Timber Timbre bring ghostly atmosphere to their music
“I'm not really interested in presenting
myself in my music,” said
Toronto-based indie-folk artist
Taylor Kirk, known onstage as
Timber Timbre. “It's more a sensation,
rather than a particular message,
or something that I'm trying
to pretend. It's an outlet of my day
to day.”
Kirk spoke to me last week whilst “hiding in the corner of the poetry section of a book store” somewhere between San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, where he was on tour. After catching some buzz at South By South West, Kirk has been taking the long way home to Ontario, where he will perform at London's Aeolian Hall on April 3. Fueled by his 2009 self-titled album, oft-described as ethereal and haunting, Kirk has had a successful year so far, touring nonstop and even being long-listed for Canada's coveted Polaris Prize.
“I kind of expected that I would continue to slug away at it very much the way I did with the first two recordings that I did. It was a solitary endeavour, and I'd play shows from time to time, and I didn't have any expectations. I kind of resigned to just working on that quietly. It's been a big shift, for sure. Compared to where I was at with the first two recordings, it's quite different.”
Now, for instance, Kirk tours with a live band complete with Simon Trottier on lapsteel/autoharp and Mika Poson on violin. It's a luxury he was never able to afford.
“At the time my living situation prevented me from having the time or money or space to ever have a band. It's a lot of work to have a band, actually. I could go and do an OK tour on a weekend, just by myself. It was very convenient to do that, but not nearly as much fun.”
The addition of other musicians has also helped to create Timber Timbre's notorious musical atmosphere, which some describe as ghostly, if not somewhat unnerving. However, that overall moodiness has also led listeners to believe that the soft-spoken and kind Kirk is more of a dark, brooding character, himself.
“I guess people seem disappointed when they talk to me, especially when they're familiar with the recording, you know? It's like the persona or whatever they have created based on the recording is not what they had in mind, but I think that's interesting.”
Still, the enigmatic persona Kirk embodies has only been perpetuated by the fact that many Timber Timbre concerts take place in large churches, where his voice can reverberate on, in the hall. Yet, for Kirk, performing in such spaces only feels natural, given the fact he first began singing in a church choir.
“I never really thought about that, but [churches have] become the preferred venue for us, and that's kind of where it started, too. And also, I learned to play guitar in the basement of that church where I sat, so that's interesting.”
Now Timber Timbre has performed all across North America, from churches to bars and even nightclubs. And though there's no recipe for a successful performance, Kirk has always enjoyed the crowds of London, no matter what venue.
“You never really know until we start what's going to happen. For example, we just played at the Great American Music Hall last night in San Francisco and it's this huge, beautiful space, and we didn't have a nice listening audience. And then, at [Call the Office] in London it would seem like an awful place for us [but] I remember that being a nice show. It just depends on how open or not they are to let them allow us to create an atmosphere.”
Timber Timbre will be performing at the Aeolian Hall on Saturday, April 3. Tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door.
Kirk spoke to me last week whilst “hiding in the corner of the poetry section of a book store” somewhere between San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, where he was on tour. After catching some buzz at South By South West, Kirk has been taking the long way home to Ontario, where he will perform at London's Aeolian Hall on April 3. Fueled by his 2009 self-titled album, oft-described as ethereal and haunting, Kirk has had a successful year so far, touring nonstop and even being long-listed for Canada's coveted Polaris Prize.
“I kind of expected that I would continue to slug away at it very much the way I did with the first two recordings that I did. It was a solitary endeavour, and I'd play shows from time to time, and I didn't have any expectations. I kind of resigned to just working on that quietly. It's been a big shift, for sure. Compared to where I was at with the first two recordings, it's quite different.”
Now, for instance, Kirk tours with a live band complete with Simon Trottier on lapsteel/autoharp and Mika Poson on violin. It's a luxury he was never able to afford.
“At the time my living situation prevented me from having the time or money or space to ever have a band. It's a lot of work to have a band, actually. I could go and do an OK tour on a weekend, just by myself. It was very convenient to do that, but not nearly as much fun.”
The addition of other musicians has also helped to create Timber Timbre's notorious musical atmosphere, which some describe as ghostly, if not somewhat unnerving. However, that overall moodiness has also led listeners to believe that the soft-spoken and kind Kirk is more of a dark, brooding character, himself.
“I guess people seem disappointed when they talk to me, especially when they're familiar with the recording, you know? It's like the persona or whatever they have created based on the recording is not what they had in mind, but I think that's interesting.”
Still, the enigmatic persona Kirk embodies has only been perpetuated by the fact that many Timber Timbre concerts take place in large churches, where his voice can reverberate on, in the hall. Yet, for Kirk, performing in such spaces only feels natural, given the fact he first began singing in a church choir.
“I never really thought about that, but [churches have] become the preferred venue for us, and that's kind of where it started, too. And also, I learned to play guitar in the basement of that church where I sat, so that's interesting.”
Now Timber Timbre has performed all across North America, from churches to bars and even nightclubs. And though there's no recipe for a successful performance, Kirk has always enjoyed the crowds of London, no matter what venue.
“You never really know until we start what's going to happen. For example, we just played at the Great American Music Hall last night in San Francisco and it's this huge, beautiful space, and we didn't have a nice listening audience. And then, at [Call the Office] in London it would seem like an awful place for us [but] I remember that being a nice show. It just depends on how open or not they are to let them allow us to create an atmosphere.”
Timber Timbre will be performing at the Aeolian Hall on Saturday, April 3. Tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door.
