BARON ZERO (Home)

22/04/2012: ONE MINUTE REVIEW "BARON ZERO LIVE AT HUT AB"

 
Just about 2 weeks since the Easter solo sessions at Hut Ab and it is time to look back at what happened before and during the night.

On the whole things went a lot better than a few months ago, with the help of more practice and experience. Playing was definitely better but more than anything I could feel (and hear through the monitors) that all this singing under the shower really paied off !

But as you would expect there are still lessons to be learned for next time:

1. SOUNDCHECK: fact is people make up their mind in the first 30" of the first song and sound quality is at least half of these impressions. So learning from past experience, I spent time chosing the right FX for each song. And I also made sure there was ample time to do a proper soundcheck a few hours before the gig itself. From all account, it made a huge difference but I'm thinking now of going all acoustic as it will work better for a solo set . 
2. SETLIST: again this is something I laboured on for some time, looking at varying styles, mood and pace throughout the set. Eventually I did not get to play as many new songs as initially planned (still 4 in total including one of my very owns) but I made the choice to focus on songs I could play well enough with the right vibe.
3. RECORDING: clearly one of the areas where things could have gone better. I used my new Zoom H4N to record the gig but was quite disappointed afterwards when listening to it. Which is when I realized that recording directly from the FX boards into the mixing board meant I missed all the "live" feel of the concert. Not sure yet how I will tackle this in the future.
4. PROMOTION: as a good marketeer I know very well that there is no point pushing a product with consumers unless you are 100% sure they will be convinced by the experience. Which is why this was not really a big focus (yet). Although I got some positive feedback on the use of QR codes on the flyers (with a link to my SoundCloud cage). But there is definitely (a lot) more work to do on this in the near future, starting by posting some of the live tracks to promote the next event.

It's a long way to the top, especially when you take one step after the other as I do. But I'm sure next time will again be a notch better.

Can't wait to be there ...

04/10/2011: BARON ZERO COMING TO A WEDDING NEAR YOU (3)

"How did the whole Grillapalooza thing go in the end ?" you might be asking yourself (or "what should I eat tonight?" which is probably more likely but not really the point of this post).

Well, I guess it would be a question of perspective.

On the one hand I got a lot of praise after the set, but I'm at least realistic enough to know that the feedback of friends and relatives is not always the most objective. Although the father of the groom, a musician himself, warmly encouraged me to continue making music and complimented me on my voice.

On the other hand I was again left with too much frustrations.

Let's see: the sound was crap (and I'm being polite), I made too many mistakes to count and for some reason I had the feeling my guitar was out of tune for a good part of the gig (even though I kept checking and it was not).

But of course I'm also realistic enough to know that I'm often too hard on myself; STREET SPIRIT was intense and emotional as it should be and my rendition of PAPARAZZI got great reactions.

But in the end, what really matters is what I learned in the process and how I can use this to get one step closer to putting together the performance I can hear in my head. So here are a few (painstakingly) lessons for the future:

1. GET READY IN ADVANCE. Unfortunately I was out of power for a while (the only electrical plug available was taken up by the beer dispenser - trust me, you don't want to argue on this kind of topics with Germans) so there was little time to get the settings right. As a result my voice was not very clear and audible on the first 2 songs. Not the best way to start.
2. INVEST IN THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT. I spent some time finding the right sound in the weeks before the gig but it did not seem to help on the  night itself. After thinking it through, it probably has to do with the fact I'm using an acoustic amp for my Gibson and a pretty old ZOOM FX box. I have already invested in a new POD PRO HD floor board, I'm seriously eyeing on a BOSS VE-20 for the voice (any feedback welcome) and I will have to break the bank for a new amp soon.
3. DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Making mistakes does not bother me as long as there are plenty of vibes. But having to furiously concentrate on the playing tends to get in the way. So I have now a new benchmark: playing with my eyes closed. Which in any case is a good idea when you play by the fire: you either can see f... all or you get blinded by the smoke (talk about stage effects).
4. PICK THE RIGHT SONGS:  I was unsure about a few songs before the gig (USE SOMEBODY is a great song but I'm no Paramore obviously) so I will make some changes to the setlist. Amongst others I'm thinking about covering "Moves like Jagger" if I can nail its nasty little funky riff.

Finally one positive point is that my (future ex ) manager did not quit after hearing me play (does it make him my ex future ex manager ?) and we are already talking about another gig in December.

J-J-J-J-J-J-Jingle all the way !

22/09/2011: BARON ZERO COMING TO A WEDDING NEAR YOU (2)

We are now less than 24 hours away from the "acoustic cover/grilled saussage" sessions (maybe I should rename this whole thing "Grillapalooza" ?) tomorrow evening.

Would anyone be surprised anyone if I said that I'm ready ? 

Yeah, right, me too.

