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Zach Baird | |
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![]() Zach Baird (2010) | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Zachary Baird |
Born | Orange County, California, U.S. | February 16, 1971
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instrument(s) |
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Years active | 1989–present |
Zachary Baird (born February 16, 1971) is an American keyboardist known for collaborating with the nu metal band Korn. [1] He is also noted for using the Moog synthesizer, [2] as well as the Ondes Martenot.
Zach Baird graduated from the Arts Magnet, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas. [3]
Baird's first project was a 15-piece funk band called Whitey, but he then joined the band Billy Goat in 1990 and was a member for six years. Over the years he either founded or was involved in numerous other projects and bands, including:
Baird has collaborated with artists from various music genres, including Edie Brickell, Everlast, Evanescence (provided programming for their debut album "Fallen"), Colin Hay, Daniel Powter, Mike Dillon, and Stone Gossard.
He auditioned for Nine Inch Nails:
I never even met Trent Reznor. I just played along with a prerecorded tape. They had this work area set up where there were no other musicians to play along with, and the guys in the band all sat up in this dark balcony area where I couldn't even see them. Or, at least I think they were up there. It was just weird. [3]
Baird was also auditioned for alternative artist Beck; he describes it as great experience:
Trying out for Beck's band was great. He was just set up in this cool little room, and we jammed on five or six of his songs. [3]
Baird toured with pop singer and pianist Daniel Powter through Europe in 2005. [3] In late 2009 and early 2010, Baird was part of Adam Lambert's band, providing programming, working as his music director, and playing keyboards.
Baird toured as a keyboard tech for Beyonce's Renaissance World Tour [4] , which started in Europe on May 10th 2023 and ended on October 1st 2023.
Baird has worked with nu metal band Korn, touring with them worldwide as a masked horse (which in turn, Baird got his nickname "Horse") in the See You on the Other Side tour, as well as in their 2006 edition of the Family Values Tour . He has temporarily joined the band for their eighth studio album. Collaboration with Korn and his previous projects was quite a difference for him:
This has really been a trip. I've been working here all day long every day at the band's rehearsal space at S.I.R. Studios in Hollywood, just learning every song and getting used to all of this amazing gear. [3]
On December 9, 2006, Baird performed with Korn on MTV Unplugged: Korn , playing piano. After the Bitch We Got a Problem Tour , Baird continued to work with Korn frontman Jonathan Davis on his Alone I Play tour, as a part of his backing band SFA. In 2011, Baird played the keyboard on Korn guitarist Munky's solo project, Fear and the Nervous System . He also toured with Korn during 2013's The Paradigm Shift tour, and the 20th Anniversary Tour from 2014 through 2015. As of early 2017, Baird is no longer collaborating with the band.
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream.
Modular synthesizers are synthesizers composed of separate modules for different functions. The modules can be connected together by the user to create a patch. The outputs from the modules may include audio signals, analog control voltages, or digital signals for logic or timing conditions. Typical modules are voltage-controlled oscillators, voltage-controlled filters, voltage-controlled amplifiers and envelope generators.
Evanescence is an American rock band founded in 1994 by singer and keyboardist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody in Little Rock, Arkansas. After releasing independent EPs as a duo in the late '90s and a demo CD, Evanescence released their debut studio album, Fallen, on Wind-up Records in 2003. Propelled by the success of hit singles like "Bring Me to Life" and "My Immortal", Fallen sold more than four million copies in the US by January 2004, garnering Evanescence two Grammy Awards out of six nominations. The band released their first live album and concert DVD, Anywhere but Home, in 2004, which sold over one million copies worldwide.
Brooks Wackerman is an American musician. He is the current drummer of heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, which he joined in 2015. His first album with Avenged Sevenfold was The Stage (2016). He was previously the drummer for the punk rock band Bad Religion. Wackerman has also performed, either as a member or a session or touring member, with Blink-182, Bad4Good, Infectious Grooves, Glenn Tipton, Mass Mental, Suicidal Tendencies, The Vandals, Avril Lavigne, Korn, Kidneys, Fear and the Nervous System, Tenacious D, Farmikos, Tom Delonge, and Big Talk. His brothers, Chad Wackerman, and John Wackerman, are also drummers.
