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AV: I
was reading over your bio on your website and surprisingly
you are a self taught pianist, where did your love of
music come from and what are the advantages of teaching
yourself the piano as opposed to being "taught"
the piano? Did it allow you to interpret your musical
inclinations in a more fluid fashion?
TS: We always had music in the
house, whether it was my mother's piano playing - Debussy,
Chopin, etc. - or our record player spinning everything
from Stravinsky to Simon and Garfunkel. I had
taken a few guitar lessons at the age of about 8 which
didn't go so well, but a few years later I picked the
guitar back up, this time just to make up and play my
own modest bits. A little later I started fiddling
around on our piano, which opened up a new possibility
of sounds and harmonies, and I was hooked. I've
probably missed out on some things, being self-taught,
but it did allow me to find my own voice from the beginning.
I can't imagine it any other way, now.
AV:
You cite a wide range of musical influences in
your bio, were there any musical styles or musicians
that played a large part in your early compositions
and
was there a particular niche that you were aiming for
as you started out or were you pretty open at that point?
TS: By the late 70's, courtesy
in large part to a record store job under a great, open-minded
manager John Thompson (who later became very influential
in the Cleveland music scene of Devo and Pere Ubu) I
was listening to quite a variety of music. Some
favorites of mine were Robert Wyatt, the German group
Can, Cluster, minimalist Steve Reich, as well as Miles
Davis, John Coltrane, and some quirky pop music like
Talking Heads, Television, and Roxy Music. But
some of the home-made electronic music coming from Europe
really struck a chord - it opened my eyes to the possibility
that you could make exciting, personal music on a small
scale, without involving huge record companies and expensive
recording studios. It was more a philosophical
influence than a musical or stylistic one, I suppose,
but it was very inspiring. There was absolutely
no niche I was going after so to speak, it was just
the music I wanted to hear.
AV:
Did you find the growing movement towards electronic
music (synthesizers, loops etc.) helped expand your
vision of what was possible and where your own music
might go?
TS: Yes, I was drawn to synthesizers
early on by the variety of sounds I could work with,
and the possibilities of creating a unique 'stamp' for
the sound. At about the same time, and equally
exciting to me, were the new multitrack recorders which
would allow me to layer parts together, to really explore
composition. Because I worked alone, and wasn't
much of an instrumental virtuoso (an understatement!),
these two technologies really changed the way that I
could work.
AV:
When was it that you started to think about putting
your music down on tape and releasing it for sale to
the public? Is there a big difference between creating
music for yourself and music that you are going to put
on public display so to speak?
TS: I had been working - playing
is more like it, I guess - for years before I had any
music that I thought was good enough to share with anyone.
By '79, I had collected about 45 minutes of music
that I wasn't totally embarrassed by, and sent out a
handful of tapes, mostly to small record companies in
Europe. I was astounded to receive an offer from
a French label, but they sadly went out of business
just before the record "Threads" was to come
out. But in the meantime, I had finished "In
Another Country" which I was much happier with,
so it wasn't much of a setback. Another record
label, this time in Oslo, liked the new record, so that
became my 'first' release.
AV:
What kind of reception did your first release
in 1981 get from your audience and was it what you expected
when you put it out there?
TS: Sales were very modest, which
I expected from this somewhat 'eccentric' music I do,
but I was very pleased by the response - it got very
good reviews, and seemed to really reach people that
gave it a chance. It was a thrill just to have
it released, really.
AV:
It is said that you are very meticulous with the
creation of your music, how much tweaking do you do
to your music from the time that you first get it down
on paper to that final product where you are satisfied
with the result and ready to let others listen to it?
TS: It takes quite awhile usually,
months I guess. Sometimes, whole parts or lines
are apparent right away but it takes days to create
just the right sound to play it. Or I'll continue
to refine a melody over a period of weeks while I'm
working on something else, until it strikes me as just
right. Having developed my process in the 'old
days' when I had only 4 tracks or layers available on
my recorder, it really made me put a premium on composition,
on ideas. If each part did not have a real value,
be critical to the piece, I would just throw it out.
With only 4 layers, there was no room for ear
candy! This helped hone my compositional skills
immensely. I can't imagine beginning today really,
with these 64-track software recorders, it's just so
tempting to try to cover up inferior ideas with more
and more layers of 'fat'!
There's just such a huge glut of music out there,
so many choices for people, that I feel it's my responsibility
to make the music as good and as lasting as I can. How
can I expect anyone to spend years with my music, which
I hope they can, if I'm content to dash off a new piece
every few weeks?
AV:
Were there any of your releases that were standouts
in your mind or releases that represented large steps
in your musical evolution?
TS: There are things I like,
and things I don't like about all the releases. "Glass
Green" I always felt was a big step forward, though
in some ways I thought "Beguiled" was a more
appealing evolution of that. And "Perfect
Flaw" really began to incorporate orchestral instruments
a little more fully than before. I'm so close
to the process, it's really hard for me to judge.
