This is special, this is something else…
I am very lucky to be interviewing today’s guest.
An awesome musician, multi-instrumentalist, composer…a force of nature.
A master of his craft.
I’ve been listening to his music for quite some time now and it’s been a very uplifting experience.
Ladies and gents, Tim Scott.
Q1) Multi-instrumentalist, composer, session guitarist…is there anything you don’t do?
There are some styles of music that I may think I really, really don’t like. Then I get inspired and think you know what, I’m gonna try and write a piece of music in that style, or that encompasses some of that feeling. Just because I like pushing myself, as that’s where the true inspiration can really, really happen.
Q2) Tim, I personally love your music…but that guitar playing of yours…it’s unique, how did you come up with your own guitar playing style?
I learned so many different styles of music when I was at music college and soon realized that the only difference between styles or genres is the choice of chords/harmonies and rhythms applied within.
This inspired me to take all sorts of risks with different genres, mixing them together which is something that I feel really helped me form my own guitar style and sound.
When I made my first album – Bald On the Inside – I stopped listening to some of my guitar heroes, just for short while, having learned so much from them. I decided I needed to have a break so that I could try and concentrate on creating my own sound.
Breaking away from standard rock and pop and playing guitar in nightclubs really was a game-changer, also adding those sorts of beats and production to my pieces meant that I was writing cool guitar pieces but with a slightly more clubby or dancey edge.
Q3) If you were to go back in time, tell your 8 years old self that you’re gonna be doing some awesome music in the future…will he believe you?
I was so terrible at playing the guitar when I started. I was ready to quit after the first few weeks. It all seemed so, so hard!
So no, I didn’t think my eight-year-old self would really believe that I would be writing music, let alone writing cool music. My early memories from about age five or six are mostly of me trying to compose music. I was absolutely dreadful at it, but I did not let that put me off trying to make up stuff on any instruments I was allowed to play.
Q4) Did you study music professionally? Or was it just pure love of music that got you here?
I always loved writing music. I did study music at school and found composition to be my strongest subject.
After school, before I went to college, I had an apprenticeship at a local recording studio that made music for TV and radio adverts and films.
They had a producer there who was writing singles for Stock Aitken and Waterman and some other big pop names of the time too. This was a fantastic insight into producing.
I went on to study at the Guitar Institute in London now known as ICMP. It was an amazing experience as we studied so many styles all in practical workshops, with lots of improvisation.
I studied under teachers like Dave Kilminster who now plays for the Roger Waters Pink Floyd band and Nick Beggs from Kajagoogoo and who currently plays for Steven Wilson. Jamming with those guys was really something else.
Q5) I heard and wrote an article about your song “Roller Skating”…but I gotta know, what was the inspiration for this song, the direction, mood, instrument choice…what were you feeling/ sensing at the time of inception of this song, if you will.
Now, this is quite a story. So when I wrote Roller Skating I had started dating a German girl.
I really wanted to marry her so I wanted to write something really uplifting that I hoped she would really like.
Plus we both liked Skating. In fact, I ended up buying a pair of Roller Skates as part of her engagement present besides the ring.
Every time I did a pass of the track I could hear this voice in my head.
I tried it out but didn’t think much of it until a few days later when I added harmonies to the original melody and the stack of vocals sounded so cool.
The feel was totally inspired by the retro 80s tracks from The Weekend, Dua Lipa, and Miley Cyrus that were coming out at around that time.
Q6) Tell us about some of the most notable gigs you played!
Probably one of the biggest gigs I have ever played was the Radio 1 weekend in Ibiza. I ended up playing this two years running and was also flown out to perform some closing parties too.
I played at the NEC in Birmingham for Guitarist magazine as part of the Guitarist Of The Year or GOTY competition.
I was able to play the Chai Wallah stage at the Kendal Calling festival in the summer of 2019 just before the COVID restrictions curtailed live events.
Although not a big gig I did a Starbucks tour to promote my first album which was one of the things that really made my career as a guitar player.
Q7) Anything particularly crazy happened backstage at any of these gigs?
Anything I’ve played in clubs has always been a bit crazy!
I had a rubber chicken thrown at me from far out on the dance floor.
I’ve arrived at the dressing room to find some, oh so fresh condom wrappers lying on the table where the drinks rider was supposed to be.
People take off their clothes because they’ve had too much to drink and get on the stage. You know the normal kind of crazy gig scenarios.
The slightly calmer stuff is when the Sat-Nav takes you to completely the wrong venue and only then do you realize you’ve got half an hour to drive 40 miles to be on time for the show to start in the right town!
Q8) What are your plans for the future? Preparing anything soon?
My wife and I moved to Germany just before Christmas. At the moment we are planning some European gigs, I’ll be flying back to the UK for a few private events and big festivals. I’m so excited about playing life again.
I’ve almost got enough songs together to make another album, that I expect will be released later this year possibly with some extras.
I have more singles that are in production right now and I’m looking forward to letting those loose later in the year.
Q9) A significant group of our readers are people who are either musicians or trying to be or starting out…what advice would you give to aspiring guitarists or musicians, in general, reading this now?
Follow your dreams. No one else can do you quite as well as you. Don’t be afraid to make music that doesn’t sound exactly like someone else.
There are new ideas to be had, and you could be the one who shares them with the world!
Q10) Last but certainly not least if you would give us an elevator pitch about who Tim Scott is and why we should listen to his music…GO!
I want you to imagine yourself on a beach at sunset with a cocktail in hand, Chicane on the decks, and Carlos Santana jamming guitar to the beats then, I think you’re probably somewhere close to the style of music that I play. Uplifting house chillout music!
Thank you so much for your time, I personally appreciate it!
We wish you all the best and look forward to hearing more music, more boundary-pushing from your side to drive music into new emotional territories.
Cheers!
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