Well, as usual I always tend to focus on the areas which would still be more work, but let's face it I think we should be able to avoid a complete nuclear meltdown (although I don't make any promises on the saussage front).

I have worked out what the live set should be, chosen the right voice/guitar FX (only one word: chorus is the way to go) and decided on which short to clean. And most importantly I have also settled on the final setlist of covers, as follows:

1. One (U2)
2. Umbrella (Rihanna)
3. Let me entertain you/Sympathy for the Devil (R.Williams/Stones)
4. Paparazzi (Lady Gaga)
5. Haven't met you yet (M.Buble)
6. Enjoy the Silence (Depeche Mode)
7. Street spirit (Radiohead)
8. Yellow (Coldplay)
9. I will survive (G.Gaynor/Cake)
10. Ne me quittes pas (J.Brel)
11. Wonderwall (Oasis)
12. Use Somebody (Kings of Leon)
13. It ain't over till it's over (L.Kravitz)
14. Long Train Running/Un peu de ton Amour (Doobie Brothers/Telephone)

I will attempt (first time lucky ?) to record the whole proceedings for immortality and future posting. And we have also been working on something else for the wedding night so there might be some bonus.

As always, keep rocking, I sure will do my best not to drop the SG into the BBQ.

26/08/2011: LOOKING BACK AT ASIA OVER MY SHOULDER

Happy birthday Singapore !

It is exactly 3 years today that we arrived on the very first day of our Asian adventures. And it would have been the last day of my contract there if I hadn't resigned at the end of last year.

I remember the first days in Singapore as if they took place last week. We had missed our connecting flight in Francfort and ended up taking a daytime flight to Singapore rather than flying overnight. Which does not sound like much unless you have to spend 12 hours running after a 2 year old boy who thinks going up and down a Boing 747 is a great way to spend the day !

Maybe we should have seen this as a foresign of the tumultuous times to come: a new job, the endless trips to Shanghai and Mumbai, the "fire at the Taj", the weekends in Bangkok and Saigon, several Lion dances, some holidays on Koh-Samui and Bali, my first solo gigs and of course the arrival of the little Indian princess. 

All in all a time full of great times with great people. This is probably what I still miss the most from Asia. The food is fab and so many places are mesmerising.

But the real treasure of Asia are its people. This is what I found out during the little time I spent on the little island and it made a big change in my life.

Ela, ela, eh, eh

• BARON ZERO Umbrella (rehearsal) download
• BARON ZERO Yellow (rehearsal) download

19/08/2011: BARON ZERO COMING SOON TO A WEDDING NEAR YOU

It's now official !

I have my first engagement as a wedding singer and will be playing for my lovely sister in law's wedding (well, actually more like the pre-wedding barbecue but BBQ singer did not quite have the same ring to it) at the end of September.

Which means one month of furious reherseal left before and many, many questions about what will be the best songs to play. I have given it quite a lot of thoughts and I actually plan to share some of these in a future post.

But in the meantime, here is the setlist I have been working on; as you will see it includes a few new songs:

1. One (U2 cover)
2. Umbrella (Rihanna cover)
3. Let me entertain you/Sympathy for the Devil (Robbie Williams/Stones cover)
4. Papparazzi (Lady Gaga cover)
5. Enjoy the Silence (Depeche Mode cover)
6. Haven't met you yet (Michael Buble cover)
7. Street spirit (Radiohead cover)
8. I will survive (Gloria Gaynor/Cake cover)
9. Long Train Running/Unpeu de ton Amour (Doobie Brothers/Telephone cover)
10. Ne me quitte pas (Jacques Brel cover)
11. Yellow (Coldplay cover)
12. Wonderwall (Oasis cover)
13. It ain't over till it's over (Lenny Kravitz cover)
14. I love rock'n'roll/We will rock you (Joan Jett/Queen cover)

I'm sure there will be more hesitations and probably some last minutes changes. Did I forget anything ? I'm still wondering if I should add granny's rap from the Wedding Singer movie (now what you hear is not a test I'm rapping to te beat ...).

14/07/2011: HEARTBROKEN BY THE TERROR ATTACK IN MUMBAI ... ONCE AGAIN

I woke up this morning to the crushing news of the triple bombing in Mumbai yesterday. 

The images of this new terror attack obviously brought me back to what happened at the Taj Mahal almost 3 years ago. 

Memories of hiding in the dark throughout the night.

Memories of the shotguns and explosions.

Memories of a strange morning on November 27th when I hopped on one leg from the Victoria Train Station to Cobala.

Memories of the faces of the Mumbaites full of anger and even more of them with stunned, blank looks, not able to understand what happened. Not able to understand why.

The same question I was unable to answer this morning looking into the eyes of my daughter. I pray that one day she will come to know the country she was born from in peace. But somehow in the grey light of the morning, it feels right now that hatred and violence never comes to an end.

