WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.140 welcome to the deep dive the place where we cut 00:00:02.140 --> 00:00:04.280 through the noise to analyze the architects of 00:00:04.280 --> 00:00:07.960 creative genius oh today we are focusing on a 00:00:07.960 --> 00:00:10.199 musician whose main instrument doesn't just you 00:00:10.199 --> 00:00:13.720 know play notes it does way more oh yeah It conjures 00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:17.519 elephants, mimics car horns, builds entire industrial 00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:20.359 soundscapes. We're diving deep into the career 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:23.219 of Robert Stephen Ballew. Adrian Ballew. Adrian 00:00:23.219 --> 00:00:26.399 Ballew, exactly. A self -taught phenomenon whose 00:00:26.399 --> 00:00:29.039 sound design became just as influential, maybe 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:30.960 even more so, than his guitar playing itself. 00:00:31.300 --> 00:00:33.240 That's a perfect way to put it. Adrian Ballew 00:00:33.240 --> 00:00:35.320 is, while he's an American musician, singer, 00:00:35.380 --> 00:00:38.280 songwriter, record producer, does a bit of everything. 00:00:38.500 --> 00:00:40.799 Anti -instrumentalist. Definitely. Noted for 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:42.899 abilities across multiple instruments. But yes, 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:45.380 his reputation is really cemented by that unique 00:00:45.380 --> 00:00:48.500 approach to the electric guitar and his vocals. 00:00:48.659 --> 00:00:51.880 You can't mistake those vocals. Critics consistently 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:54.299 describe his playing as incredibly versatile, 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:57.299 fluid, expressive, often using that phrase you 00:00:57.299 --> 00:00:59.979 mentioned that his guitar resembles animal noises 00:00:59.979 --> 00:01:02.679 or mechanical rumblings. And that versatility, 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:04.680 that's really the core of our mission today, 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:06.879 isn't it? I think so. We're looking for the shortcut, 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:09.540 the way to really grasp his staggering career 00:01:09.540 --> 00:01:12.560 arc. I mean, how did a self -taught cover band 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:15.700 musician from Kentucky, how did he manage to 00:01:15.700 --> 00:01:18.159 become the musical foil for someone like Frank 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:21.859 Zappa, then lead guitarist for David Bowie, and 00:01:21.859 --> 00:01:24.519 eventually the conceptual frontman for one of 00:01:24.519 --> 00:01:27.040 the most, let's face it, intellectually demanding 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:31.290 prog rock bands ever, King Crimson. It's a pretty 00:01:31.290 --> 00:01:34.269 wild trajectory, almost unlikely, you know? Totally. 00:01:34.450 --> 00:01:37.010 So our blueprint today, we'll trace it chronologically, 00:01:37.090 --> 00:01:39.230 but also analytically. We'll start by tracing 00:01:39.230 --> 00:01:42.069 the genesis of that unique sound, that sort of 00:01:42.069 --> 00:01:44.310 crucial moment of self -discovery that defined 00:01:44.310 --> 00:01:47.250 his whole tone. Then we'll move into that intense 00:01:47.250 --> 00:01:50.010 rapid fire period. We're calling it the crash 00:01:50.010 --> 00:01:52.469 course collaborations that basically launched 00:01:52.469 --> 00:01:54.989 him professionally. The late 70s, early 80s. 00:01:55.010 --> 00:01:58.540 Exactly. After that, we absolutely have to dissect 00:01:58.540 --> 00:02:01.140 his decades -long tenure leading King Crimson. 00:02:01.219 --> 00:02:04.959 That's huge. Can't skip that. No way. And finally, 00:02:05.079 --> 00:02:07.200 we'll unpack the true depth of his innovation, 00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:12.740 the specific techniques, the immense gear setup, 00:02:12.919 --> 00:02:15.979 and his pioneering role in music technology, 00:02:16.259 --> 00:02:18.139 which is often overlooked. Okay. Sounds like 00:02:18.139 --> 00:02:19.939 a plan. Let's trace this path back, back to the 00:02:19.939 --> 00:02:23.180 genesis, starting in Covington, Kentucky. Robert 00:02:23.180 --> 00:02:26.789 Stephen Blue. Born 1949. Mm -hmm. Started out 00:02:26.789 --> 00:02:30.409 simply as Steve. And remarkably, the guitar wasn't 00:02:30.409 --> 00:02:32.810 even his first love, was it? No, not at all. 00:02:32.889 --> 00:02:35.030 He was originally a drummer, played in the Ludlow 00:02:35.030 --> 00:02:37.469 High School Marching Band. Right. And later in 00:02:37.469 --> 00:02:40.430 a local cover band called the Deanums, just playing 00:02:40.430 --> 00:02:43.069 drums. So how did the guitar happen? Well, the 00:02:43.069 --> 00:02:46.189 Pivoty guitar was purely accidental, really, 00:02:46.229 --> 00:02:48.449 driven by illness. Illness. Yeah, it was bedridden 00:02:48.449 --> 00:02:51.129 with mononucleosis. Illness. Mono. And that forced 00:02:51.129 --> 00:02:52.870 downtime just led him to pick up the guitar. 00:02:53.050 --> 00:02:55.039 Wow. And who inspired him, though? Initially, 00:02:55.240 --> 00:02:58.000 Jimi Hendrix. That was the initial, like, explosive 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:00.159 inspiration. Makes sense. He was also heavily 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:02.280 influenced by Lonnie Mack, who actually later 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:04.659 became a close personal friend and collaborator. 00:03:04.780 --> 00:03:07.060 That's cool. But this is where the story gets 00:03:07.060 --> 00:03:09.099 really interesting, I think. This is what defines 00:03:09.099 --> 00:03:12.560 his future success. Yeah. Baloo never pursued 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:15.680 formal music study, entirely self -taught. Completely. 00:03:15.699 --> 00:03:18.379 Learned everything by listening religiously to 00:03:18.379 --> 00:03:22.289 records. Now, here's the crucial moment. The 00:03:22.289 --> 00:03:26.289 core insight into his genius, maybe. Okay. He 00:03:26.289 --> 00:03:28.849 wasn't aware of the studio manipulation. The 00:03:28.849 --> 00:03:31.830 compression, the overdubs, the huge reverb units. 00:03:32.050 --> 00:03:34.469 Yeah. All the stuff used to create some of those 00:03:34.469 --> 00:03:37.050 really strange, distinctive guitar lines he was 00:03:37.050 --> 00:03:39.090 hearing on those records. Exactly. Precisely. 