Timothy Blackman is a singer from Wellington New Zealand. Classically trained in violin from the age of five, in his formative years Blackman revolted against convention, turning to the inchoate angst of grunge music. In 2002 he moved to Dunedin and founded the minimalist punk rock band Jezebel Sundae, who preformed regularly in the local music scene.
Tired of thrashing chords and depleting his lungs, Tim changed direction, beginning to mould solitary pensive songs on an old four-track borrowed from a friend. The lo-fi bedroom recordings were eventually self-released as the EP, Giraffes, Wharves and Sinking Sand. Weaving together enigmatic and opaque lyrics and skeletal guitar picking, the recording had an intimacy that was unnervingly immediate. Blackman’s sophomoric effort, Modern Sprawl EP, recorded in Auckland kept the gritty asceticism of his previous recording, while showcasing more melodious and nuanced textures. The Sunday Star Times designated Blackman as “a major talent… that affirms his aesthetic debt to local home recording pioneer, Chris Knox.” The dislocated city of Berlin provided the perfect backdrop to Blackman’s debut full length album, I’ve Never Lived (2010). Permeated by themes of loss and displacement, the public and the private, Tim looked to the plight of the city to delve into his introspective world.
In addition to the records, Blackman has also spent time on the road in New Zealand since 2006. However, more recently has toured to parts of Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia.
In 2010 Blackman returned to his hometown after an eight year hiatus recording his sophomore LP, Everybody Needs Something To Hold On To, over four days in an abandoned church on the outskirts of Wellington. Everybody departs from Tim’s laconic lo-fi leanings, delivering richly evocative sweeps of instrumentation and polished vocals which nonetheless remain quintessentially solemn and sincere. The album was produced by Timothy Armstrong and features a number of Blackmans friends from other Wellington bands/orchestras.
The new record is released in New Zealand on October 10th through Home Alone Music/Border Music and in support of the release Blackman is playing six dates this October in the north and south islands.
