Sweet Baboo is Welsh musician Stephen Black (born in Bethesda, Gwynedd) now… Read Full Bio ↴Sweet Baboo is Welsh musician Stephen Black (born in Bethesda, Gwynedd) now based in Cardiff. Before becoming a solo artist, he played with the band JT Mouse. Alongside his solo work, he has also played with many other artists, including with Gruff Rhys, Cate Le Bon, Euros Childs, and Slow Club. He is bilingual in Welsh and English but usually sings in English.

Black began making music with a Casio keyboard, a cheap microphone, a small four-track recorder, and his father’s guitar. His early songs were rooted in Welsh Psychedelic Pop (S.F.A, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci) and a love of his parents records (Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash).

Relocating to Wales’ capital City, Cardiff, for a degree in playing the clarinet, he did a stint in local bandJT Mouse.

A five track single ‘C’mon Let’s Permoose’ was to be released on Huw Stephen’s (BBC Radio 1) record label Boobytrap Records. He then released two singles himself, ‘Mountain’ and ‘C’mon Beef’ over the following two years.

He played at the Green Man Festival four years in a row, and supported the likes The Hidden Cameras and Jeffrey Lewis, and played in other Cardiff bands such as Neon Neon member Cate Le Bon’s solo project and Spencer McGarry Season.

In 2007 he was asked to play bass in Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci front man Euros Childs’ solo project. Gigs at Glastonbury festival, a tour in both Europe and America, a recording session with Grammy-nominated producer Mark Nevers in Nashville ensued.

In summer 2007, he was asked to assemble Daniel Johnston’s backing band for the Cardiff leg of his European tour, as well as offering his solo services to support.

On the solo front, his debut album, ‘The Mighty Baboo’, was recorded partly in church, partly in his housemates loft studio, and partly on his own. The album was played on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6 and XFM and has earned praise from Bethan Elfyn (BBC Radio 1) and Mark Riley (BBC Radio 6).

Sweet Baboo's album I'm a Dancer / Songs about Sleepin' was nominated for the first ever Welsh Music Prize in 2011.

The album "Ships" was released in April 2013 on Moshi Moshi Records. Sweet Baboo followed the release with his first headlining tour in the UK and also performed solo shows and band shows in several festivals during summer 2013. Another headlining tour followed later in the year.[8] The album was nominated for the Welsh Music Prize in 2013.

On 11 November 2013, Sweet Baboo released an EP titled Motorhome Songs.[9]

In July 2014, Moshi Moshi released a limited edition 12" vinyl collection of tracks recorded during sessions on Marc Riley's show on BBC 6 Music over the previous decade. The release was followed by a short series of performances named The Test Pressings Tour and a duo tour with The Pictish Trail. The duo returned to that set for a one-off performance at the 2015 Green Man Festival, where Black also performed a full-band set (featuring The Mavron Quartet) and as part of the bands accompanying H. Hawkline and Meilyr Jones.

In December 2014, Black contributed vocals to Mowbird's Lady Lion EP on Shape Records. He also played saxophone on the track "Lady Low" from Teleman's 2014 debut album.

His following album, The Boombox Ballads, was released in August 2015, again on Moshi Moshi. The track "You Got Me Time Keeping" features Tender Prey (Laura Bryon) on vocals. In March 2016, he released an EP, Dennis, which featured unreleased tracks from the recordings of The Boombox Ballads and two covers, one of them of a Dennis Wilson track.

Sweet Baboo's next album, Wild Imagination, was released in June 2017 on Moshi Moshi. In October 2017 the album was nominated for the 2016–2017 Welsh Music Prize.