Kabaal Klankbaan fights the scourge of performance anxiety by not taking himself seriously at all in his latest single and video, “Stagefright”.
We’ve all been there, be it for performance or presentation, on stage with seemingly infinite eyes staring at you and minds waiting to judge you. Your hands sweat and blood thuds through your ears and, for all the world, those words so carefully planned can’t be found.
It’s a feeling oh-so acutely created by Klankbaan with staccatoed percussion, synth, and guitar stabbing along like a panicked heart, and lyrics mentioning the symptoms fluster above it all. Fear not, though, because mixed in with all the panic is a step-by-step self-help guide, suitably tongue-in-cheek, on how to overcome the fear.
The video, equally tongue-in-cheek, shows Klankbaan’s journey from stagefright sufferer trying to appease a small but derisive living-room audience to showman extraordinaire with enough flair to win over even the harshest of critics. It’s a journey mirrored by a costume change from suit to silk, and lights shifting from dark and moody to brilliantly cheesy technicolor.
Stage-fright is no laughing matter but through Kabaal Klankbaan’s far-from-serious treatment he reminds us that it’s an affliction that can be overcome through calmness and an ability to roll with the punches.
Feature pic supplied by artist
