An unstoppable new force with the intriguing title of Baron Bubblebeef has been unleashed on an unsuspecting Maltese music scene.
Say the words ‘a month ago’ loud enough and the chances are you’ll find someone who will blurt out “I heard that Jen was dead”.
These are the immortal lyrics off the debut single from the one and only Baron Bubblebeef – Jennifer’s Dead. This ska tune, launched alongside a zany video just before summer, now has a bit of a cult following, particularly amongst those with a more… ahem… morbid sense of humour. It is a song about…well let’s let the Barmy Baron explain…
“Jennifer’s Dead is a love song. But Jennifer happens to be dead. And her rejected lover happens to still have certain… urges,” he tells me. “The song is very direct. There are no metaphors here. It is about necrophilia. But in a nice way!”
Bubblebeef continues. “The song turned out to be about as popular as I thought it would be… some people loved it, some people hated it. Some deluded people still don’t get it and think I am pretending that it is about one thing when it is really about something else. One thing that did surprise me was that I did not get as much negative criticism as I thought I would. I was however irritated by the way that Steve Hili kept getting the credit for it. I just can’t stand that bloke!”
Steve, actor, writer and presenter/producer of the Big Breakfast on XFM, and one of the stars of the Curse of Snow White panto at the Manoel Theatre, is of course Bubblebeef’s alter-ego. But how is the relationship between the two?
“Baron Bubblebeef is an extreme version of me,” Steve explains. “Someone not bound by convention and the rules of society, singing about things that, if I sang them as Steve, would get me into trouble and lead people to question my sanity. I, for example, have never lusted after a corpse for a start!”
So how did the Baron come into existence? “I love Ska music and I have always wanted to make some of my own. But I don’t play any instruments and even though I have tried I cannot seem to learn. A lot of people have said nice things about my voice over the years so I thought I would give it a bit of a go as a singer. Why not record a couple of tracks? Then, whilst thinking about it my theatrical side started coming through. I love extremes and I thought: ‘if I am going to do this, I should make it as mad as possible’. That is how Baron Bubblebeef came into being.”
The Baron has certainly made waves, with Jennifer’s Dead even being played on a couple of foreign stations, and an Italian record company getting in touch and showing interest in the music.
“They loved the naughtiness of it and had a very interesting proposal but unfortunately it fell through… something might still come of it though…you never know,” Steve explained. “Meanwhile I am planning on writing a song about fondling sheep,” the Baron butted in.
Steve has even been approached by bands to collaborate; not as the Baron though. “I think they might be a bit scared of him!”
Bubblebeef has another track which is recorded and ready to be released. It’s called: What’s a Catholic boy supposed to do? It is, he explains more of a satire about what it is like to grow up as a Catholic.
“Some people will love it. To them I say, buy the song so I can earn some money. Some people are going to be offended, because they always are. To them I say buy the song so you can understand the lyrics. This does not mean that you will like them, it just means you can hear them whenever you want. Which is good even if you just want to tut at them. Oh, and I can earn some money.”
Before the song is launched, Bubblebeef wants to put a video to it. “The video for Jennifer’s Dead was so much fun to make, I want to do it again. But with less corpses. If anyone wants to get involved let me know – on Facebook,” Steve said.
So what does the future hold for Baron Bubblebeef? He smiles wickedly. “Who knows? I intend to keep writing, keep shocking people, and every so often, keep thinking about Jennifer.”
Find out more at: www.baronbubblebeef.com