Once again ...

18/11/2010: THERE IS A TIME FOR EVERYTHING AND IT IS ... EVERYTHING AT THE SAME TIME

First of all let me open all the windows to get some fresh air in, make myself a tea, blow the dust off my keyboard and tidy up the place somehow (I did tell you not to let the monkey in, didn't I ?).

See, it is already looking like somebody actually lives here. So here comes the drumroll: time to resume business, le Baron is back on the blog.

Now what ?

I guess I should start by filling you in on what happened over the last few months while you were rummaging through 4 years of Zerocast and dozens of Radiohead remixes (but it's allright, I did say you could make yourself comfortable). Truth is, I have been kind of busy:

• first I have found a new job and resigned from my current one. I have only 3 months left till the end of my notice period and it almost feels like I'm on holidays ... at least till I get to start in March. [Check]
• second, we now have a new baby in the house and it is already like she has been with us forever. How great it is to be a dad once again even with the short night and the rings under my eyes. [Check] 
• and soon, the whole happy familly is going to leave Singapore to find its way back to Europe. In a few months we will have exchanged the warmth of South East Asia for the winter of Austria surrounded by snowy mountains. [Check]
• not to mention that I also started a new online business as planned. Let's be honnest for the moment it is not bringing much although traffic is already building up nicely. [Check]
• oh, and I finally got my Gibson customised as I wanted for a long, long time. It will look amazing when I get to play my farewell Asian concert here. [Check]

It does look as if things are coming together finally. It might have been nice if everything did not happen all at once in the space of 3 months but it certainly feels like an exciting place to be.

And now let's take care of the music.

[Check]

01/11/2010: TWO YEARS AFTER MUMBAI, A LIFE FOR A LIFE ?

Obviously nothing can possibly change what happened in Mumbai, nor bring back any of the 178 people who lost their lives during these few days. Still, who would have told me that almost 2 years after the events, I would have an Indian daughter ?

All the adoption papers went through and finally yesterday, she arrived to us to take her place in her new home.

What more can I say ? She's Indian and she's beautiful. Everytime I look in her eyes I cannot help being amazed at how life can sometimes bring you the most unexpected gifts.

And she is a proof that in the end, no matter how much hatred, how many deaths might pave the way, life and love will always prevail. 

29/01/2010: A SINGER WITHOUT VOICE IS LIKE A DOG WHO CAN'T BARK

I have been ill for the last 2 weeks courtesy of a virus generously given to me by my son and made worse by the recent trip to Shanghai. I went straight from the overnight flight last Thursday to the doctor down for the count: flu, throatache and a pretty nasty sinusitis.

But the worse is that I haven't really been able to sing for the a couple of weeks without coughing my lungs out.

Not so great for a singer. Still, things seemed to have improved and I'm hoping I'll be able to get some time in studio (at least to record some acoustic guitar parts for a fortcoming project) over the week end.

What would I do if I could not sing anymore ?

I would probably have to cancel the half time SuperBowl show. This is one scary thought ...

 

10/12/2009: SOMEBODY TELL ME, WHY ARE SAD SONGS ALWAYS THE EASIEST TO WRITE ?

I have always wondered why it is a lot easier to write sad songs than happy ones. I had another example last week-end: as I went probably through one of the worst times of my entire life (don't ask), 2 different songs seemed to compete in my head.

The first one (A LOVE) LIKE AN OCEAN will have to wait for better days. The second one FALLING APART has been haunting me for a week since I came back from Thailand. Here are the complete lyrics:

FALLING APART (BARON ZERO)

Why can’t you see brother that I’m falling apart / Underneath the silence where I've chosen to hide / I'm like a drowning man caught in a rising tide / I've been living my life like I'm playing a part / And I'm falling apart

Why can't you see mother that I'm falling apart / So short of all the dreams that you saw in your child / Despite all the promises however hard I've tried / Maybe you will agree your son was not so smart / And I'm falling apart

Why can't you see my love that I'm feeling apart / Pretending to be free when you're not by my side / After the pain is gone, nothing's left to subside / Only the emptyness eating away my heart / And I'm falling apart

Why can't you all just see that I'm falling apart?

I'm falling from grace / Falling flat on my face / Falling on harder times / Falling way out of line / Falling down on my knees / Falling far from the trees / Falling short of my dreams / Falling into the stream / Falling without a fight / And falling out of sight / Falling without a word / Or falling onto my sword / Falling badly behind / Slowly out of my mind / Falling down from above / And falling out of love

Falling just for a kiss / Falling just for a kiss / Falling just for a kiss / A few seconds of bliss

And I'm falling apart

But as for you my son you'll always be a part / Of every breath I take, each beating of my heart / And for you I decide to make a brand new start / To do the best I can / Reach for a helping hand / Hoping that in the end I'll stop falling apart