band-man, Balbi has really found his feet as a solo artist. The fear of going it alone has evaporated. " I've had a lot of adversity in the last decade and a half. And I fear nothing now. I've climbed my mountain, I've fought my war. And I really just landed thinking, there's no point in making music without taking risks and without the possibility of failure."
http://store.socialfamilyrecords.com/artist/steve-balbi/
CREDITS / SPONSORS
Australian Institute of Music: http://www.aim.edu.au/
Ravesis Bondi Beach:
http://www.ravesis.com.au
Madison Entertainment: http://www.madent.com.au
Global Media:
http://www.globalmedia.com.au
Executive Producer: Justine Moyle
Assistant Producer: Sinead Barrett
Presenter: Cassie Walker
Camera: Joe Andrade
Mixed and Recorded by: Carl Nagy
Tune in again to BalconyTV //