Tim Smith (born 3 July 1961 in Carshalton, Surrey, England) is an English singer-songwriter, composer, poet, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and music video director.
Smith is well-known for his unique singing and songwriting styles, as well as his poetically cryptic, philosophical and abstract lyrics, and for his profound influence on over three decades of musicians (including the pioneers of the Nu Metal, Avant-Garde Metal and Math Rock genres).
Vocally Smith has a high-pitched (often falsetto) punk-esque style. His unique singing style has been described by critics as 'skittish'. As with artists such as Tom Waits and Morrissey, Smith's speaking voice is very similar to his singing one.
Instrumental
In addition to singing, Smith plays electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitar, a variety of keyboards (including piano, synthesizer, mellotron and organ), flute, recorder and percussion. He is also an accomplished manipulator of recorded and sampled sound (providing most of the detailed soundscapes in the backgrounds of tracks by Cardiacs and by the artists he produces).
Musical style
Smith is credited as being the inventor of the Pronk (progressive punk) music genre; a name actually coined in the late 90s, but attributed to music critics of the late 70s "who were baffled by Cardiacs' unique sound, in order to try to place a genre label on their music". The term Pronk was said to have only been used by these music critics when trying to describe Cardiacs' very early work of the late 1970s, and that "However, Smith 'rejected' the term from the off - stating that Cardiacs are a Pop or Psychedelic act if anything".
Smith and Cardiacs have also had a profound influence on the nu-metal and avant-garde metal genres and its pioneers - most notably on Mike Patton's Mr. Bungle and Faith No More, as well as Korn and Tool. Smith has also had a profound influence on math rock, including acts such as The Monsoon Bassoon and Battles.
As a result of Smith's ability to produce a unique, and complex sound with all his music projects throughout his long career, his fans and many critics believe him to be a musical genius; often dubbing Smith as the Mozart or Beethoven of rock and pop music.
Lyrical style and themes
Smith's poetic work often deals with the exploration of childhood or adolescent fears and anxieties, the terror of war, paranoia, loneliness, pain, love, obsession, isolation, sexuality, satire on ways of living, the sins of religion and the ideal of a better world. His lyrical style is very abstract, personal and is believed by fans and critics (as well as fellow musicians) to be 'deep and poetic', as well as 'philosophical'. Smith is revered by fans for his high intelligence; and attributed with an extensive vocabulary, and a vast knowledge of history, religion and myth, which are frequently referenced in his lyrics. as metaphor, allegory and oxymoron. However, throughout Smith's career he has always refused to discuss his lyrics and what they mean to him.
Inspirations
While expressing appreciation for such artists as XTC, Gong, Gentle Giant, early Genesis, and Frank Zappa, Smith's lyrical references include the work of George Darley, Charles Kingsley, William Blake, Pedro Carolino, William Shakespeare, Charles Laughton and David Lynch.
In 1975, Tim Smith played guitar in a nameless punky, psychedelic instrumental band with school friends Mark Cawthra (Drums) and David Philpot (Keyboard). Tim was taken aback by the sound of David’s Korg synthesiser and would later use the sound early on in Cardiac Arrest/Cardiacs.
In mid-1977, Tim Smith founded The Filth (sometimes erroneously referred to as Philip Pilf & The Filth Cardiacs: The Ultimate Cardiacs Gig List) before changing the act’s name to Cardiac Arrest. Also in the band were his brother, Jim (Bass Guitar), former Fleetwood Secondary school friends, Peter Tagg (Drums) and Michael Pugh (Vocals), and Colvin Mayers (Keyboards) and Ralph Cade (Saxophone). They played their first concert at The Kaleidoscope in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. Tim would humiliate his brother, Jim, on stage and this would become a token part of all further concerts.
In 1979, Tim helped record a 7”, A Bus for a Bus on the Bus, at Elephant Studios in London. He was later forced to look for a new vocalist and drummer after Mike Pugh, Ralph Cade and Peter Tagg left the band. He decided to take over the vocals himself and invited Mark Cawthra in to play drums. 1980 saw Tim recording the first and only Cardiac Arrest album, The Obvious Identity. As he had little cash to invest in the project, he recorded the album onto as many old cassette tapes as he could find. Tim says of the venture that "[t]he recordings were so shit it wouldn’t matter if they were copied onto washing up sponges". Cardiacs Official Website » History Eventually, 1000 cassettes were recorded, but only sold at concerts to save on expenditure.
Tim decided to change the name of the band to Cardiacs in 1981. He helped record the band’s first album, Toy World, in the same manner as the Cardiac Arrest album — on cassette tape — at a small basement studio known as The Crow. After another line up change, Tim recruited Tim Quy (Percussion), Sarah Cutts (Saxophone) and Dominic Luckman (Drums) into the fold.
