We recently connected with Zack Baltich and have shared our conversation below.

Zack , appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

In May of 2024, I released Estuary, a collaborative album that was created over the course of four years. the project was led by me as composer/percussionist/piano/samples/synths, with vocalist Ritika Ganguly, guitarist/singer Ilan Black, and fiddle player Cam Fassett. A reference to the point where the tidal mouth of a large river meets other water, creating unique ecosystems and drawing in wildlife, Estuary is a meeting of language, genre, ideas, and textures in search of new ways of musical expression.

Each ensemble member comes from differing musical backgrounds – I’m from a percussive/folk/rock world, Ilan from funk/folk, Cam from improvisational bluegrass, and Ritika from a Bangla vocal tradition mixed with modern blues and contemporary Indian musical theater. I composed/recorded the layout, structure, and percussive/electronic base of each song and then guided the other artists in composing and adding their own ideas, sounds, and words. Instrumentally this happend through a series of recorded improvisation sessions where Ilan and Cam play along to my written parts. Ritika came in with vocal parts nearly fully written, and in the recording process we collaborate on how to fit them into the fold and improvise textural layers. She sings in Hindi, English, and sometimes in wordless syllables.

Because the compositional process was opened up to the whole ensemble, this project is an expansion and loosening of the traditional ways that I have previously worked. Through this process we co-composed idiosyncratic music that is all at once familiar and like nothing we’ve heard before.

Estuary is the embodiment of a collective future that I yearn for – music which embraces difference and wields it as a means towards connection and into new sonic and emotive grounds.

Zack , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a percussionist, composer, and general music maker based in Duluth, MN. I create to inspire curiosity in the creation of sound and subject matter; to instigate empathy in the form of emotional resonance; and to bring satisfaction that comes from long-form music weaving to a clear landing point. Past projects have been supported by the American Composer’s Forum, Cedar Cultural Center, Minnesota State Arts Board, and Jerome Foundation, among others. I’ve collaborated with dozens of musicians, along with dancers and visual artists.

Notable works: In 2020, in residence with Prairie Ronde Artist Residency, I spent 5 weeks writing and recording music for solo percussion and electronics in a 400,000 square foot former paper mill which resulted in “Afraid of the Dark Now”. In 2023 I collaborated with choreographer Mathew Jaczewski’s ARENA Dances, writing and performing the score for their work “Erased Steps”, which took place inside the massive Union Depot train station in St. Paul, MN. In 2024, I released “Estuary,” a full album combining percussion/electronics/sampling, with guitar, fiddle, and voice.

Through my work I have developed skills in finding symbiotic relationships in concepts and elements that seem disparate. Working in spaces not meant for music, I have found that place has a profound effect on the outcome of my work, while also tethering it to the histories, geographies, and acoustic personalities of the spaces that it happens in. This, along with experimentation and an intentional melding of genres has helped me find my own way to communicate with empathy and conviction.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

My creative practice gives me a desire to be curious about and interact with the world around me. As seeds of experimentation and ideas turn into tangible work and I move through each phase of discovery and creation, I feel like I travel great distances. When other artists are involved in collaborative projects, this feeling increases tenfold – the work, its meaning, and the depth of the ability to connect with people all grow with the work. This is the most rewarding aspect of my life as an artist, and what tethers it all to the real world.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Any final product we see – in art, in work-life, in our personal lives – is a precious sliver of the whole effort that went into it. This is also true with any creative work that lives in the world. For me, the awareness of/awe of this fact makes everything shine brighter, and is a factor of the wonder that we can feel when we experience creative endeavors.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.zackbaltichmusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zackbaltichmusic/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@zackbaltich
• Other: Link to stream Estuary album:

  https://open.spotify.com/album/1Lq7OtMOw3aH4CEC8uafTm?si=NOTGzJkBTpiZNgG7-4zUlA

Image Credits

Sam Wagner
Shawn Poynter
Cedar Cultural Center
Taylor Kallio