Backstage

Tim Arnold

September 2007

Tim Arnold is a busy man: 7 albums to date, a new release this autumn, a Web based TV channel called SohoHobo where he broadcasts a series of acoustic concerts live from his home. Not forgetting his trips to Thailand where he has been teaching monks how to record music on Macs. It was tricky tracking Tim Arnold down but we are glad we did!

Tim's album combines a wonderful mix of genres ranging from pop, rock right through to ambient songs, Tim Arnold has produced a different album which relates to a specific period in his life and to his musical influences. Just listen to his beautiful voice in the track "Another World" bursting with fantastic melodies and poetic lyrics.

Here at We7 we simply fell in love with Tim Arnold, so have a look at his interview and artist page. We have 4 of his albums for free on We7!

The interview

Hi Tim, how are you feeling today?

I am feeling like all the doors are opening just as I stroll up to them, like a child who's just climbed his first tree, like a fool who's been forgiven.

You've recently been recording your 8th album, "Another World." How does a Tim Arnold song come together? Could you describe to our members a typical recording day?

For me, all songs begin with the part that most people know as the 'hook'. In my head, I usually hear a melody, a lyric backed by a rhythm and the harmonies around it. So, the beginning of writing or recording a song for me is always quite a dramatic experience because there are 5 or 6 things to remember all at once that make up about 10 seconds of music. I do feel like I am under attack when I start a new song and I always surrender.

I think it is quite similar to the way that 'sample' artists work. A lot of samples that have been used really well in music are because an artist has heard a snippet of a song on the radio or TV that they feel instinctively can belong to a bigger picture musically, so they create an entire song out of it.

I do exactly the same thing, only I use an internal radio of my own.

Some people like to spend time and come back to the song they are working on after a break, which can be a good idea. I can't work like that though as I generally know what a song, or indeed an album, should sound like structurally from the moment I begin to visualise it. I don't really stop working until I start to see something that resembles the idea in my mind. It's a mixture of impatience and devotion.

Lokutara was recorded at the Thamkrabrok Monastery in Thailand. How different was it? What memory do you keep from this spiritual experience?

Well, that's a whole other interview really. I have to be terribly cheesy and say that it changed my life. Because it did.

I went to a monastery because I wanted to make some changes in my life. I was taught an ancient method of making music by using nature as a guide, and also, the holy father of the Temple invited me to live in his monastery and asked his monks to build me a studio so I could make my first album. In return, I helped the monks and the people of the monastery by setting up a recording studio for them and taught them the basics of computer hard disk recording on Apple Macs. They have since recorded over 1,000 songs of traditional Thai music, drum and bass and many other genres you would not expect from a Buddhist monastery.

It's obviously not what I expected, but I am very blessed to have been treated in such a special way when I first visited and even more blessed that I maintain a strong relationship with the community of Thamkrabok, whom I consider to be my extended family. I stay there once a year.

Each of your albums seems to be linked to a period of your life. What about "Another World"?

Another World is really about 'landing' back in the real world over the last few years and not being able to relate to it straight away. When I listen to the album I understand the powerful emotions that the songs draw upon, although I feel as though it is something I have worked through now.

I think I have mentioned this before; the album has at least one song about each of the partners in my life. I deal with loss particularly badly and there are some songs on the album that I needed to sing out of my system just to be able to move forward in my life. So, in a way, the album is about all my lives at once. It's about the sadness we can't change, the beauty that's never forgotten and the first glimpse of a new sun rising.

You have been in the music industry for many years, how do you feel about the growing influence of the Internet in the way of promoting and distributing artists?

Well, for me it has been a positive experience. I signed my first record deal when I was 19 with Sony and, although it was a wonderful start to my career, the goals of the record company seemed to be entirely different to the goals of the artist. However, it has proved useful, since I learnt about all the other sides of my profession (press, making videos, product management etc). There is a strong quality control on marketing products in the music business that Sony and other major labels are extremely good at.

When I first started trading independently as a solo artist, I used their template as much as I could because it's a good template. What is more satisfying for me, now that I primarily focus my career on the net, is that I set my own schedule and there are never disappointments because of change of personnel. I have not lost faith in record labels, I just have an agenda with my music that needs to step in time with the world and with my own goals, and the internet has allowed that. I think any artist would do the same; it's like breathing, if you stop you'll die.

I do feel that a lot of the 'new guard', who are controlling content and the way that music is distributed digitally, need to form more of an alliance with the 'old guard', so that the 'all access' model of the future can also be guided by an old fashioned professionalism. I just think it's early days.

For me though, the We7 approach is the future. I think the concept of removing the issues of finance between the artist and the fans is genius. It's the strongest and bravest move that has been made with online music in recent times. If it can grow and actually work for all the concerned parties, it will be the most beautiful thing for popular music.

You've done amazing gigs in various venues such as The Union Chapel or the Astoria. What is next? What would be your dream place to play live?

My dream gig would be the Royal Festival Hall (with my string section).

Who is Tim and what does he do when he is not performing? Do you have any passions other than music?

It's really sad, but when I'm not making music I'm thinking about what I want to do next with music. Learning to consider that there are other issues and people in one's life that mean more than music is a recent discovery and one I am working hard to engage with. However, if I were to compare it to riding a bike, I'd say I'm getting better but I've still got the stabilizers on. Cooking is my other passion (I did used to work as a chef, once for Marco Pierre White!)

How do you see yourself in 10 years?

1. Doing a retrospective of my 30 albums at The Royal Festival Hall
2. Finally finding western financial and administrative support for Thamkrabok Monastery.
3. Having a manager ;)

Soho, Thailand, France, Spain...where do you feel at home?

I don't own a house and I have no savings put aside so I'm very lucky to have homes in those four countries and a different way of life in each. I feel at home in all of them.

Any message for our We7 members?

Tell all of your friends and family that We7 is the beginning of the future of music. Join up now.