Gunnar Mathias "Mic" Michaeli is a Swedish musician best known as the keyboardist for the rock band Europe. Like many of the other Europe members he grew up in Stockholm suburb Upplands Väsby. He joined the band for their Wings of Tomorrow tour in 1984, taking vocalist Joey Tempest's place behind the keyboards.
Chris Pitman is an American musician best known for his involvement with the hard rock band Guns N' Roses. A multi-instrumentalist, Pitman is known to play keyboards, guitar and drums, in addition to his role as a lead or backing vocalist. Pitman currently fronts alternative rock band SexTapes and previously worked with such bands as Guns N' Roses, Lusk, Replicants and Tool.
Bon Harris is an English composer, producer, singer and songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is a founding member of the British EBM group Nitzer Ebb, programming Nitzer Ebb's signature sound. He also played drums and synthesizers for Nitzer Ebb, as well as lending his voice to several tracks such as "Let Beauty Loose."
The Nord Stage is a digital keyboard or stage piano, manufactured by Clavia Digital Music Instruments of Stockholm, Sweden. There have been six editions of the instrument: the original Nord Stage in 2005, the Nord Stage EX in 2008, the Nord Stage 2 in 2011, the Nord Stage 2 EX in 2015, the Nord Stage 3 in 2017, and the Nord Stage 4 in 2023.
Mike Dillon is an American percussionist, vibraphonist, bandleader, and vocalist born in San Antonio, Texas. He is a member of Critters Buggin, Les Claypool's Fancy Band and Garage A Trois. He has performed with many musicians including Ani DiFranco, Galactic, Brave Combo, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Marco Benevento, Clutch (band), Claude Coleman Jr., and New Orleans musicians Kevin O'Day, Johnny Vidacovich and James Singleton.
MTV Unplugged: Korn is an acoustic live album by American nu metal band Korn, released worldwide on March 5, 2007, and on the following day in the United States.
A synthesizer is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and frequency modulation synthesis. These sounds may be altered by components such as filters, which cut or boost frequencies; envelopes, which control articulation, or how notes begin and end; and low-frequency oscillators, which modulate parameters such as pitch, volume, or filter characteristics affecting timbre. Synthesizers are typically played with keyboards or controlled by sequencers, software or other instruments and may be synchronized to other equipment via MIDI.
Billy Goat was a band playing rock, funk and Latin styles from 1989 to 1997 that frontman Mike Dillon later described as "a funk-punk band in the vein of the Red Hot Chili Peppers". Originating in Denton, Texas, Billy Goat was popular in the Dallas and Austin scenes including Deep Ellum and became known for its wild stage antics. One published reason for disbanding was turmoil caused from a tour van crash. Putting music ahead of antics, the band reformed with a new line-up in Kansas City prior to the 1995 release, Black and White. The more recent project of Dillon, Go-Go Jungle, has ties to Billy Goat's second incarnation including band members Go-Go Ray and J.J. Richards.
Hairy Apes BMX is an Austin, Texas, USA-based band playing an eclectic mix of rock, jazz, Latin, afro-funk, hip-hop, and punk. They won the Austin Regional Poll at The 1st Annual Independent Music Awards. According to Dillon, the band's name refers to humans all being "just a bunch of hairy apes" and BMX stands for "butt-moving experience".
The Punk Group is an electro/synth-rock band originating from Portland, Oregon.
Fear and the Nervous System was an alternative metal/industrial rock band formed by Korn guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer. The band released one self-titled album in 2012 and disbanded in 2014.
Jonathan Davis and the SFA was an American alternative rock band, formed as a side project for Korn frontman Jonathan Davis. The band functioned as a musical collective, with a rotating cast of musicians involved with the project centred around Davis' songwriting. Although the project never officially released any studio material, two live albums were released in the time the band was active: Alone I Play in 2007, and Live at the Union Chapel in 2011.
Fear and the Nervous System is the sole album by American rock band Fear and the Nervous System, released on September 18, 2012.