00:03:39.090 --> 00:03:42.930 Because he didn't realize those sounds were artificially 00:03:42.930 --> 00:03:44.990 constructed in the studio. Right. He just decided 00:03:44.990 --> 00:03:47.110 he had to replicate them manually, instantly, 00:03:47.330 --> 00:03:49.729 in real time. Which meant? Which meant he had 00:03:49.729 --> 00:03:52.090 to find... really unusual playing techniques 00:03:52.090 --> 00:03:54.870 and combined an ever -expanding array of effects 00:03:54.870 --> 00:03:57.669 pedals in ways that, frankly, nobody else was 00:03:57.669 --> 00:04:00.210 using. So that misunderstanding, that became 00:04:00.210 --> 00:04:02.229 the catalyst. The single greatest catalyst for 00:04:02.229 --> 00:04:04.430 his trademark style. Yeah. His entire musical 00:04:04.430 --> 00:04:06.150 philosophy was pretty much established right 00:04:06.150 --> 00:04:08.270 there. Yeah. He was determined to avoid sounding 00:04:08.270 --> 00:04:10.889 like everybody else. And boy, did he accomplish 00:04:10.889 --> 00:04:14.310 that spectacularly. Didn't he just. That decision 00:04:14.310 --> 00:04:17.699 led directly to his signature sound. making the 00:04:17.699 --> 00:04:20.379 guitar mimic literal sound effects, whether it 00:04:20.379 --> 00:04:23.560 was, you know, a car horn, an industrial drone, 00:04:23.819 --> 00:04:26.920 or those bizarre, unmistakable animal noises 00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:29.199 that would later define some of his biggest hits. 00:04:29.379 --> 00:04:33.819 That really was the formation of the Lone Rhino 00:04:33.819 --> 00:04:37.139 identity, which became his first solo album title. 00:04:37.300 --> 00:04:40.519 Ah, okay. By the mid -1970s, he adopted the first 00:04:40.519 --> 00:04:43.720 name Adrian and moved to Nashville, still playing 00:04:43.720 --> 00:04:46.160 covers. with that band Sweetheart. Right. And 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:48.079 it's important to remember, just before his breakthrough, 00:04:48.360 --> 00:04:51.639 he was seriously questioning his future, wondering 00:04:51.639 --> 00:04:53.480 if he'd missed his chance to make a living playing 00:04:53.480 --> 00:04:55.579 original music. Really? He was thinking of packing 00:04:55.579 --> 00:04:57.699 it in. Apparently so, on the verge of giving 00:04:57.699 --> 00:05:00.639 up on the dream entirely right around 1977. Talk 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:03.639 about destiny intervening. Wow. Right. That near 00:05:03.639 --> 00:05:05.980 -miss retirement sets the stage perfectly for 00:05:05.980 --> 00:05:09.389 part two. This dense five -year period from 77 00:05:09.389 --> 00:05:12.370 to 82, the crash course, as you called it, where 00:05:12.370 --> 00:05:14.709 he just played with titan after titan of progressive 00:05:14.709 --> 00:05:16.970 and new wave music. And the first titan, of course, 00:05:17.110 --> 00:05:20.110 Frank Zappa. The Zappa skill of rock. Absolutely. 00:05:20.589 --> 00:05:24.490 This period, 1977, 1978, it really was that. 00:05:24.589 --> 00:05:27.329 The discovery story itself is legendary. How 00:05:27.329 --> 00:05:30.189 did Zappa find him? Zappa found him playing with 00:05:30.189 --> 00:05:32.730 Sweetheart at Fanny's Bar in Nashville. He was 00:05:32.730 --> 00:05:35.790 tipped off by a chauffeur. A chauffeur! Get out! 00:05:36.069 --> 00:05:38.689 Yeah. The chauffeur insisted Zappa had to check 00:05:38.689 --> 00:05:41.149 out this guy who made his guitar sound like, 00:05:41.170 --> 00:05:44.029 quote, a truck driving down the street or something 00:05:44.029 --> 00:05:46.670 like that. I love that. The chauffeur is A &R 00:05:46.670 --> 00:05:48.870 man. Yeah. But the first audition apparently 00:05:48.870 --> 00:05:52.709 was pretty daunting. Zappa's band. Exactly. Baloo, 00:05:52.870 --> 00:05:55.110 totally self -taught, suddenly surrounded by 00:05:55.110 --> 00:05:57.410 these formally trained jazz and classical musicians 00:05:57.410 --> 00:06:00.329 Zappa was trying out. He felt he performed really 00:06:00.329 --> 00:06:02.889 poorly. Oh, no. He actually had to plead for 00:06:02.889 --> 00:06:05.660 a second chance, a more intimate audition. which 00:06:05.660 --> 00:06:07.939 Zappa granted, in his living room. Okay, that's 00:06:07.939 --> 00:06:10.379 better. Yeah. That environment let Baloo's unique 00:06:10.379 --> 00:06:13.180 personality and his ability to just conjure sounds 00:06:13.180 --> 00:06:16.480 immediately shine through, and Zappa hired him, 00:06:16.540 --> 00:06:19.160 guitarist and vocalist, for a year. And Baloo 00:06:19.160 --> 00:06:22.060 described that year as... A profound crash course 00:06:22.060 --> 00:06:24.759 in music theory. That's his term. Because before 00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:27.839 Zappa... Before Zappa, Baloo just knew what sounded 00:06:27.839 --> 00:06:31.389 right to him by ear. Zappa, who was this incredibly 00:06:31.389 --> 00:06:35.269 rigorous musical intellectual, basically forced 00:06:35.269 --> 00:06:38.689 him to learn the language. So complex time signatures. 00:06:39.050 --> 00:06:41.449 Oh, yeah. Intricate arrangements, mastering parts 00:06:41.449 --> 00:06:44.269 that required absolute precision. It was an intense 00:06:44.269 --> 00:06:48.129 professionalization of his raw talent. A real 00:06:48.129 --> 00:06:50.980 baptism by fire. And his role in the band was 00:06:50.980 --> 00:06:53.180 incredibly demanding too, wasn't it? He had to 00:06:53.180 --> 00:06:55.600 be Zappa's sort of mirror image. Essentially, 00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:57.959 yeah, covering his leader's parts. When Zappa 00:06:57.959 --> 00:07:00.600 sang, Blue played Zappa's complex guitar part. 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:03.379 Okay. And conversely, when Zappa launched into 00:07:03.379 --> 00:07:06.120 a guitar solo, Blue sang Zappa's vocal line. 00:07:06.259 --> 00:07:09.720 Wow. That's an intense workout in both musicianship 00:07:09.720 --> 00:07:12.779 and just sheer stamina. Absolutely. But beyond 00:07:12.779 --> 00:07:14.819 the musicianship, Zappa also needed this element 00:07:14.819 --> 00:07:17.920 of visual chaos and absurdity in his shows. Right. 00:07:18.100 --> 00:07:19.819 And Blue just totally embraced the role of the 00:07:19.819 --> 00:07:22.279 band clown. He was theatrical. Doing impressions. 00:07:22.620 --> 00:07:24.660 Doing impressions, yeah. Dead on ones. Most famously, 00:07:24.759 --> 00:07:27.060 Bob Dylan on the track Flakes. I remember reading 00:07:27.060 --> 00:07:29.620 about his willingness to just engage in pure 00:07:29.620 --> 00:07:32.430 theatrical absurdity. Didn't he say something 00:07:32.430 --> 00:07:33.949 like... Yeah, the quote is something like, need 00:07:33.949 --> 00:07:35.810 someone to wear a flashing helmet and bounce 00:07:35.810 --> 00:07:38.230 around like a robot. How about Adrian? Need someone 00:07:38.230 --> 00:07:40.610 to wear a dress on stage. There's always Adrian. 00:07:40.910 --> 00:07:44.420 Huh. So that performance instinct, that theatrical 00:07:44.420 --> 00:07:47.519 side, was really nurtured under Zappa. Fully 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:50.600 nurtured. He appeared on the 1979 album Chic 00:07:50.600 --> 00:07:53.800 Your Booty, sang Leon tracks like Jones Crusher 00:07:53.800 --> 00:07:56.360 and City of Tiny Lights. Right. And he's all 00:07:56.360 --> 00:07:59.180 over the concert film Baby Snakes. Okay, so Zappa 00:07:59.180 --> 00:08:01.860 was the crash course. Then, almost immediately, 00:08:01.939 --> 00:08:04.459 he bridges the gap to David Bowie. Immediately. 