Troy Von Balthazar

Troy Von Balthazar (TvB) is a Hawaii born American singer, songwriter and poet who fronted the Los Angeles based indie rock band Chokebore. His work can be described as intense and original, lo-fi pop music.

Before working solo Troy Von Balthazar (TvB) became famous in the 90’s as the singer and songwriter of L.A./Hawaii cult band Chokebore. They toured all around the world, including 10 shows supporting Nirvana on their final tour, and released 5 LPs, landmarks in independent rock ‘s history.

Expanding on the slow, sad landscapes of Chokebore's later works, Troy Von Balthazar (TvB) 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, . 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 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.

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