Tim Blake Biography
French residant since 1970, Tim Blake was certainement
one of the first musicians
in France & Europe to play
the synthetiser, at the time, a totally
new instrument,first in electronique music, forming in 1971
the "Crystal Machine Studio" with
Philippe Denis
,
and
then "on the road" in particuliar with the 'Cult' Group,
GONG,
Under the nick-name of "Moonweed
"
Tim recorded 3 studio albums with
Gong, for Virgin.
Both Gong & Virgin have since produced
huge quantities of
'Live', Remixed & Remastered albums.
Tim also recorded 'Fish Rising' STEVE HILLAGE'
s first solo album
For Virgin too he discovered, and produced
the first album of Cyrille Verdeaux:-
Clear Light Symphony. (the 1st French artist
released by the label )
Leaving Gong & Virgin en 1975, he formed,
with Patrice Warrener
"CRYSTAL MACHINE",
the world's first "multi-media" group, marrying
Tim's music with 'Light Show',
and creating, another world premiere,
the use of lasers in stage shows.
In '76 & once more in '77, Crystal Machine filled the
Théâtre LE PALACE (Paris)
with a week of shows, feauturing
Light & 'Electronic' music
At this time, Tim recorded his first two solo
albums :
"CRYSTAL MACHINE" & "BLAKES'S
NEW JERUSALEM"
for Barclay.
In 1978 Tim Blake's Crystal Machine filled
concert halls in
France, Europe & Japan during a World Tour
In 1979 Tim shared the billing of the
Glastonbury Festival
with Peter Gabriel et
Steve Hillage.
It was at this time, that Tim discovered
Brittany,
mooved there, and started to sever his links
with "music business"
All the same, for two years, Tim joined up
with his old English friends "HAWKWIND",
recording two albums, before 'totally eclipsing'
from the international music scene.
Passioned by the influence of computing on
music production, Tim started to act
as consultant & trainer to Breton musicians and to the new FM Radio
Stations,
on computerised music and editing systems.
His 3rd solo album "MAGICK" , released
in 1991, is a 'direct to dat' recording
made in the windmill where Tim was
living, in south brittany,
and resulted in two U.S.A. tours
Tim also shared top billing of the "UK ELECTRONICA
" with
Chris Frank from Tangerine Dream.
In 1994 Tim took part 25th Birthday of GONG
for two days,in London. As usual, when
Tim plays with one of his groups, a double 'Live'album was released
!
En 1997 Tim "Guested " with Gong at the
Bataclan in Paris, & in 1998
in Brittany at Ploemeur and Rennes .
Unhappy with the recording quality of
"MAGICK"
Tim invested in the construction
of the
"STUDIO VIRTUEL ",
a totally independant digital audio production
facility,
actually installed in his windmill home
.
Tim has collaborated with several Breton artists,
both
artisticaly et technically, in particuliar
Kad Waladyr -
Roland Becker.
Becker's "Er Roué Stevan", where Tim
gave both voice and VST assistance,
won the prize for
"Meilleur Disque de Culture Brettonne
2000 "
(Best Recording of Breton Culture -2000)
Inspired by the exceptional High Tides of 1996,
Tim passed 4 years
elaborating, composing & recording :
"The Tide of the Century
Download an extract of TIDE as an MP3
He gave the first performance of "Tide of the
Century" in Holland, topping the bill of
the "ALPHA CENTURI" Festival - using
on stage ,
synths, computing, .............and accoustic
piano !
Of 'Tide of the Century', Tim says:
"I was, at last, able to record a logical
suite to 'New Jerusalem'. "
En 2000, Tim participed, with, among others
'LEMMY'(Motorhead)
at the 'HAWKESTRA'reunion at the
BRIXTON ACADEMY
Following this, he toured extensively with Hawkwind
all over England :-
including..
London ASTORIA,
ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL ,
WEMBLEY
(Arena, as guests of Motorhead),
He also took part in the
HAWKWIND SUMMER CAMP in August 2002
and, of course, in the 2002 Winter
Tour, ending in London on Friday 13/12/2002.
As usual, Hawkwind released a live un Cd
of this gig and a Dvd !
Hawkwind "Spaced Out in London"
"HAWKWIND Feauturing ARTHUR
BROWN & TIM BLAKE "
In DEC 2002, Tim also released "CALDEA
Musique Vol 2"
his first Instrumental recording for many
years.
Specially written & recorded on commision
for
CALDEA, the Thermo-Ludique Institute in
ANDORRA
2003 saw the release of "SPIRIT of
the AGE " a cover by Tim for :
"DAZE OF THE UNDERGROUND"
Download an extract of SPIRIT as an MP3
He is actually working on a Rai music project with : SORAYA MADHAOUI
Tim's solo albums are actually distributed
by VOICEPRINT ( UK),
apart from CALDEA ( Disconforme; Andorre
).
Download sales is actually in
discussion.
Tim Blake "En Concert"
Involved in a serious road
accident, in may 2004,
Tim has
returned his
to the stage since July 2005
Tim is available for
Concerts in 3 configurations.
"Concert Rock": The lightest version : suitable for concerts with several artists.
"Electro-Accoustique" available only for theatres where an acoustic piano is available .
"Crystal Machine" available for installations of several days, in prestigious situations.
You can consult the discography on:
Contact
Tim Blake