00:08:04.740 --> 00:08:08.259 Yeah. 1978, 1979. And the recommendation came 00:08:08.259 --> 00:08:11.670 from Brian Eno. Ah, Eno, of course. Eno was working 00:08:11.670 --> 00:08:13.990 with Bowie at the time. Baloo accepted the gig 00:08:13.990 --> 00:08:16.790 because Apple was tied up editing that Baby Snakes 00:08:16.790 --> 00:08:18.730 film and wasn't planning to tour right away. 00:08:19.170 --> 00:08:22.009 So straight into the deep end again. Lead guitarist 00:08:22.009 --> 00:08:25.149 and backing vocalist for Bowie's massive 1978 00:08:25.149 --> 00:08:27.889 Isler C -Sec World Tour. Which is documented 00:08:27.889 --> 00:08:30.290 on the live album Stage. Great record. Yeah. 00:08:30.350 --> 00:08:33.409 And he also contributed to the 1979 studio album 00:08:33.409 --> 00:08:36.889 Lodger. And their professional relationship was 00:08:36.889 --> 00:08:40.309 clearly strong because Baloo came back over a 00:08:40.309 --> 00:08:43.649 decade later in 1990 to be the musical director 00:08:43.649 --> 00:08:46.470 for Bowie's Big Sound Plus Vision tour. That's 00:08:46.470 --> 00:08:50.289 right. OK, Zappa, Bowie. But the next major collaboration 00:08:50.289 --> 00:08:53.549 is maybe the most fraught. Talking Heads and 00:08:53.549 --> 00:08:56.090 the Tom Tom Club. Yeah, starting around 1979, 00:08:56.309 --> 00:08:59.299 this gets a bit messy. So he befriended the Talking 00:08:59.299 --> 00:09:01.659 Heads in New York. Right. And was hired to add 00:09:01.659 --> 00:09:04.600 guitar solos to their absolutely seminal 1980 00:09:04.600 --> 00:09:07.580 album, Remain in Light. Which are incredible 00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:10.220 solos. Oh, totally. Signature Baloo sounds all 00:09:10.220 --> 00:09:12.679 over that. His work was so impressive that he 00:09:12.679 --> 00:09:14.620 joined the expanded nine -piece touring band 00:09:14.620 --> 00:09:16.659 they needed to perform that complex album live. 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:18.799 And that's documented on the name of this band 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:21.320 as Talking Heads. That's the one. But that era 00:09:21.320 --> 00:09:23.720 introduced some significant internal friction 00:09:23.720 --> 00:09:26.820 within the band. Ah. The story about him potentially 00:09:26.820 --> 00:09:29.879 replacing David Byrne. Allegedly, yeah. The rhythm 00:09:29.879 --> 00:09:32.519 section, Tina Weymouth and Chris Franz supposedly 00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:35.960 suggested Baloo replace Bryna's frontman. Tensions 00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:38.139 were apparently running high. Wow, and Baloo! 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:40.820 Baloo very diplomatically declined the offer. 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:43.899 Although Chris Franz later publicly denied the 00:09:43.899 --> 00:09:46.519 proposition was ever formally made. So, you know, 00:09:46.519 --> 00:09:48.629 conflicting accounts there. Still, it speaks 00:09:48.629 --> 00:09:51.309 volumes about Baloo's charisma and musical authority 00:09:51.309 --> 00:09:53.950 at that point, that he was even considered as 00:09:53.950 --> 00:09:57.009 a replacement for an icon like Byrne. Absolutely. 00:09:57.470 --> 00:10:00.210 But the drama didn't end there. He then joined 00:10:00.210 --> 00:10:02.590 Weymouth in France for their debut side project, 00:10:02.789 --> 00:10:05.450 the Tom Tom Club. Working at Compass Point Studios 00:10:05.450 --> 00:10:07.889 in the Bahamas. Right. Paradise turning a bit 00:10:07.889 --> 00:10:11.049 sour, maybe. He played on the massive hit single 00:10:11.049 --> 00:10:14.389 Genius of Love, provided that instantly recognizable 00:10:14.389 --> 00:10:16.940 riff. Oh, yeah. Everyone knows that riff. Such 00:10:16.940 --> 00:10:20.120 a perfect blend of, like, funk rhythm and his 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:23.019 trademark tone manipulations, weird springy sound. 00:10:23.179 --> 00:10:25.139 But this is where the friction turned toxic, 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:27.220 right? Apparently so. The recording engineer, 00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:30.440 Stephen Stanley, according to Baloo anyway, took 00:10:30.440 --> 00:10:33.440 some liberties during mixing. Unilaterally erased 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:36.799 the majority of Baloo's guitar solos. Ouch. That's 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:39.279 brutal. Yeah. And the breakdown became complete 00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:41.259 when Baloo requested songwriting credits for 00:10:41.259 --> 00:10:43.360 his contributions, which seems reasonable given 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:45.440 that riff. You think so. Weymouth apparently 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:48.019 stopped talking to him. And he immediately ceased 00:10:48.019 --> 00:10:50.720 working with the group. Never contributed to 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:53.120 future records. Never played live with them again. 00:10:53.320 --> 00:10:56.740 Wow. That's a sad end to what was clearly a highly 00:10:56.740 --> 00:11:00.220 fruitful creative period. It really is. I mean, 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:02.440 think about it. Baloo was essentially operating 00:11:02.440 --> 00:11:04.559 in four different artistic lanes simultaneously. 00:11:05.220 --> 00:11:07.320 Zappa's Precision. Bowie's Electronic Art Pop. 00:11:07.539 --> 00:11:10.799 Talking Heads' New Wave Funk. And the Tom Club's 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:14.159 Minimalist Groove. He navigated all of them by 00:11:14.159 --> 00:11:16.879 establishing his unique sound, yet he also clearly 00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:19.980 understood when an environment just became professionally 00:11:19.980 --> 00:11:22.980 untenable. So that intense five -year collaboration 00:11:22.980 --> 00:11:26.799 period, absorbing theory, embracing theatricality, 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:29.720 developing his sonic identity under massive pressure, 00:11:29.899 --> 00:11:32.320 that leads directly to the defining chapter of 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:34.559 his career. Becoming the front man of King Crimson. 00:11:34.620 --> 00:11:37.059 Yeah. How did that connection happen? It started 00:11:37.059 --> 00:11:39.340 with Robert Fripp, the conceptual leader, the 00:11:39.340 --> 00:11:41.940 constant in King Crimson. Fripp had been watching 00:11:41.940 --> 00:11:44.379 Baloo closely. He was impressed by his guitar 00:11:44.379 --> 00:11:47.259 work with Bowie and also with Baloo's own newly 00:11:47.259 --> 00:11:50.799 formed band in 1980, Gaga. Gaga. So Fripp approached 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:53.080 him about joining a new four -piece project. 00:11:53.820 --> 00:11:56.419 Initially, they called it Discipline. And Baloo 00:11:56.419 --> 00:11:59.500 accepted. He did. He apparently saw it as an 00:11:59.500 --> 00:12:01.620 escape from the strained, kind of politically 00:12:01.620 --> 00:12:03.659 charged environment of the Talking Heads camp 00:12:03.659 --> 00:12:05.740 at that point. Makes sense. He joined on one 00:12:05.740 --> 00:12:08.559 crucial condition. Yeah. Which Fripp agreed to. 00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:12.039 He had to be allowed to continue his burgeoning 00:12:12.039 --> 00:12:14.519 solo career alongside the band's commitment. 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:18.019 Smart move. And the lineup. The lineup? Solidified 00:12:18.019 --> 00:12:21.620 with Frippin' Blue on guitars. Joined by former 00:12:21.620 --> 00:12:24.820 King Crimson and Yes drummer Bill Bruford. Legend. 00:12:25.240 --> 00:12:27.960 Absolute legend. And the incredible bassist and 00:12:27.960 --> 00:12:30.039 Chapman Stick player Tony Levin. Okay, we should 00:12:30.039 --> 00:12:31.820 probably pause there for a sec. Define the Chapman 00:12:31.820 --> 00:12:33.779 Stick for people who might not know. Good idea. 00:12:33.860 --> 00:12:37.110 The Chapman Stick. It's essentially a... 10 or 00:12:37.110 --> 00:12:40.289 12 string sort of guitar bass hybrid instrument. 00:12:40.629 --> 00:12:42.850 But it's played primarily by tapping the strings 00:12:42.850 --> 00:12:44.750 with both hands like a keyboard player. Right. 00:12:44.850 --> 00:12:47.490 So Levin used it to cover both complex bass lines 00:12:47.490 --> 00:12:50.049 and rhythmic chordal patterns, often simultaneously. 00:12:50.529 --> 00:12:52.970 It was absolutely key to the sound of this new 00:12:52.970 --> 00:12:55.809 King Crimson. Got it. And during their initial 00:12:55.809 --> 00:12:58.529 tours, the name Discipline was ditched. Yeah, 00:12:58.549 --> 00:13:00.629 they pretty quickly renamed themselves King Crimson, 00:13:00.710 --> 00:13:03.389 which carried a lot more historical weight, obviously. 00:13:03.740 --> 00:13:06.759 And this decision really cemented Baloo's historical 00:13:06.759 --> 00:13:09.240 significance within the band, didn't it? Hugely. 00:13:09.480 --> 00:13:12.440 He became the first guitarist to formally play 00:13:12.440 --> 00:13:16.080 alongside Fripp on an equal, truly collaborative 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:18.950 footing. They were dual guitarists. Fripp wasn't 00:13:18.950 --> 00:13:21.470 the sole six -string authority anymore. And lyrically. 00:13:21.750 --> 00:13:23.950 Furthermore, yeah, Baloo became the first King 00:13:23.950 --> 00:13:25.970 Crimson singer to write the vast majority of 00:13:25.970 --> 00:13:28.490 his own lyrics. He took on the primary conceptual 00:13:28.490 --> 00:13:31.409 burden for the whole 80s era of the band. That 00:13:31.409 --> 00:13:34.149 era started really successfully with Discipline 00:13:34.149 --> 00:13:37.549 in 1981. That album is defined by those sharp, 00:13:37.629 --> 00:13:41.029 complex, interlocking rhythms, like new wave 00:13:41.029 --> 00:13:44.000 -infused prog. It still sounds fresh. But the 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:45.779 tension that would kind of define their working 00:13:45.779 --> 00:13:47.740 relationship that soon emerged when they started 00:13:47.740 --> 00:13:50.659 recording the follow -up albums beat in 82 and 00:13:50.659 --> 00:13:53.019 three of a perfect pair in 84. Those sessions 00:13:53.019 --> 00:13:55.399 got difficult. Increasingly difficult, by all 00:13:55.399 --> 00:13:58.539 accounts. We know that Baloo bore the brunt of 00:13:58.539 --> 00:14:00.740 the songwriting pressure, being the mainly resistant 00:14:00.740 --> 00:14:03.500 singer. And he and Fripp frequently clashed, 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:06.179 argued over the band's musical approach, the 00:14:06.179 --> 00:14:08.159 overall sound. What was the core disagreement, 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:11.220 do you think? Well, Fripp is, you know, a master 00:14:11.220 --> 00:14:13.539 of conceptual rigor. He often favors texture, 00:14:13.820 --> 00:14:16.700 intricate mathematical composition, discipline, 00:14:16.919 --> 00:14:20.240 you could say. Right. Baloo brought a more instinctive, 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:23.399 melodic, sometimes even a pop -oriented sensibility 00:14:23.399 --> 00:14:25.480 to these complex structures. Plus that whole 00:14:25.480 --> 00:14:28.279 sound effects thing. It was bound to create friction. 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:31.879 Given that friction, though, why did Fripp keep 00:14:31.879 --> 00:14:34.080 him fronting the band for basically another two 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:36.139 decades on and off? That's a great question. 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:54.460 He was the essential creative counterweight. 00:14:54.659 --> 00:14:57.320 I think that's fair. But the disagreements did 00:14:57.320 --> 00:15:01.179 ultimately take their toll. Fripp split the band 00:15:01.179 --> 00:15:04.659 again after the 1984 tour. But, as often happens 00:15:04.659 --> 00:15:07.639 with King Crimson, Exactly. The camaraderie and 00:15:07.639 --> 00:15:09.659 respect remained strong enough for a major reunion 00:15:09.659 --> 00:15:12.600 about a decade later. They were formed in 1994. 00:15:13.059 --> 00:15:15.840 As a sextet this time. Yeah, expanding to a sextet. 00:15:15.940 --> 00:15:18.919 Adding drummer Pat Mastolato and war guitarist 00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:21.600 Trey Gunn. Okay, another specialized instrument, 00:15:21.860 --> 00:15:24.100 the war guitar. Yeah, similar concept to the 00:15:24.100 --> 00:15:26.639 Chapman stick. It's also a tapped string instrument 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:29.200 used for highly complex rhythmic and harmonic 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:32.179 layers. Perfect for this newly expanded, really 00:15:32.179 --> 00:15:34.950 dense lineup they called the double trio. And 00:15:34.950 --> 00:15:38.029 that lineup released Thrak in 1995. Correct. 00:15:38.190 --> 00:15:40.190 And Baloo stayed deeply involved even during 00:15:40.190 --> 00:15:42.470 the intermittent periods after that. Specifically, 00:15:42.570 --> 00:15:45.110 he participated in those experimental side projects, 00:15:45.330 --> 00:15:48.230 Fripp, called the Projects. Starting in 97. Yeah. 00:15:48.269 --> 00:15:50.570 And interestingly, despite being the lead guitarist 00:15:50.570 --> 00:15:53.409 in Crimson Prime, Baloo predominantly played 00:15:53.409 --> 00:15:55.769 electronic drums in these projects. Showing off 00:15:55.769 --> 00:15:58.330 his original instrument skills. And his willingness 00:15:58.330 --> 00:16:01.820 to always serve. The sonic needs the concept, 00:16:02.019 --> 00:16:03.600 whatever that might be. The group eventually 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:05.899 reduced back down to a quartet for the construction 00:16:05.899 --> 00:16:08.620 of Light in 2000 and the power to believe in 00:16:08.620 --> 00:16:11.960 2003. And we know Baloo played a really critical 00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:13.960 role in just the band's functional existence 00:16:13.960 --> 00:16:17.220 during this time. Between 2000 and 2008, King 00:16:17.220 --> 00:16:19.559 Crimson used Baloo's home studio in Mount Juliet, 00:16:19.779 --> 00:16:22.970 Tennessee for rehearsals and studio work. Cementing 00:16:22.970 --> 00:16:25.730 his status as a key operational member, not just 00:16:25.730 --> 00:16:28.350 a creative one. Absolutely. It was one of the 00:16:28.350 --> 00:16:31.129 longest, continuous incarnations of King Crimson, 00:16:31.149 --> 00:16:34.009 really. Baloo's tenure was second only to Fripp 00:16:34.009 --> 00:16:36.210 himself in terms of longevity within the band's 00:16:36.210 --> 00:16:38.529 history. But it eventually concluded. September 00:16:38.529 --> 00:16:41.570 2013, Fripp announced yet another new lineup. 00:16:41.769 --> 00:16:44.429 As Fripp does. And this one did not include Baloo. 00:16:44.940 --> 00:16:47.340 marking the end of an era defined by his unique 00:16:47.340 --> 00:16:50.080 sonic exploration and lyrical insight. Ah, major 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:52.960 chapter closed. Okay, so while all that intense 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:55.159 work was happening inside King Crimson and during 00:16:55.159 --> 00:16:56.899 the Crash Course collaborations before that, 00:16:57.259 --> 00:17:00.000 Baloo was meticulously building his parallel 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:02.980 solo career. Yeah, never stopped. And that career 00:17:02.980 --> 00:17:05.400 is characterized by this incredible swing between 00:17:05.400 --> 00:17:09.500 radical experimentation and genuinely surprising 00:17:09.500 --> 00:17:12.720 pop chart success. That ability to just swing 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:16.200 between commercial viability and really out there 00:17:16.200 --> 00:17:18.859 avant -garde noise, that's a defining trait of 00:17:18.859 --> 00:17:21.200 Baloo. He released his first solo album, Lone 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:24.500 Rhino, in 1982, fulfilling that condition he 00:17:24.500 --> 00:17:27.059 set for Fripp. That's right. The album included 00:17:27.059 --> 00:17:29.970 material from his earlier band, Gaga. and feature 00:17:29.970 --> 00:17:32.150 that poignant, kind of adorable instrumental 00:17:32.150 --> 00:17:34.230 duet with his four -year -old daughter, Audie, 00:17:34.269 --> 00:17:37.390 on piano. Aw, he followed up quickly with Twang 00:17:37.390 --> 00:17:41.069 Bar King in 1983. Yep, standard rock album, relatively 00:17:41.069 --> 00:17:43.670 speaking. But then, let's talk about the album 00:17:43.670 --> 00:17:45.910 he jokingly, or maybe not so jokingly, called 00:17:45.910 --> 00:17:48.890 The Contract Killer. Huh. Desire, Caught by the 00:17:48.890 --> 00:17:51.980 Tail, 1986. Yeah. This was wildly experimental, 00:17:52.279 --> 00:17:54.640 entirely instrumental, made solely with processed 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:56.940 guitar, guitar synthesizer, and percussion. And 00:17:56.940 --> 00:17:58.700 this is where you really see that tension between 00:17:58.700 --> 00:18:01.140 artistic need and commercial reality play out. 00:18:01.740 --> 00:18:04.180 Baloo explicitly stated that the aggressively 00:18:04.180 --> 00:18:07.000 avant -garde nature of this record, it cost him 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:09.200 his contract with Island Records. They just didn't 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:11.640 know what to do with it. Pretty much. For Baloo, 00:18:11.660 --> 00:18:14.079 though, this album was clearly an artistic necessity. 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:17.259 a pure exploration of what the electric guitar 00:18:17.259 --> 00:18:19.339 could sound like if you detached it entirely 00:18:19.339 --> 00:18:22.680 from traditional melody or structure, favoring 00:18:22.680 --> 00:18:25.319 texture and sound manipulation over chord changes. 00:18:25.539 --> 00:18:28.180 He prioritized that artistic expression, even 00:18:28.180 --> 00:18:30.680 knowing it might jeopardize his mainstream career 00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:34.019 path. Absolutely. That defiance, however, didn't 00:18:34.019 --> 00:18:36.440 stop him from swinging back towards a more song 00:18:36.440 --> 00:18:39.589 -focused collective effort. In 1985, he formed 00:18:39.589 --> 00:18:43.109 The Bears. With Rob Fetters, Chris Arducer, and 00:18:43.109 --> 00:18:45.509 Bob Neiswanger, friends from his early sweetheart 00:18:45.509 --> 00:18:48.549 days in Nashville. Exactly. The Bears was a very 00:18:48.549 --> 00:18:50.869 conscious attempt to create a unified group. 00:18:51.170 --> 00:18:53.690 Shared vocals, collective songwriting, offering 00:18:53.690 --> 00:18:56.009 a much more structured kind of power pop approach 00:18:56.009 --> 00:18:58.490 than King Crimson allowed. They released two 00:18:58.490 --> 00:19:01.750 albums. Before breaking up in 1989, mainly because 00:19:01.750 --> 00:19:05.049 their label, PMRC, collapsed. But they kept that 00:19:05.049 --> 00:19:07.690 core relationship going. reuniting intermittently 00:19:07.690 --> 00:19:10.170 for studio albums later on, like Car Caught Fire 00:19:10.170 --> 00:19:12.809 and Eureka. It's fascinating how quickly he could 00:19:12.809 --> 00:19:15.829 pivot back to pop, though. The late 80s saw him 00:19:15.829 --> 00:19:18.329 hit real commercial success as a solo artist. 00:19:18.589 --> 00:19:21.130 Yeah, his 1989 album Mr. Music Head produced 00:19:21.130 --> 00:19:23.809 the single Oh Daddy, which reached number five 00:19:23.809 --> 00:19:25.750 on the U .S. modern rock chart. And that was 00:19:25.750 --> 00:19:27.710 the duet with his daughter Audie again, now 11 00:19:27.710 --> 00:19:29.950 years old. A sweet callback to that first solo 00:19:29.950 --> 00:19:32.569 album. And the success continued with Young Lions 00:19:32.569 --> 00:19:36.000 in 1990. which strategically featured guest appearances 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:39.400 by David Bowie. Resulting in two more hits. The 00:19:39.400 --> 00:19:41.839 duet Pretty Pink Rose, which hit number two on 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:44.740 U .S. Modern Rock. Huge hit. And Men in Helicopters, 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:47.920 which got to number 17. And this pop peak happened 00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:49.579 at the exact same time he was working as the 00:19:49.579 --> 00:19:51.859 musical director for Bowie's massive Sound Plus 00:19:51.859 --> 00:19:54.799 Vision tour. That just showcases his incredible 00:19:54.799 --> 00:19:58.160 ability to balance wildly different musical demands. 