In 1983, Tim saw William D. Drake performing on a piano in a public house and drafted him into the ranks of Cardiacs as keyboard player. He also married Sarah Cutts this year.
The low budget label Alphabet Business Concern was created in 1984. Tim often refers to the label as a totalitarian organisation, saying that they were in control of the band up until 1989. They would be responsible for distributing most of Tim’s recordings with various outfits. Tim was asked by vocalist Fish to support his band Marillion on their forthcoming tour near the end of the year. Tim agreed but was not prepared for the hostile audience that awaited them on all legs of the tour (forcing them off the final three days of the tour). William D. Drake
In 1985, Tim was approached by students Mark Francombe and Nick Elborough with an offer to shoot footage of them at one of their live concerts as part of their coursework project. The Surbiton Assembly Rooms was chosen, but Tim was unhappy with the resultant footage and canned the project. The students then assisted Tim with making a promotional video, produced and directed by Tim himself, called Seaside Treats, which would include a 10-minute feature called "The Consultant’s Flower Garden" and three music videos. This was successful and the video was released. Seaside Treats
In March 1987, Tim and his wife, Sarah, were embroiled in a scandal started by The Sunday Sport newspaper. The headline ran, "In the bizarre world of music anything goes - even INCEST." Sunday Sport The paper tried to say that Tim and Sarah were, in fact, brother and sister and that their relationship was incestuous. This was shown to be nonsense, although then manager, "Spitty" Mark Walmesley, was thought to have started the whole rumour to gain some publicity for the band. In 1989, unrelated to the Sunday Sport 'scandal', Tim and Sarah separated.
During the 1990s, Tim took a break from Cardiacs to work on various other projects. During 1989 and 1991, he wrote songs for a solo album, Tim Smith's Extra Special OceanLandWorld , eventually released in 1995. He, estranged wife Sarah (now said to be practising as a white witch) and William D. Drake were reunited as The Sea Nymphs, a folkier, more ethereal and relaxed version of Cardiacs. The threesome had already recorded before in 1984 and released a cassette album, Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake. Tim also performed with ex-Cardiacs guitarist Bic Hayes in Panixsphere in 1993 (although no official recordings exist yet) and with love interest Jo Spratley in Spratleys Japs from 1995. 1999 saw the release of the latest Cardiacs studio album, Guns, on the Alphabet label.
The 21st Century has seen Tim (with Cardiacs) release one single, "Ditzy Scene", in 2007. He has used most of the time again touring and working on new recording output for the near future. In March 2006, he toured with Ginger & The Sonic Circus as their support act, performing acoustic versions of Cardiacs songs, along with his own material.
On 25 June 2008 Tim Smith suffered a cardiac arrest, and is currently in the process of recovering. As such, all plans for the new Cardiacs album and other future work have been postponed indefinitely.
Tim Smith has influenced over three decades of musicians (including the pioneers of the Nu Metal, Avant-Garde Metal and Math Rock genres), such as Mike Vennart of Oceansize, Mike Patton of Faith No More and Mr Bungle, Damon Albarn of Blur, Gorillaz, Thom Yorke of Radiohead, and Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree, as well as such acts as Dog Fashion Disco, System of a Down, They Might Be Giants, The Adicts, Marillion, Tool, Estradasphere, Sikth, The Wildhearts, The Blood Brothers, The Darkness, The Scaramanga Six, Toy Dolls, Kaiser Chiefs, Nomeansno, Ring, Uz Jsme Doma, The Monsoon Bassoon, Battles, Jellyfish, Melvins, Hella, This Heat, Primus, Kino, The Mars Volta, Pixies, The Young Knives, It Bites, Korn, Clor, Clearlake, Talking Heads, Ott, Oingo Boingo, Flipron, The Smashing Pumpkins, Super Furry Animals, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Little Trophy, The Display Team, Silvery and many others have cited Tim Smith's work as a major influence.
Work As Producer, VIdeo Director and Label Bossmoreless
Smith owns and operates his own recording studio - Apollo 8, currently based near Salisbury, Wiltshire - and has a long list of production credits to his name.
Since the early nineties Smith has produced recordings for a variety of musicians and musical groups, many of whom belong to the so called "Cardiacs family". These include Levitation, Sidi Bou Said, Eat, The Monsoon Bassoon, Wildhearts frontman Ginger (including his Silver Ginger 5 and Howling Willie Cunt projects), Stars In Battledress, Oceansize, William D. Drake, The Shrubbies, The Scaramanga Six and The Trudy.
Smith has created and/or edited pop videos for various bands including Sepultura, Dark Star and The Frank and Walters, as well as Cardiacs.
Smith also runs the record label All My Eye And Betty Martin Music which has released material by Spratleys Japs, William D. Drake, and Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake.