AV:
With a growing trend towards more and more electronics
and synthesized instruments what are your feelings on
the blending of the traditional with the contemporary
in regards to instrumentation on your records?
TS: I've always loved the creativity
of developing my own palette of sounds electronically.
But I feel that the strength of synthesizers is
in creating the sounds that are unique to these instruments
- not in emulating acoustic instruments. So for
me, the key is using each instrument, whether a synthesizer
or an oboe, for it's own unique voice, and having all
these voices live in some unique imagined space that
I can create.
AV:
As a musician what is it that you take from one
project to the next in terms of experience and how does
that experience allow you to build onto your next project?
TS: It's an intuitive thing with
me , I guess. Certain things I try (or stumble
on) can get my musical juices going, and these are the
things I find myself gravitating towards when I begin
the next project. It's a hard process to isolate,
I notice it sometimes more clearly in hindsight...
AV:
Do you work on your new compositions on a regular
basis?
TS: No, I find it a little too
rigid to set a schedule for it. So, it seems to
go in fits and starts - sometimes I won't touch anything
for a while, and other times I'm just totally absorbed in
a piece, and really can't do much else. That intensity,
the singlemindedness, would probably get softened if
I worked more on a defined schedule, so I try not to
push it. Doing a soundtrack or other project with
a deadline necessitates a bit more discipline, though.
AV:
Do you feel a sense of satisfaction playing live
and watching the reaction of the audience to your compositions?
TS: I think of myself as a composer
more
than a performer, so I don't do too many concerts. Playing
live is very gratifying, and I like to travel, but I
feel that performing really takes a back seat to the
composing, which is what I really love. I'm not
much of a musician, I could never do a solo piano performance
for example, at least not one that anyone would want
to hear. The music is so layered that I'd have
to pull an ensemble together to do it justice. And
relearning old pieces of mine is never as much fun as
creating new ones.
AV:
You've done a few collaborations during your career,
tell me about the process and how it differs from when
you are working alone on a new project. Is it a more
difficult process or is it just different?
TS: The biggest difference is
that there is someone else to trust. When I work
on my own, I get into my own little world of sounds
and processes. With a collaborator, the interest
lies in the mix of the two of us - sometimes the whole
direction of a piece might fly off in a brand new direction
because of a surprising addition by the other artist.
I have worked with artists whose approach I like,
and it can be a great experience, really unique. With
Dwight Ashley, we've often worked in the same room at
the same time. With Joachim Roedelius, who lives
in Europe, there's been some of that side-by-side work,
but more often it's the two of us working alone on shared material.
Both ways can be very gratifying.
AV:
How did you go about securing a home for your
music on a record label? What kind of relationship do
you have with the labels that release your music to
the public?
TS: The labels and the relationships
can be very different - I've worked with everything
from the smallest 'one-man' labels to the giant multinationals.
Some have been incredibly artist-oriented and
sympathetic, others can be quite faceless and corporate,
as you might expect. I won't name names!
AV:
Tell me about the music of Roedelius and what
it was that you liked about what he created?
TS: I discovered Joachim - and
his duo, Cluster - back in the 70's. As a friend
of mine Russ Curry brilliantly put it, their music seemed
'like some heavenly music except the primary instrument
appeared to be a coffee percolator."
They've been extremely influential to many artists,
too, like Brian Eno and David Bowie, and a whole new
crop of electronica artists here and in Europe. The
music is so personal, charming, funny, spontaneous.
It's also very organic, despite being unapologetically
electronic. Achim is a lot like his music, and
it's been a pleasure counting him as a friend for so
many years.
AV:
What was it that brought about your
most recent CD, Lunz, and the collaboration that you did with
Roedelius? Tell me about the process the two of you
went through as you worked on creating Lunz.
TS: We met in '83, and had often
talked about doing a collaboration. In '96 Cluster
came for their first US tour, and I spent some time
with Joachim here. He came back several times
over the next few years, and we did a concert together
in Philadelphia. We started recording together
during that time - first with the very improvisational,
sound-collagey "Persistence of Memory" and
then with our latest "Lunz", which I'm especially
happy with. I guess I always wanted to recapture
a bit of that timeless feel of the early work I loved,
but also make it very modern in a way. It took
years to finally finish. I was very happy that
Groenland/EMI in Europe and Narada here in the US opted
to release it. Groenland has been one of the best labels
I've worked with, they are always working in the best
interests of the music, and the people are great. Achim
and I just hooked up in London last
month for a concert performance there, and we have a
few more concerts planned this summer in Austria.
AV:
You've had some opportunities to work in movies
and television in your career, what are the differences
for you as a composer in creating music for these mediums
as compared to your regular compositions?
TS: For me, it can be quite different.
