Thinking about Steve Balbi the artist and his creative output, for some reason I’m reminded of Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates. You just never know what you’re going to get! So diverse are Steve’s live and recording projects that he refuses to be even labelled a musician. He’s a music maker who creates with whatever means available to him to produce something of interest. Whether that involves playing a musical instrument or producing noise in any other way is insignificant, it’s the result that matters.
His biography suggests,” Coalescing melody, sophistication, and soul, Balbi bespeaks Bowie and Lennon in myth and verse, meanwhile exploring the diversity, refinement, and dirty rotten groove of Radiohead,” and I’m inclined to whole heartedly agree but also add that his music is so much more and difficult to pigeonhole.
Steve Balbi has just released his 4th studio solo album’Breakdown’. Unsurprisingly Steve delivers a colourful blend of hummable grooves, ethereal ballads, whimsical electronica, folk jaunts, Beatlesque string excursions and a dose of straight up pop rock.
Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips caught up with Steve Balbi to chat about the creation of his new album Breakdown and in a moment of deep reflection, discusses the complexities of addiction.
MORE ABOUT STEVE BALBI
First coming to us as the bass player in Noiseworks, Balbi’s resume now contains numerous disparate projects with a swag of diverse artists such as: Andrew Farriss (INXS), Dylan Frost (Sticky Fingers), Noiseworks, Glenn Shorrock (Little River Band), Jenny Morris (RooArt), Dave Gleeson (The Screaming Jets), Christine Anu, Shannon Noll (The Voice), Nika Costa, Leonardo’s Bride, Ian Kidron (The Potbelleez), Mark Callaghan (GANGgajang), Juice, Pearls & Swine, Toe to Toe, Vincent Stone, Fyre Byrd, Aurateque, Camino Gold, and countless more. Other composition and production credits include the Test Cricket Theme Song for Fox Sports, recorded with the Sydney Symphony, the Channel 10 theme, and various feature-film soundtrack projects, including Bobby The Bear (2015), Backyard Ashes (2013), Jimeoin’s The Extra (2005), and Travelling Light (2003) starring Pia Miranda. In 1999, Balbi also played guitar and created vocal arrangements for David Bowie’s Hours LP (1999), with legendary producer Marius de Vries (Madonna, Björk, Rufus Wainwright, et al.), and for the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann’s Academy Award-nominated Moulin Rouge. And in 2011, Balbi accepted an invitation to front 1980s new-wavers Mi-Sex.
Balbi’s debut solo LP, Black Rainbow (2013), and its surreal reprise, Rainbow Black (2016), provided a point of departure for the creative chameleon’s enigmatic artistry. His third solo LP – I Think I Know For Sure – was composed, produced, and recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown, and reflects a throwback to the music people used to make. Featuring seven songs that posit the listener back to the future, Balbi makes almost every noise on every song.
In April 2018, the world became a very different place for millions of Australians when Dr Jordan Nguyen and his extraordinary team of visionaries at Psykinetic launched Atmosphere – eye-controlled technology that enables people living with high-level physical disability to use only their eyes to make music. This new technology inspired Balbi to traverse new ground, releasing the first single using Psykinetic Atmosphere –
‘Winners [Psykinetic Mix]’ ft. Jessica Irwin. The moment COVIDrestrictions lifted, Balbi headed for LA to reunite with fellow chameleon and soulmate Justin Stanley in LA, to record a new Electric Hippies LP, which is due to be released sometime in 2025. Noiseworks also reformed in late 2022 to release their first LP in 30 years – Evolution – followed by a sold-out National Tour; the gig that keeps on giving.
Now in 2023, Balbi delivers his fourth solo, studio LP – Breakdown “Beautiful but distorted, daunting but heavenly, Balbi bends every genre with this new body of work. An impossibly romantic journey, Breakdown (2024) is enlightening and evocative yet melancholic and intoxicating,” says the press release.
VISIT STEVEBALBI.COM FOR MORE TOUR DATES, TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON