TIM'S BOOK CLUB

From KM.com,

Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles

I read a lot of music books. I've got a pile of them called things like Tips From Great Record Engineers, which will be endless stories of what microphone they used on the snare drum and stuff. They're specialist to say the least. I've been trying to get back into just reading for pleasure and I suppose also for inspiration, and not trying to get quite so hung up on the technical side of things.

But this book offers the best of both worlds. It's the autobiography of Geoff Emerick, the guy who engineered a lot of the Beatles' most important albums. Being a lifelong Beatles fan, I've read pretty much every book on them that there is. I don't think this one is massively well-known, but I've found it, as a musician, much more insightful, exciting and atmospheric than pretty much any of the others. It's got so much about the creative process of the Beatles. It was interesting to read about the way they spent their time in the studio. You always have this sort of image of the Beatles turning up in a chaotic mess, recording a masterpiece in about three hours, and then speeding off in an E-type Jag to some trendy club. But it really gives you an impression of how hard they worked and how much time they put into their writing and pre-production before they started recording stuff, working out harmonies and polishing up songs. For instance, he talks about sitting there with Paul McCartney all night working on a bassline note by note. I found it quite encouraging, because you always imagine that these guys had an almost supernatural talent to put down these amazing songs and productions without even thinking about it. It's kind of reassuring to know that they had to work really hard for it too.

It's a very, very interesting book if you're into learning about the actual creative process of a band. And this kind of book really does help you as a musician. I was actually reading it while I was writing songs for Perfect Symmetry, and I remember finding it very exciting and having that feeling of being in a room while great music is being made, which is definitely inspiring. It makes you think, "Oh, I could sit at a piano now and try and write a song like that." You get this surge of excitement and a feeling that you can do it too. And that's always a really, really great feeling.

Tim

(This book is not currently in print, but you should be able to find it on eBay or through Amazon sellers)

Tim's Book Club #1

A CHRISTMAS GIFT FROM KM.COM

From KM.com,

Hello folks. To thank you for all your amazing support for keanemusic.com over this past year, we wanted to give you a little something. So here it is, a km.com desktop wallpaper / calendar for you to download. Click on the thumbnail to get it (and then save it to your computer).

Have a brilliant Christmas and we'll see you in 2010!

km.com

TIM LOOKS BACK ON 2009

From KM.com,

Hi everyone. Just a quick note to say thank you so much for all your love and amazing enthusiasm and support in 2009.

I think it's been our best year of touring ever - so many new places and new friends, and every tour has been fantastic fun.

It's been great to keep up the creative momentum too, and we've got loads of great memories of recording the Night Train EP on our travels - Berlin, Copenhagen, Washington DC, Brisbane and many others. I think we may well be the luckiest people on the planet!

One thing that has really stuck in my head this year - I already mentioned this in a blog I think - was a message from someone in South America saying thanks for making music that "protests against everything that harms our world". That's a huge compliment for us, but it strikes me that I also think that spirit is embodied by you guys, the fans who come to shows all over the world and are always so passionate and joyful, but also so courteous and considerate of other people. You are a positive force in the world and we couldn't ask for a better bunch of people to share our music with.

2010 is nearly upon us already, and it's nice to have some plans other than "write lots of songs and make a record" already laid. The EP will be fun, and it's great to know we already have some touring booked. And, of course, we can't wait to get into the studio and make new music together once again.

Anyway, thanks again and here's wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

Tim

TIM ON PODCAST XMAS SPECIAL!!!

From KM.com,

Yesterday afternoon, Tim headed along to Beyond The Iron Sea Towers to record a special Christmas edition of Chris and Andrew's much-loved unofficial Keane podcast. Head over to beyondtheironsea.com to download it for free.

Tim is alive!!! and with a new look which reminds me a bit of UTIS era. I hope they keep on touring a bit more, so people let's support The Night Train :D

TIM'S BOOK CLUB

From KM.com,

We're very pleased to reveal a new regular feature here on keanemusic.com. Over the coming weeks and months, Tim will be telling us a little bit about some of his favourite books. If you folks then read them, feel free to let us know what you thought of them in the comments below. It'll be like a Keane online reading group. And so to Tim's first choice...

The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster

I read this book in the summer of 2009, when I was staying in Brooklyn for a few weeks. It was given to me by our manager as a birthday present.

Paul Auster is a brilliant writer, who's also written a couple of great films, but this was the first book of his that I'd read. I like stories that have a lot of different threads, which kind of intertwine as it goes on. And I also like ones that are quite psychological, in that they'll be written in the first person and you'll get a real insight into someone's mind. With books like that, you really feel like you learn something about the way people think.
And probably even about the way you think yourself. The Brooklyn Follies is definitely like that, but it's also a really cracking story - it's almost a thriller, I suppose, written in a way that's very beautiful and powerful. I've always enjoyed books that are based on seemingly very ordinary people, like the retired insurance salesman at the centre of the Brooklyn Follies. The story explores dramas that could really happen to anyone, just through good luck or bad luck - and then looks at how those chance occurrences effect the way the characters act and think.

The book is set right in Park Slope which is where we were staying when we were over in Brooklyn. It was quite exciting knowing that I was walking along the same streets as I was reading about. The atmosphere of that particular community is a very important part of the book, and quite a lot of Auster's books, as far as I can gather. So it was nice being able to picture the actual buildings that he was writing about and to almost feel like part of it. I think being in Brooklyn while I read it probably did help me to appreciate the book more. And I suppose, in a way, it helped me to appreciate Brooklyn more too. The story helped give a sense of it being a real place, full of real people, rather than just a tourist destination.

I absolutely loved it. I read the whole thing in about two days, which is very quick for me, as I'm a very slow reader normally. And I've since acquired a huge pile of all his other books. I'm very much looking forward to working my through them.

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Buy The Brooklyn Follies from Amazon UK / USA / Canada / Germany / France