I came across the word "Timshel" during my junior year of high school in the midst of reading John Steinbeck's brilliant novel, East of Eden. Its literal translation from Hebrew is "Thou Mayest."

Simon Jeffes, the late leader of the great Penguin Cafe Orchestra, once said a very poignant thing:

"Because I am a composer, I can do whatever I want."

I find this quote to particularly amazing on account of the sense of freedom it can instil in a musician. There is simply no need for any restrictions when it comes to making music, hence the "Timshel" moniker. Discursive ramblings aside, it simply is a cool sounding name.

I've been known to do some a capella covers at local coffee bars, but I quickly gave it up after I found that it got very boring.

I love mp3s. I have discovered so many new artists through the use of mp3s. They also serve as a good cautionary device against potentially bad artists.

Probably, if they relinquished all creative control to the band, once said band is formed.

Not much to tell, in particular. I started writing music when I was about 14-15 or so. I am a notoriously lazy musician, so I tend not to finish things. I also find songwriting to be rather difficult sometimes. Hopefully, with the help and encumbrance of a band behind I can flesh out all of these ideas I have swimming around in my head.

My all-time favorite band is and will probably always be Faith No More. I became a singer by virtue of Mike Patton's influence, back in middle school. Nick Cave and Jeff Buckley also served as great influences, at least vocally. I started playing guitar at age 9-10, fruitlessly attempting to figure out old Beatles songs (as I said, I am notoriously lazy musician). I ghosted on the guitar for awhile, only to take it quite seriously once high school hit. Once high school started, a veritable renaissance of new and hidden music came my way. I got heavily into metal and its various subgenres. My biggest influences from this period are Devin Townsend (namely Strapping Young Lad and his Ocean Machine project), Agalloch (Pale Folklore), Novembers Doom, Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley, Dornenreich, The Durutti Column, Swans, The Cure (har har) and innumerable others. I was in one rather terrible band during my sophomore year of high school. We were called Lunacy. We had about the first half of a cover of Black Sabbath's War Pigs down before I quit. I have had a few jam sessions here and there, but band experience is scant at best. Ideally, the music I would LIKE to create is a mixture of Talk Talk-inspired, Durutti Column-ish "incidental" atmosphere and some of the trebly, atmospheric tendencies of black metal, with string musicians (violin and cello) as principal instrumentalists. Sound pretentious and overblown? It probably is.

Edinburgh, Scotland and Glastonbury, England. Both are magical places

Guitars:

Vigier Excalibur Special with Dimarzios
Fernandes Ravelle with Seymour Duncans
Carvin DC-127 with EMGS
Fender Strat (my first electric)
Rodriguez Flamenco acoustic

Amplification:

Genz Benz El Diablo 100
Carvin slanted 412

Effects:

Boss DD-4
Boss PH-3 (rarely used)
Boss Chorus
Electro Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man
Dan Electro vibrato pedal (rarely used)
Line 6 Pod (for demo recording)
Roland GP-100 (rarely used)

Recording:

BOSS Br-532 Multitracker

All of this equipment...with barely anything to show for it. Music can be a silly hobby, sometimes.

I am VERY big on atmosphere. One of my favorite things about music is its ability to evoke places and pictures. I am also a cinemaphile, so take that as you will.

Also, if anyone has any pointers (recording, etc.), do not hesitate to e-mail. I am well-aware of my disabilities as a musician, so criticism/advice, however honest, is more than welcome.