ESZTER BALINT

Eszter was born in the glorious capital of the land of Arpad. At the encouragement of her grandparents and her mother, who had studied harp and piano, she took up violin at the age of six. Eszter's parents were part of a theater group, which later became known as Squat Theater. Though their work was not overtly political, in a time and place where celebrating the spirit of individual expression and freedom is the most political statement of all, the authorities put the group under constant surveillance and prohibited any public performances.

When Eszter was ten, she and her parents, along with the rest of the company, moved to Paris where Eszter went to school for a year and a half. Here the group made a name for itself with their Obie award winning plays, many of which featured Eszter, and which were staged in the ground floor storefront. The performances amazed some, outraged others, and amused many, particularly the spectators/unwitting participants passing by on the street.

Eszter made her recording debut (on violin) as a young girl on an early rap track produced by artist Jean Michel Basquiat and featuring rapper Rammellzee. Around this time she also appeared in a cameo role in the film Downtown '81, a chronicle of New York's music scene. At age 15, Eszter was spotted in a play by director Jim Jarmusch who asked her to star in his film Stranger Than Paradise. Following its premier at The New York Film Festival, the film garnered Eszter international acclaim and led to subsequent starring and featured roles in several films. Meanwhile the happy co-existence of glamour and struggle to survive prevailed, and throughout some of the 80's and 90's Eszter held an endless variety of strange, funny, pitiful, noble, and sometimes absurd jobs. Eszter also embarked on voice lessons for a number of years and briefly entertained the idea of becoming a classical singer. In 1990 Eszter moved to Los Angeles where she spent seven long years losing herself and finding herself. And losing herself. And finding herself. This self imposed exile to Hollywood managed to extinguish whatever small flames of passion she ever held for the film industry, and she threw herself wholeheartedly and violently into her love of music and words. But not before she appeared in one of her favorite films, Steve Buscemi's Trees Lounge for which she also co-wrote a song with guitarist Smokey Hormel. Eszter formed a short-lived band with Sixteen Horsepower's Pascal Humbert, which managed to survive a bumpy first set; this included Eszter downing a pint of cognac in five minutes, singing all the songs slightly off key and gyrating nervously in her nevertheless enticing green suede miniskirt.

Since the release of her debut album, Flicker, on Scratchie Records, (co-owned by Adam Schlesinger from Fountains of Wayne and James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins fame) Eszter has toured the East Coast, the West Coast, and Europe with her songs, and has performed steadily in New York. For her sophomore effort, just completed and tentatively titled Mud, Eszter joined forces once again with JD along with a core group of musicians, some of whom have performed many a show with Eszter. And this is where it gets tough, because this part of her story is unfolding as we speak - but you can have a look at her discography on this site to see some of what Eszter has been up to. Throughout this sometimes trying and sometimes thrilling adventure, one of the things that continues to amaze her and make her grateful, is the opportunity to have shared the stage and studio with some of the most gifted songwriters and musicians around. She has been fortunate enough to be asked to contribute to performances and/or albums by the likes of Rebecca Moore, Dayna Kurtz, Anthony Coleman, Dave Soldier, John Lurie, and Michael Gira's Angels Of Light. And those who have generously contributed their time and awesome talents to Eszter's work inlude Michael DuClos, JD Foster, Marc Ribot, Jane Scarpantoni, Sebastian Steinberg, Steven Ulrich, Sim Cain, Matt Johnson, Nic Brown, Phil Hernandez, Chris Maxwell, Richard Buckner, The Gourds, and Eszter's longtime guitarist, Chris Cochrane. To name a few. And then they lived happily ever after...