Tim is a music composer/producer and engineer working out of his home studio in Montreal. Hes been composing music since 2000 and has done so in a variety of styles ranging from trance, psytrance, dance, electro, disco pop and hip-hop. He achieved a diploma in audio recording and production at Recording Arts of Canada. In the industry, he has worked as a freelance sound engineer, music arranger, composer, producer and keyboard/synth player.

Tell us a little bit about your past and current projects?

I've worked on a variety of different projects. I have recorded and mixed many demos for a variety of bands. A friend of mine is a signer/songwriter and had funding to record an album and so, hired me as an engineer to take care of the recordings. We just rented a bunch of gear, set everything up in a cottage and recorded for three weeks. That was pretty cool, minus the binges they would have while I was trying to sleep. I had songs licensed and used in television commercials from this media company called La Guerilla. I've also had a project to compose a 4 minutes soundtrack theme for the closing parade of the Just for Laughs festival. At the moment, I’m' in the middle of finishing a mix of this rock band I've recorded. I am also working on a demo pop project with a friend who works at Big Fat Truck Production. We have finished 3 tracks complete with vocals and backups but have run into complications regarding the artists, so, we are in search of a singer who is READY to become a pop star... no offense!
 

What is your most favorite track you've produced and why?

Well that is kind of a difficult question to answer as I find myself constantly perfecting, re-arranging and re-mixing old tracks. One day I can feel quite satisfied about a song, and then the next day, I can loose complete interest towards it. But obviously this is a common behavior amongst artists, I would assume. Also, to pick a best out of all the many different styles of music I have composed is not an easy task. Anyways, I guess one of my favorite songs, a recent one I still enjoy, would have to be a remix I've done of Sander Van Doorn's trance track Renegade. It doesn't sound at all like the original, which I'm not to fond of, but I've kept it's melody nicely blended in the mix for the sake of calling it a remix. The remix starts off having a nice mellow acid trance feel, with the occasional introduction of obscure psytrance elements swirling in and out of existence. The first build up introduces the track's classic rolling disco bass line a la Giorgio Moroder (I'm a big fan of his...mustache), which soon after, progresses into a second build up that brings in a raw trancey dancey hook to the track. It definitively gets energetic without being to over the top, driven by some subtle disco elements. For now, I enjoy it and I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

What are the major influences in your work and how did you get started making music?

I started playing the piano at the age of 8 by trying to mimic what I was hearing on my parents records. I went on to take piano lessons, learning blues and jazz. I was not able to read music, and so, I played by ear and still do. Now fast-forward a bunch of years to my teenage days where I got into turntable-ism and beat matching. I was young, had turntables ,had hip-hop records, did graffiti and smoked pot. What more did I need? I did a couple of dj gigs at various venues with local hip-hop artists and I ended up playing in the "urban" room of this massive rave which was called Connected, I believed this was in 1999 or 2000, I don't remember. Anyways, that’s where I got a taste of electronic music, specifically goa, and acid trance. I later bought some gear and started composing stuff. I was really into the sound of what Platipus record's artists were producing; clean, casual morning trance. I’m also into psytrance, and so, one of my biggest influence in that genre is Simon Postford and all of his projects; Shpongle, Younger Brother, Mistery of the yeti, Hallucinogen etc. I have spent hours listening to his productions and trying to figure out his techniques, his effects, his tricks heheh. Now I'm more into electro, pop, disco and hip-hop, music I can track lyrics to, cause that's what I'm into doing right now.

Are you signed on to any label and if not are you looking to? Or hoping to stay independent?

I am not signed on to any label, yet! I have a self promoting issue and find it hard to push my music, mainly because of my " I'm sure I can do better" attitude. But I am definitely open to the idea of being signed, why not? It would give me a chance to have some tracks released, increasing one's exposure with the fanatic music devourers of the world. So if there's any labels representatives reading this and interested in some of my work, don't be shy.

Your music seems to have quite the eclectic fusion to it...using electronic production to unfold hip-hop and urban sounds. do you see this as a trending thing in the industry right now?

Well hip-hop (commercial hip-hop) has a definite electronic influence these days, and a lot of it is intricately produced too, just as a lot of it sounds like complete garbage. You know, I'm trying to develop my own sound, my own production techniques, and the more I merge elements of various musical genre, the more I start developping this unique sound. I just hope it showes.
I'm no hip-hop connoisseur but I don't think what is being played in clubs now can be defined as hip-hop. It is filled with elements of trance, dance, electro, disco and whatever else. I do produce sample based hip-hop which I'm comfortable calling it so, but for the rest, I would describe it more as mainstream pop or club.... actually I'm not really sure how to describe it.

You have mentioned that you've been producing in Montreal for quite a while...how long have you been in the city and where do you think the Montreal music scene stands in relation to the rest of the industry?

Montreal's been my home since I was conceived by a women whom I shall call my mother. I enjoy the music scene here, there's definitely lots of talent, but I'm also aware of all the crappy Mile-End indie rock bands popping in existence every second. Wearing cigarette pants and shiny shoes don't make you automatically a musician ya know? But hey... I guess that's the trend. Quite honestly, I'm not in touch with the music scene. I don't go out as much anymore as I stay home and compose music, work (sometimes), study and watch conspiracy documentaries. I have friends in the music industry who try to keep me up to date with what's hot and what's not, and that's how I know where the Montreal music scene stands. Not very effective... I should go out more.

Where do you hope to be professionally in the next 2 years?

Well first, not being a beggar would help! Second, I just really want to do what I love and get my hands dirty with music. I am currently on a quest to find the perfect place to accommodate all of my equipment cause at the moment, I'm lacking sufficient space. And also, I'm starting a production company (Audiphiq Studio) with a friend of mine that will specialize in instrumental composition, production, vocal tracking and the sorts, so I really need to move to get all this rolling. If everything works out, the next couple of years should be busy... I hope. I really want to produce more artists, especially in hip-hop/pop/dance genre. I have composed so much instrumentals ready to be tracked with vocals that it kind of annoys me as they are not being used for anything at the moment. I just have to be patient I guess.

What is the saddest song you've ever heard?

Wow! hmmm... well to tell you the truth, I don't know. My "sad song repertoire" isn't developed all that much. But for sake of answering,  I guess it would have to be that song in the movie Donnie Darko. What is that song again?
Wait I think I got it! Its Gary Jules and Michael Andrews cover version of Mad World. The melody has a definite "I wanna kill myself" effect (I don't really).


Awesome! Check out timburon.com to listen to some of his work!