With my own solo work, I can explore whatever
musical and emotional connections I'm attracted to at
the time. With music for film or tv, the 'content
is king' - you're always looking for ways to support
the action or the emotional connections onscreen. My
solo work can be very ambiguous and subtle, which does
not always work in film, where scenes often need something
a little more obvious. But fortunately, a producer
or director will usually only approach me because they
already WANT the aesthetic that my music has. Needless
to say, I don't get hired for many action films.
Music for film can be fun, and a different challenge,
but just a few projects sprinkled in with the original
'art' music is enough for me.
AV:
How is it you as a composer connect with the opportunities
to work on movie and television projects? Are
the producers already familiar with your work and seek
you out to score projects that they are working on?
TS: I don't have a steady stream
of offers by any means, but when I do, it's always because
a producer likes my work, and feels that my music would
be a good fit. When I got the "Caravan"
soundtrack last year, it was because the music supervisor
for the documentary had heard some of my music on the
radio in Madrid. He got in touch first just to
say he appreciated the work, and then began to think
of me when the soundtrack opportunity came up.
AV:
How has the Internet changed the way that you
promote your music and connect with your fans? Do you
think that more listeners are learning about your music
via the Internet these days?
TS: I think the Internet is becoming
a great way for the less 'mainstream' artists to reach
an audience - an artist isn't so dependent on the big
record companies for promotion or marketing anymore.
A fan and friend, John Green, did a website for
me (www.timstory.com), that has reached a lot of people
who are interested in my music, and might want to learn
more about it. I also hear more and more from
listeners that have discovered me on the various Internet
and cable radio stations. The Internet is huge,
but in a way, it's very personal, too - an email sent
from my website comes right here to my computer - I
can answer everything that comes through.
AV:
With broadband penetrating more homes than ever
do you foresee a time when you will no longer release
your music on CDs but simply make them available for
download on a website? Is this idea unsettling to musicians/composers
or liberating?
TS: I think it's liberating really.
I'm probably old-fashioned, but generally I still
like having the physical object, and the artwork of
a cd. But that is likely to change, and that's
fine. Making music available for legal downloading
is very inexpensive for the musician, so it really plays
into the hands of the independent artist. It's
also a great way to make individual songs, remixes,
side projects, etc., available, when a full cd release
isn't feasible.
AV:
I've heard a lot of varying opinions about how
downloading is killing the music industry and yet more
often than not I have seen many ambient and new age
artists giving a lot of their songs away for free on
the Internet just to get them heard and to promote their
music. What are your views on this aspect of the Internet
as it doesn't seem to be something that is simply going
to go away?
TS: No, it won't go away. Illegal
downloading is piracy and theft, pure and simple. I've
heard some defend it as simply taking a little from
the greedy media corporations, but smaller 'fringe'
artists like myself really depend on royalties (and
honesty) to be able to continue to make music. That
said, I am a big believer in the Internet and the opportunities
that legal digital distribution can offer to lesser-known
artists who deserve a chance to be heard. It can
be a great and very viable alternative to the big record
companies.
AV:
Does traditional radio or Internet radio play
a big role in promoting your music to existing fans
and new listeners as well? What other methods are at
your disposal these days to get the message out about
a new release that you have available?
TS: More and more, I'm seeing
the Internet and cable radio stations have a much bigger
impact for my own music. Traditional radio has
gotten so stagnant that it's the net stations that are
able to push the envelope a little more.
Public radio is still a great supporter, too. As
far as other ways of marketing, I just don't know. Honestly,
I don't have much patience for that part of the business.
It's probably naive, but I'd much rather work
on a piece of music and hopefully make it good, than
spend my time telling people how good it is!
AV:
Where do you see your music going over the next
10 years or so? Do you want to progress as you have
up till now or are there other things that you might
like to try?
TS: I hope the music will progress
naturally from here, and I hope my compositional skills
will continue to evolve and improve, too. I enjoy
exploring new things, so I look forward to a couple
of new challenges as well, whether that will come via
collaborations, commissions, or...?
AV:
Finally, are there any new projects that you are
working on that you might want to give our readers a
heads up on?
TS: Well, there are a few things.
"Lunz" the cd with Joachim Roedelius
is being remixed by a talented bunch of young electronica
artists, and will be released in London later this year
as a 2cd set, packaged with the original "Lunz"
cd.
I hope to start work on another collaboration
with Joachim, too. Dwight Ashley and I are currently
finishing up our 3rd collaboration, due out next year.
I also remixed and reworked the 'Caravan' soundtrack
for a possible cd release - I'm very happy with it,
hopefully it will come out at some point in the
near future. And last but hopefully not least,
I'm getting ready to start work on the next solo project
- this will be my main focus over the next year or so...
AV:
Thanks a lot for taking the time to talk to us
Tim and I'm always looking forward to your next release.
Good luck with your future projects.
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