00:19:58.500 --> 00:20:01.220 Complex prog work one minute, straight ahead 00:20:01.220 --> 00:20:04.180 pop sensibility the next. Mind -boggling multitasking. 00:20:04.380 --> 00:20:06.539 But the internal innovator never rested, did 00:20:06.539 --> 00:20:08.720 he? He doubled down again on his experimental 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:11.180 side by launching the Experimental Guitar Series. 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:14.539 Right. Volume 1, The Guitarist's Orchestra, came 00:20:14.539 --> 00:20:17.500 out in 1995, and this is a phenomenal example 00:20:17.500 --> 00:20:19.839 of his technological pioneering. It's an album 00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:23.000 of atonal contemporary classical music realized 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:26.319 entirely on MIDI guitar. Entirely. Maybe we should 00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:28.160 explain MIDI guitar quickly. Good idea. Okay, 00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:31.200 so a MIDI guitar uses a specialized pickup. It 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:33.160 converts the vibrational signals of the strings 00:20:33.160 --> 00:20:37.420 into MIDI data, musical instrument, digital interface 00:20:37.420 --> 00:20:40.529 data. Just like a keyboard synth. Exactly. This 00:20:40.529 --> 00:20:43.630 digital data can then control synthesizers, samplers, 00:20:43.630 --> 00:20:46.309 anything that understands MIDI. It allows the 00:20:46.309 --> 00:20:48.349 guitar to sound like literally anything, a piano, 00:20:48.529 --> 00:20:51.490 drums, a flute, or in this case, a full orchestral 00:20:51.490 --> 00:20:54.970 brass section. So Baloo used his guitar to digitally 00:20:54.970 --> 00:20:57.670 model and play every single instrument in an 00:20:57.670 --> 00:21:00.720 orchestra for that entire album. Yeah. just showcasing 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:03.519 the guitar's potential far, far beyond its traditional 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:05.900 sonic limits, pushing the envelope again. Moving 00:21:05.900 --> 00:21:08.039 forward a bit, let's acknowledge his significant 00:21:08.039 --> 00:21:10.599 role in industrial music, too. Oh, yeah, the 00:21:10.599 --> 00:21:13.259 Nine Inch Nails connection. He became Trent Reznor's 00:21:13.259 --> 00:21:16.019 guest guitarist of choice, apparently. Appeared 00:21:16.019 --> 00:21:19.980 on four major NIN albums across 19 years. The 00:21:19.980 --> 00:21:23.140 Downward Spiral, The Fragile, Ghost's IV, and 00:21:23.140 --> 00:21:26.230 Hesitation Marks. That's a serious run. Reznor's 00:21:26.230 --> 00:21:28.930 trust in Baloo's ability to just create unique, 00:21:29.130 --> 00:21:31.789 often brutal textures and industrial noise is 00:21:31.789 --> 00:21:34.170 really well documented. The connection was strong 00:21:34.170 --> 00:21:37.150 enough that Baloo was even briefly named NIN's 00:21:37.150 --> 00:21:40.210 touring guitarist in 2013, though he left before 00:21:40.210 --> 00:21:42.809 any live dates happened. Why was that? Reportedly 00:21:42.809 --> 00:21:45.029 due to differences in touring logistics and expectations. 00:21:45.509 --> 00:21:47.690 Just didn't quite match in practice, it seems. 00:21:47.869 --> 00:21:50.829 Okay. In the 21st century, he established a long 00:21:50.829 --> 00:21:53.930 -term touring unit, the Adrian Ballou Power Trio. 00:21:53.950 --> 00:21:56.230 Right. Featuring two former students from the 00:21:56.230 --> 00:21:58.950 Paul Green School of Rock, interestingly, Eric 00:21:58.950 --> 00:22:01.900 Slick on drums and Julie Slick on bass. And they 00:22:01.900 --> 00:22:05.059 released the album E in 2009, continuing that 00:22:05.059 --> 00:22:08.299 tradition of complex, precise, yet really aggressive, 00:22:08.380 --> 00:22:10.700 progressive music. A great live band, too. And 00:22:10.700 --> 00:22:12.960 he remains intensely active, doesn't he? That 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:15.140 versatility was seen again when he scored the 00:22:15.140 --> 00:22:17.980 Pixar short film Piper in 2016. Beautiful score. 00:22:18.339 --> 00:22:21.599 Gorgeous. And on the road, he continues to connect 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:24.420 the dots of his own history. Like touring in 00:22:24.420 --> 00:22:27.119 2023 with Jerry Harrison on the Remain in Light 00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:29.599 tour, playing the music he helped create four 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:32.490 decades earlier. Full circle. And most recently 00:22:32.490 --> 00:22:35.990 in 2024, he joined Tony Levin, Steve Vai, and 00:22:35.990 --> 00:22:38.529 tool drummer Danny Carey in that supergroup Beat. 00:22:38.890 --> 00:22:41.849 Specifically performing the music of the 1980s 00:22:41.849 --> 00:22:44.150 King Crimson lineup, which must be incredible 00:22:44.150 --> 00:22:46.470 to hear live with that lineup. Absolutely. This 00:22:46.470 --> 00:22:49.390 ongoing high -level activity perfectly validates 00:22:49.390 --> 00:22:51.990 our final segment then, focusing on the sheer 00:22:51.990 --> 00:22:55.089 ingenuity of the man and his methods. Yeah, let's 00:22:55.089 --> 00:22:57.250 dive into the specifics. The innovator style. 00:22:57.710 --> 00:23:00.190 gear and influence. We've talked conceptually 00:23:00.190 --> 00:23:01.650 about his signature sound, but let's get really 00:23:01.650 --> 00:23:03.970 specific. Okay. He's noted for a playing style 00:23:03.970 --> 00:23:07.130 featuring just bizarre electronic tones, really 00:23:07.130 --> 00:23:09.890 unorthodox techniques, and sonic effects that 00:23:09.890 --> 00:23:12.369 explicitly mimic the natural and mechanical world. 00:23:12.549 --> 00:23:15.210 Animals, birds, insects. Vehicles, industrial 00:23:15.210 --> 00:23:17.509 mechanical noise. You name it, he's probably 00:23:17.509 --> 00:23:19.589 tried to make his guitar sound like it. And the 00:23:19.589 --> 00:23:22.329 sounds themselves are iconic. That chorus riff 00:23:22.329 --> 00:23:25.099 in Paul Simon's You Can Call Me Al. That's him, 00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:27.539 right? Highly rhythmic, kind of quirky sound. 00:23:27.700 --> 00:23:30.160 That's him. The infectious, really springy riff 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:33.079 on Tom, Tom Club's genius of love. Him and again. 