“Don’t talk to him about his mass of black hair, though it’s hard to separate the zig zags of curls from the idea that they are the sparks from the electricity going on in his mind. His appetite for creation and to bring his music to all forms of art has been a constant for David Babin since he was a teenager .

Singer/ songwriter/arranger/ pianist, he broke into the recording industry in under the pseudonym, BabX, releasing 2 acclaimed albums, “BabX” in 2006 and “Cristal Ballroom” in 2009 (in which he collaborated with Francophile guitarist, Marc Ribot, and the master sound engineer, Oz Fritz). The first was recorded almost by accident. He had been working on other projects, notably writing original music for a theater troop in which he was also an actor. This led to writing his first songs. The ambiance of the theater and cabaret has creeped into his music giving it density and intemporality.

From the beginning, he knew that he wanted to keep his independence as an artist and that prompted him to co-create a label, Karbaoui Records. His albums were licensed to Warner Music France.

Born in 1981, David Babin grew up surrounded by music: the practice of it and the study of it. His grandfather was a conductor and his mother a pianist and musicologist. The piano has always been his main instrument, but he plays the saxophone, keyboards and enough guitar to get by. He was a student at L’Ecole des Enfants du Spectacle which permitted him to dedicate himself to music while going to school. He also studied at the Bill Evans Piano Academy where he learned jazz.

This fan of Bob Wilson and Tom Waits started earning a living in music at the age of 17, giving lessons to children and directing an adult choir. The experience gave him the tools to become a producer and arranger.

After touring in Europe and in Quebec, Babin put his career as a singer on hold. He returned to the theater writing the music to “Noctiluque” with his “alter ego”, the guitarist Gregory Dargent, for the Japanese choreographer and dancer Kaori Ito (James Thierré, Philippe Découflé,Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui…) .

During this time, Babin also wrote music for short films and documentaries. He created “Cristal Automatique” at the Parisian theater, Les Bouffes du Nord. The idea was to adapt the writings of the “punk poets” of literature, Kerouac, Ginsberg, Rimbaud or Baudelaire, to stage. What interested Babin was to express “the electric side of their poetry”.

David Babin’s love of recording and production brought him back into the studio to produce 2 critically and commercially acclaimed albums for 2 rising female stars in France: the eponymous “Camelia Jordana” and “Initiale” by L. The albums went gold and platinum.


Winner of many prestigious prizes such as Le Prix Charles Cros and le Prix Lucien Barrière, he also got a nod from Les Victoires de la Musique, le Prix Constantin and was a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition whose jury members included Robert Smith, McCoy Tyner, Tom Waits and more…


Today, David Babin’s desire to explore opera has brought him to his new project with Metropolis Ensemble who he discovered thanks to his faithful accomplice, the French film and video director, Armel Hostiou.

It will be a contemporary opera based on the life of Nikola Tesla, modern pioneer of commercial electricity. Babin has always been attracted to the “architecture” of opera. The idea that “emotions are expressed in musical themes and that if you take away the words, the comprehension and the emotion stays intact”. This idea has always been the basis for the way he writes his songs.

His 3rd album, “Drones personnels” will be released in February 2013 on the label Cinq 7.”