Balthazar (band)
Balthazar | |
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Balthazar at the Haldern Pop Festival 2019 |
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General information | |
origin | Ghent , Belgium |
founding | 2004 |
Website | www.balthazarband.be |
Current occupation | |
Lead vocals, guitar, keyboard |
Maarten Devoldere |
Lead vocals, guitar |
Jinte Deprez |
Bass, vocals |
Simon Casier |
Drums |
Michiel Balcaen (since 2014) |
Tijs Delbeke (since 2018) | |
former members | |
Joachim Quartier | |
Koen Verfaillie | |
Drums |
Christophe Claeys (until 2014) |
Vocals, violin, keyboard |
Patricia Vanneste (until 2018) |
Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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Albums | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Singles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Balthazar is a Belgian indie rock - band from Ghent . The band was formed in 2004. It consists of the members Maarten Devoldere, Jinte Deprez, Simon Casier, Michiel Balcaen and Tijs Delbeke.
Career
In 2004 Devoldere, Vanneste and Deprez founded the band Lost and Found with bassist Joachim Quartier and drummer Koen Verfaillie , with which they won various Belgian talent competitions in 2004 and 2005. The band eventually renamed itself to Balthazar . In 2006 the band released an EP titled this way . In 2007 Quartier and Verfaillie left the band and were replaced by Simon Casier and Christophe Claeys. Balthazar released the single This Is a Flirt , with which she was able to gain national fame.
In 2009 the band played concerts outside Belgium for the first time. After appearances in Germany, Switzerland, France and the Netherlands, a tour of various clubs in South Africa followed . They then recorded their first studio album, which was released in 2010 under the title Applause . This was followed by appearances at various festivals, including the Pukkelpop and Rock Werchter Festival, which further increased the band's popularity. In 2011 the band played a concert in New York .
On October 15, 2012, Balthazar released the second studio album called Rats , which was named Best Album at the Music Industry Awards .
In 2014 the drummer Christophe Claeys left the band; Michiel Balcaen has since replaced him as the new drummer.
Balthazar's third album Thin Walls was produced by Ben Hillier and was released in 2015. The first single from it, Then What , was released in advance, later followed by Bunker and Nightclub as further releases . At the Music Industry Awards in the same year, Balthazar were winners in the categories of Best Group and Best Album.
Balthazar then needed a break, as the band lacked creativity and motivation for a new album after their album Thin Walls . Some band members have since worked on solo projects: Maarten Devoldere released the album We Fucked A Flame Into Being in 2016 under the name Warhaus . In the same year Simon Casier brought out The Afterglow as Zimmerman . Jinte Deprez followed in 2017 as J. Bernardt with the album Running Days .
In April 2018, Balthazar announced that Patricia Vanneste was leaving the band after more than 14 years. At the same time they announced that they are currently working on a fourth album. Tijs Delbeke then took the place of Patricia Vanneste.
After Devoldere, Casier and Deprez watched each other doing their solo projects, they got the urge to make music together as Balthazar again. This was followed, inspired by the respective solo projects, the fourth album Fever , which was released in 2019.
Discography
- 2010: Applause ( PIAS Recordings / Rough Trade )
- 2012: Rats ( Play It Again Sam / Rough Trade)
- 2015: Thin Walls (Play It Again Sam / Rough Trade)
- 2019: Fever (Play It Again Sam / Rough Trade)
swell
- ↑ a b Chart sources Belgium: Flanders Wallonia Switzerland
- ↑ Awards for music sales: BE
- ↑ Balthazar - AllMusic
- ↑ www.laut.de , accessed on July 2, 2017
- ↑ The batteries were empty - an interview with Balthazar. January 24, 2019, accessed on October 17, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Violist Patricia Vanneste left Balthazar . April 3, 2018 ( knack.be [accessed April 4, 2018]).
- ↑ Telex - Balthazar stelt nieuw bandlid voor | daMusic. Retrieved January 22, 2019 (Dutch).
- ↑ The batteries were empty - an interview with Balthazar. January 24, 2019, accessed on October 17, 2019 (German).
Web links
- Official website
- Balthazar at Discogs (English)