00:23:33.339 --> 00:23:36.519 Him again. And perhaps most definitively, those 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:39.160 elephant impressions he creates on King Crimson's 00:23:39.160 --> 00:23:41.519 track, Elephant Talk. Okay, how does he do that 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:43.779 one? Well, that Elephant Talk sound. It isn't 00:23:43.779 --> 00:23:45.859 just one effect pedal. It's a combination of 00:23:45.859 --> 00:23:48.559 unorthodox technique and deep processing. Technique 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:51.259 -like. He uses the vibrato bar, the whammy bar, 00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:54.039 extensively. Yeah. Coupled with pitch shifting 00:23:54.039 --> 00:23:56.380 effects, often those classic electro harmonics 00:23:56.380 --> 00:23:59.180 pedals like a whammy or similar to simulate that 00:23:59.180 --> 00:24:02.000 lumbering, wide ranging pitch of an elephant's 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:05.640 trumpet call. Big bends, slides. Got it. So how 00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:08.220 does he achieve this level of sonic texture generally? 00:24:08.440 --> 00:24:11.079 The list of his extended techniques is just staggering. 00:24:11.240 --> 00:24:13.420 It goes way beyond standard guitar playing. Oh, 00:24:13.420 --> 00:24:15.839 yeah. It includes two -handed tapping, like Van 00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:18.400 Halen, but often more textural, pick scrapes 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:21.180 along the strings, unorthodox slide guitar techniques, 00:24:21.460 --> 00:24:24.279 using objects like actual metal files to physically 00:24:24.279 --> 00:24:28.339 attack the strings. Using files? Seriously? Whatever 00:24:28.339 --> 00:24:31.039 it takes to get the sound, one of the most unusual 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:33.940 techniques is actually bending the neck of the 00:24:33.940 --> 00:24:35.819 guitar itself. Doesn't that damage the guitar? 00:24:36.220 --> 00:24:38.809 On a standard guitar, yeah. Bending the neck 00:24:38.809 --> 00:24:42.210 risks damaging it. But Ballou does this purposefully 00:24:42.210 --> 00:24:45.210 to modulate pitch way beyond what the standard 00:24:45.210 --> 00:24:48.309 vibrato bar can do. He treats the entire structure 00:24:48.309 --> 00:24:50.750 of the guitar, the wood, the metal, the strings, 00:24:50.829 --> 00:24:53.769 as a sound -making object. Wow. He even produces 00:24:53.769 --> 00:24:56.230 sounds from off the fretboard, like from the 00:24:56.230 --> 00:24:58.009 string length between the nut and the tuning 00:24:58.009 --> 00:25:01.210 pegs or behind the bridge. He's seeking out every 00:25:01.210 --> 00:25:03.930 possible source of resonance or noise. So this 00:25:03.930 --> 00:25:06.529 means the gear isn't just an add -on. It's compositional, 00:25:06.609 --> 00:25:09.339 right? Totally. It's integral. He's famous for 00:25:09.339 --> 00:25:12.140 using an immense array, as critics say, of electronic 00:25:12.140 --> 00:25:14.400 effects pedals. Electro -harmonics has been a 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:16.680 mainstay throughout his career. Pedals like the 00:25:16.680 --> 00:25:19.319 big muff distortion fuzz, the memory man delay, 00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:22.279 those are essential for his textural and looping 00:25:22.279 --> 00:25:24.779 capabilities. He builds sounds with pedals. He 00:25:24.779 --> 00:25:26.980 admitted once to composing specifically for the 00:25:26.980 --> 00:25:29.619 capabilities of his amplifiers and effects. He 00:25:29.619 --> 00:25:31.819 even noted once that he lamented the demise of 00:25:31.819 --> 00:25:35.200 a specific amplifier because, quote, he had wrote 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:37.240 specific sounds and types of looping and things 00:25:37.240 --> 00:25:39.119 that I just can't seem to make other amps do. 00:25:39.319 --> 00:25:41.559 That proves it right there. The sonic pathway 00:25:41.559 --> 00:25:43.900 is integrated into the architecture of the composition 00:25:43.900 --> 00:25:46.619 itself. Exactly. And as we mentioned with the 00:25:46.619 --> 00:25:48.599 guitarist's orchestra, he was a true pioneer 00:25:48.599 --> 00:25:51.140 of the guitar synthesizer. One of the very first 00:25:51.140 --> 00:25:53.460 players to consistently use them in popular music, 00:25:53.559 --> 00:25:55.660 starting way back in the 1980s. He used early 00:25:55.660 --> 00:25:58.740 models like the Roland GR -300 and GR -1. Yeah. 00:25:58.839 --> 00:26:03.039 And he even owned a rare Roland GR -505 fretless 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:05.880 guitar synthesizer. which shows his commitment 00:26:05.880 --> 00:26:08.240 to digital modeling and sound conversion really 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:11.319 early on. Fretless synth guitar. Yeah. Wild. 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:14.240 And in the modern era, that commitment to specialized 00:26:14.240 --> 00:26:16.759 instruments continues, doesn't it, with his signature 00:26:16.759 --> 00:26:19.819 Parker Fly guitar. Oh, yeah. He collaborated 00:26:19.819 --> 00:26:22.480 with Parker Guitars to design his signature model. 00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:25.720 And that guitar is a technological marvel. It 00:26:25.720 --> 00:26:28.119 features advanced, really lightweight composite 00:26:28.119 --> 00:26:30.779 materials. And this comprehensive electronics 00:26:30.779 --> 00:26:34.460 package built right in. Including a sustainer 00:26:34.460 --> 00:26:37.140 pickup, which uses electromagnetism to keep notes 00:26:37.140 --> 00:26:40.299 ringing indefinitely. Line's very ex -integration. 00:26:40.420 --> 00:26:44.000 Which digitally models dozens of different classic 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:46.599 guitars. Exactly. So he can sound like a Telecaster, 00:26:46.660 --> 00:26:48.880 a Les Paul, an Acoustic, whatever, just by flicking 00:26:48.880 --> 00:26:51.579 a switch. And it has full MIDI capability built 00:26:51.579 --> 00:26:54.400 into it's essentially his entire sound library 00:26:54.400 --> 00:26:57.460 integrated into one instrument. Incredible. Now, 00:26:57.519 --> 00:26:59.579 we absolutely must talk about that magnificent 00:26:59.579 --> 00:27:02.059 visual prop that became legendary, the so -called 00:27:02.059 --> 00:27:05.640 rubber neck guitar. Ah, yes, the wiggly guitar. 