Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Tim Erickson
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
Listening to records with my Dad, who was a musician, and a writer. He got me into Led Zeppelin, Free, Jeff Beck, David Bowie, Faces, Badfinger, Rolling Stones, James Gang, Hendrix, Beatles, and Cream. He would be at his typewriter working on a book, and I would pick out records I wanted him to put on while he worked.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
Having a father and uncles who all played guitars, drums, piano, etc, was always trying to grab any instrument I could play for a while when they weren’t around! haha
What’s the story behind your current music project?
My new album “Spark Of The Zephyr” (The Edge You Frayed) is my most hybrid style album, mixing rock, blues, funk, jazz chords, wide open like painting with any colors and shades you want for each picture! The big grooves, and lyrical depth my other albums feature is also found here, but with more spaces to stretch out and ride some longer waves musically on a few of the arrangements.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
It’s West Coast Groove Rock is what I call it, and it’s a combination of a lot of styles and eras mixed, since i like to write with as many colors to choose from as possible, to really bring the songs to life! It’s a mix of Rock, Blues Rock, Funk Rock, color chords, big grooves, and an edge and soulfullness that’s 100% real! You don’t just hear the difference between my stuff, and most stuff out there, you really feel it!
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
When I first started playing guitar i wanted to be a writer, not just a lead player, and I was really into Randy Rhoads and the way he was a composer in his riffs, his solos, everything working together for the song. It was the perfect starting point for me, and then years later when I got to my 20’s in Seattle, I got my band into the world famous Robert Lang Studios after a meeting I had with Robert. He really liked the music I had for the album my Seattle scene band The Smoking Section was wanting to release as an independent band after I saw a Prince interview about the creative power of keeping your publishing, and not signing that away! At the time the Seattle scene had been a marketing circus after it blew up for big lables, and we weren’t into the grunge light that they were looking for in the clubs, to take that money machine to the next level of juicing the lemon, before they tossed it & moved on to somewhere else, like the lables loved to do in Hollywood, the Bay Area, and Seattle in the 80’s & 90’s.
When we went into the studio we only had 4 days that i booked with Robert on available time between bands, like Quiet Riot had done in LA back when they recorded Metal Health! We had 3 days to record and 1 day to mix the whole thing, so I decided to produce it like Van Halen II which was a live feel recorded fast, with raw expressive takes that captured the live energy of the band! I had grown up recording in pro studios and at home in several home studios, and I had engineered and produced some killer demos for other bands, and Robert Lang Studios helped me find my raw expressive production style, as well as the way I started cutting loose with the solos and going for a cool raw expressive lead style that came from playing my guitar the way 70’s skateboard Zephyr team skater Jay Adams skated so raw and on the edge! It’s a fun way to play guitar as well! Growing up in the Hollywood Rock/Hard Rock scenes in the 70’s and early 80’s, my teens in the Bay Area Metallica scene of the late 80’s, and spending my 20’s in the Seattle scene with my independent band, naturally created a mix of styles for a well rounded West Coast Groove Rock sound with no rules except for playing for the song!
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
I have recorded several albums with a shockingly low amount of gear, since i learned how to record in big studios with a raw live band feel production style, and I absoulutely am not a fan of over processing and pitch correctors and all that. Just natural organic guitars, bass, drums, vocals, with band chemistry and going for takes that capture the right feel for the song, not perfect takes that sound sterile, I like real charachter and expression you can feel!
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
I’ve actually been finding a lot of LA bands I like on ReverbNation when i look to see the National & Global top 20 there to see where I am for the day, and a cool hometown LA band will be on the Rock chart as well. Makes me happy to find cool bands these days, the independent bands out there are doing some really cool stuff with nobody to mess with the creativity and mess it all up with too much corporate polish!
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
Absolutely! Every song i write is based on actual stuff that happened to me or someone I know, or from conversations that spark an idea for lyrics. I’ve been writing lyrics since i was a little kid, before i got into drums, guitar, bass, and vocals, along with producing and mixing albums.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
I never candy coat the lyrical topics, since they just dilutes the power to make a difference, but no matter the stuggles the charachter in a song may be facing, I offer something in there as a positive helping hand perspective wise, the way so many songs, albums, and artists with deep real lyrics helped me growing up. My thing with the lyrics and the music, is that if it’s 1000% real, 20 years from now it’s still real and still you, not some empty product you’ve had to live with for 20 years while you wished you had done something more meaningful!
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
Resiliance! Music helped me to have a zero quit mentality growing up. Tom Petty said the best music is basically there to provide you with something to face the world with! It’s an art form, and one of the most expressive, with the power to make differences in people’s lives and at times culturally. It’s all about what you do with your art, what it’s about and who it’s meant for, along with people that normally wouldn’t listen to Rock albums, that maybe a certain song is helpful to them in some way.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
I actually like the smaller old theater thype venues best, like Seattle’s Paramount, SF has The Filmour and The Warfield, and Hollywood The Whiskey is cool since that for me goes way back to when my Dad was into Morrison and The Doors and Zep would be down at The Rainbow by Gazzarri’s that had a big mural with Eddie and a bunch of bands. The smaller places it’s all about the band and a packed house connecting completely!
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
Would have loved to have Paul Rodgers sing on a song since he was a big favorite for me going back to my Dad playing me records when Paul was with Free and was pure magic! Him and Kossoff’s organic badass guitar playing should be up there with Page & Plant, Tyler & Perry, Dave & Eddie, etc, Free was amazing and too shrt lived, as was Paul Kossoff who was a major loss! Nowadays Tal Wilkenfeld from Jeff Beck’s band is a music I would love to colab on a big groove song with since she plays with so much pure joy for music and groove, and it’s how i like to play and write!
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? Mt official website is… https://timerickson.band/ and is a cool site!
My Spotify Official Playlist is… https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5GUREXZvLgSpgwBX0iIknK?si=71b5b99b58b8418b
My iTunes link is…https://music.apple.com/us/artist/tim-erickson/280899369
My Landr profile has a ton of links to albums & songs, on a over 100 sites and apps, including all of the majors here… https://network.landr.com/users/timerickson
My Go Fund Me page for those who love helping support the arts and hard working independent bands and artists, this is not a handout, it’s about helping get my production company to work on a ton of projects that i would love to bring to music listeners, which is here…https://gofund.me/0768219e4
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
I would love to start a channel with song writting, playing, and production tips for independent bands and artists, along with recording new albums as often as possible with thousands of song ideas in folders at my studio, i could release stuff non stop and never run out or come close to it, so I have no limits if I just had the time to dive in and work! I also want to play shows up and down the West Coast and get a lot of live stuff recorded since that’s a lot of fun! I try and set a really positive example for other independent bands and artists, since we really can do this the artistic way and get out albums out there, if we are willing to do the crazy hard work to make that happen. You find out real quick how dedicated you are with how challenging it can be, but I was in for life from day one, and I wouldn’t do things any other way!
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
That I’m not some Rock Star larger than life image type! I’m a musician and Ive always been in this for the music! It’s not just something I say, and it’s not just a difference you can hear, it’s a difference you can really feel! Take the independent challenge and listen for yourself! When music is free to be real, cool things are possible artistically!