00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:08.079 It appeared so strikingly in the Laurie Anderson 00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:10.720 film Home of the Brave and in the video for his 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:14.279 1989 hit. Oh, daddy. It was just incredible rock 00:27:14.279 --> 00:27:16.460 and roll theater, known for its ability to dramatically 00:27:16.460 --> 00:27:18.400 bend and flex like it was made of rubber. The 00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:21.640 visual impact was huge. Bust. But Baloo revealed 00:27:21.640 --> 00:27:24.720 in 2007 that the guitar was solely an unplayable 00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:27.539 visual prop. No way. It didn't actually play. 00:27:27.680 --> 00:27:29.880 Nope. It apparently contained metal vertebrae 00:27:29.880 --> 00:27:32.099 inside to allow the flex, but it was purely for 00:27:32.099 --> 00:27:35.019 show. a fantastic piece of visual manipulation 00:27:35.019 --> 00:27:37.900 contrasting the sophisticated engineering of 00:27:37.900 --> 00:27:40.200 his actual instruments. That's brilliant. He 00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:42.240 hasn't stopped pushing technology forward either, 00:27:42.339 --> 00:27:44.579 has he? Even moving into the software realm with 00:27:44.579 --> 00:27:47.450 mobile apps. Right. He designed iOS mobile apps, 00:27:47.549 --> 00:27:51.029 notably FLUX .FX, which is a professional audio 00:27:51.029 --> 00:27:54.269 multi -effects app for the iPad. He said it allows 00:27:54.269 --> 00:27:56.529 him to make sounds that he actually can't achieve 00:27:56.529 --> 00:27:59.849 with any other physical gear he owns. And even 00:27:59.849 --> 00:28:03.089 more conceptually innovative is the FLUX by Baloo 00:28:03.089 --> 00:28:05.990 app. This is an application containing over 300 00:28:05.990 --> 00:28:08.710 audio tracks and pieces of artwork, engineered 00:28:08.710 --> 00:28:11.920 to, quote, never play the same twice. How does 00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:14.980 that work? It constantly reorganizes and remixes 00:28:14.980 --> 00:28:17.119 the audio and visual elements algorithmically 00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:19.779 into unique sonic and visual structures every 00:28:19.779 --> 00:28:22.059 time you launch it. It's generative art, basically. 00:28:22.279 --> 00:28:24.920 That's mind -bending. And the industry recognized 00:28:24.920 --> 00:28:27.519 this digital innovation. They did. Both apps 00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:30.180 were honored in the 2015 Webby Awards and the 00:28:30.180 --> 00:28:33.140 Red Dot Design Awards. Pretty prestigious. To 00:28:33.140 --> 00:28:35.240 round out his influence, we have to recognize 00:28:35.240 --> 00:28:38.440 his extensive session career as well. He was 00:28:38.440 --> 00:28:41.000 the go -to guy when you needed something completely 00:28:41.000 --> 00:28:43.759 unique, wasn't he? Absolutely. He contributed 00:28:43.759 --> 00:28:47.059 heavily to Paul Simon's monumental albums Graceland 00:28:47.059 --> 00:28:49.819 and The Rhythm of the Saints. His textural guitar 00:28:49.819 --> 00:28:52.759 work just blended seamlessly with those African 00:28:52.759 --> 00:28:55.119 and Brazilian influences Simon was exploring. 00:28:55.380 --> 00:28:58.380 He also played on Cyndi Lauper's True Colors. 00:28:58.539 --> 00:29:02.140 Laurie Anderson's Mr. Heartbreak. And in maybe 00:29:02.140 --> 00:29:05.740 the most bizarre cameo, contributed guitar to 00:29:05.740 --> 00:29:08.819 William Shatner's second musical album has been... 00:29:08.819 --> 00:29:11.460 Produced by Ben Folds, yeah. Baloo pops up everywhere. 00:29:11.640 --> 00:29:13.500 And let's not forget his production work either. 00:29:13.740 --> 00:29:15.660 Right. He produced albums for bands like the 00:29:15.660 --> 00:29:17.779 Raisins and the Elvis Brothers back in the 80s. 00:29:17.819 --> 00:29:20.529 And in the 90s, he branched out. Produced two 00:29:20.529 --> 00:29:23.349 tracks for Jars of Clay, including their huge 00:29:23.349 --> 00:29:25.910 crossover Christian hit Flood. Didn't know that. 00:29:26.089 --> 00:29:28.329 He also fostered international connections, producing 00:29:28.329 --> 00:29:31.410 albums for three major Mexican rock bands, Caifanes, 00:29:31.650 --> 00:29:35.109 Santa Sabina, and Jaguars. Again, proving his 00:29:35.109 --> 00:29:37.809 adaptability across genres and languages. Finally 00:29:37.809 --> 00:29:40.470 then, we have to appreciate the depth of his 00:29:40.470 --> 00:29:43.130 legacy, the influence he's had. He's cited as 00:29:43.130 --> 00:29:45.150 a major influence by artists across the entire 00:29:45.150 --> 00:29:48.309 spectrum of rock and pop. People like Adam Jones 00:29:48.309 --> 00:29:50.549 from Tool. You can hear that sometimes. Stephen 00:29:50.549 --> 00:29:54.349 Wilson, St. Vincent. Both Red Hot Chili Peppers 00:29:54.349 --> 00:29:57.150 guitarists. Hillel Slovak and John Frusciante 00:29:57.150 --> 00:30:01.269 were big admirers. Wow. But maybe the ultimate 00:30:01.269 --> 00:30:03.789 expression of his impact is that powerful 1994 00:30:03.789 --> 00:30:06.990 quote from Trent Reznor, who described Baloo 00:30:06.990 --> 00:30:09.750 in the simplest, most profound terms possible. 00:30:10.029 --> 00:30:12.150 What did he say? The most awesome musician in 00:30:12.150 --> 00:30:15.450 the world. High praise indeed. So when we synthesize 00:30:15.450 --> 00:30:17.859 everything we've looked at, The self -taught 00:30:17.859 --> 00:30:20.900 origins, that intense crash course under Zappa, 00:30:21.099 --> 00:30:23.940 the willingness to embrace the role of band clown. 00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:26.180 The technical rigor required for King Crimson. 00:30:26.259 --> 00:30:28.539 And that constant balancing act between pop success 00:30:28.539 --> 00:30:31.599 and avant -garde noise. The core identity of 00:30:31.599 --> 00:30:33.559 Adrian Ballou really emerges, doesn't it? It 00:30:33.559 --> 00:30:35.619 does. He's an innovator whose absolute refusal 00:30:35.619 --> 00:30:38.299 to sound like everybody else forged a signature 00:30:38.299 --> 00:30:40.680 sonic identity recognized all over the world. 00:30:40.940 --> 00:30:42.819 We've watched him effortlessly pivot between 00:30:42.819 --> 00:30:44.799 the industrial electronics of Nine Inch Nails, 00:30:45.059 --> 00:30:47.779 the interlocking progressive complexity of Fripp, 00:30:47.880 --> 00:30:50.940 and genuine radio -friendly pop success. His 00:30:50.940 --> 00:30:53.859 career is just one long, sustained study in extreme 00:30:53.859 --> 00:30:56.799 versatility and technological adoption, from 00:30:56.799 --> 00:30:59.299 those early guitar synths right up to the FLUX 00:30:59.299 --> 00:31:01.720 apps today. Okay, that leads perfectly to the 00:31:01.720 --> 00:31:03.779 final provocative thought we want to leave you, 00:31:03.839 --> 00:31:07.059 the listener, with today. How does this model 00:31:07.059 --> 00:31:09.720 a career built not necessarily on traditional 00:31:09.720 --> 00:31:12.640 virtuosity, although he has chops, but built 00:31:12.640 --> 00:31:15.960 entirely on cultivating and defending a unique, 00:31:16.180 --> 00:31:19.339 instantly recognizable sonic identity through 00:31:19.339 --> 00:31:22.680 constant technological pioneering. How does that 00:31:22.680 --> 00:31:25.240 serve as the ultimate blueprint, maybe, for musical 00:31:25.240 --> 00:31:27.480 longevity and creative relevance in the highly 00:31:27.480 --> 00:31:30.559 fragmented, rapidly changing 21st century music 00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:32.920 landscape? Something to think about. Thank you 00:31:32.920 --> 00:31:34.859 for joining us for this deep dive into the magnificent 00:31:34.859 --> 00:31:37.180 noise architect, Adrian Ballou. We'll see you 00:31:37.180 --> 00:31:38.480 next time on The Deep Dive.