TIM: 5 SONGS I LIKE

From KM.com,



Hello! Here are five things I'm enjoying at the moment.
Love from Tim

1 The War On Drugs - Baby Missiles

Utterly brilliant song with a fantastic sound. My next ten demos are probably just going to be inferior copies of this…



2 Lana Del Rey - Video Games

Again, lovely song, lovely sound. Very dark and intense.



3 ABBA - The Name Of The Game

Let's be honest, we take these songs for granted. We've heard them too many times. Just listen to this with your headphones on. There is no dead wood - every single moment is filled with a catchy melody or sound. Like virtually all their songs, it's a masterclass in pop songwriting.



Speaking of ABBA reminds me of this classic Erasure pastiche from their Abba-esque era:



4 Fleetwood Mac live

Check out this performance of Go Your Own Way. Just amazing.



5 JBM

Jesse B Marchant supported Mt. Desolation on a few dates in the USA last year. I got a sneak preview of a new recording of his last week, and it truly blew me away. Sadly, of course, I can't post that song here because the new record's not out yet….but in the meantime keep listening to his first record, Not Even In July.

http://www.jbm-music.com/

TIM ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS PT8

From KM.com,



Yes, we've reached the last part of our epic video Q&A with Tim - this time featuring questions about collaborating with Kanye West, not joining Coldplay and plans for album #4.
Big thanks to Tim for the interview, and to all of you who sent in questions - sorry we couldn't ask them all.

TIM ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS PT7

From KM.com,



Yes, after a little China-focussed break, it's time for the seventh (and penultimate) part of our video interview with Tim in which he answers questions to put to him by you folks. This time, topics include taking time off, watching Tom with Queen and what Bedshaped is about.

TIM ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS PT6

From KM.com,



Yes, after a little China-focussed break, it's time for the seventh (and penultimate) part of our video interview with Tim in which he answers questions to put to him by you folks. This time, topics include taking time off, watching Tom with Queen and what Bedshaped is about.

TIM ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS PT5

From KM.com,



Yes, it's part five of our video Q&A with Tim, and it begins with a biggie: What will the next Keane album be like?

TIM INTERVIEW AT BLENDER

From Blender.com,

It started, as many ingenious ideas do: over a few, or maybe more than a few, drinks at a cozy bar—specifically, a Dublin pub. A little more than a year later, Tim Rice-Oxley and Jesse Quin, pianist and bassist respectively in Keane, had a new project, a new album, and a new tour on their hands.

Mt. Desolation take their name from the fictional mountain in Kerouac's The Dharma Bums, and the music reflects that nominal starting point, even if the American-style country it aims for often comes off (wonderfully) more Kinks than Cash—more Muswell Hillbilly than Virginia hillbilly. The self-titled album, made with members of Mumford and Sons, Noah and the Whale, and the Killers, is an understated gem, full of melody, brisk storytelling, and barely concealed excitement—no wonder Rice-Oxley was in such a pleasant mood when he spoke to Blender.

A couple of questions that I like from the interview...

What has the reaction to Mt. Desolation been from Tom [Chaplin] and Richard [Hughes] from Keane?

They've been lovely—really good, really encouraging. Jesse and I are very focused on Keane, and very excited about making the next Keane record. We've fit Mt. Desolation around Keane, so it's not like there's been a clash of schedules. And they love the music. Tom's been to quite a few Mt. Desolation gigs, even the first two tiny ones, just to support us, really. They've been brilliant about it; it hasn't caused any problems at all.

Both of those guys appreciate escaping from the Keane thing for a few weeks, getting back to normal life, which I think is very sensible, whereas Jesse and I are obsessives that need to be making music every moment that we're awake.

It might be too early to ask this, but what is the future of Mt. Desolation?

I don't know. We're very lucky that we don't feel the pressure to push it for all it's worth. Our plan is to do this tour and then go back to the UK and start making the next Keane album straight away... and I'm sure that will take up the next two years of our lives!

We have a very strong sense of wanting to continue Mt. Desolation, but it's hard to know yet when or how we will continue. But it's nice to put it aside while there's still a hunger to do more. We really enjoyed making the record, which is important. It's been so fun making it, so fun being on tour. We just did three weeks in the UK, and now we're living the dream bringing the tour to the States. It's been amazing, and I've learned so much from it. I would love to do it again, and I'm very excited to take everything I've learned back to writing for Keane. It's been a real education to me—a real eye-opener.

Click here to read the whole interview =)

MTD: BBC 6 MUSIC INTERVIEW

From Mt.Desolation's website,

Tim and Jesse have been chatting to BBC 6 Music about Mt. Desolation. You can hear the interview below.

PURE POP FOR NOW PEOPLE INTERVIEW

From Pure Pop For Now People's website,

Click here to read the whole interview :)

Some of the article...

Tell me about some of your influences, especially as the piano player.

TRO: Piano was the instrument I started out on as a child, but one of the things that made our band quite unique is that most of my influences were guitarists or electronic music like Depeche Mode or Kraftwerk, or a lot of that 1980s stuff … people like The Pet Shop Boys, and U2 and REM and Radiohead and Bowie – classic bands – people who are known for being more generally about guitars. I guess I took that sense of that kind of expansive, melodic guitar parts and used it. Rather than being about twiddly solos, it’s much more about creating sonic landscapes for the vocals and lyrics to fit into – a kind of impressionistic approach to sound. I think taking that inspiration and applying it to a piano is probably what made Keane’s sound unique. It’s a pretty bastardized approach to playing piano that would probably be disapproved of by anyone who’s been classically trained. I think it made for quite interesting results.

TIM INTERVIEW IN MUSIC CONNECTION

Enjoy another interview with Timmeh here. It's pretty fun to read it :)

Funny part: Tim's singing is a reminder of what a fantastic singer Tom is. (?) Ha! I think Tim is perfect in Your Love. His voice suits very well.

TIM INTERVIEW IN TODAY'S INDEPENDENT

From KM.com,

There's a great interview with Tim in today's edition of the Independent newspaper, here in the UK. Click here if you'd like to read it online.

My fav part:

In Night Train's "Stop for a Minute," Rice-Oxley writes: "Sometimes I feel like a little lost child/ Sometimes I feel like the chosen one". Both lines are from the heart. "I'm reading Kenneth Williams's diaries at the moment," he starts to explain. "I'm really interested in someone like that, with all the mess and depression. I really associate with people who are honest about their fear of failure. If I feel that I've written a really great song, that's pretty much what I live for. My identity's dependent on it. But there are days I'll spiral into thinking: 'I can't write any more. I literally can't finish even a crap song.' I live in fear of the day when everyone turns round and says: 'Actually, you're right!' That really haunts me. That whatever I had is gone. I spend the whole time dreading that feeling that I'm not good enough. And it's that same fear that leads to thinking: 'If in doubt, stick to the well-trodden path and let's do another [standard-issue Keane hit] "Is It Any Wonder".' But then Tom gives me a kick up the arse..."

TIM INTERVIEW BY 3VOOR12

How could I have missed it?! Anyways, I decided to publish it for the ones who didn't read it :D This is the first time Tim confirms about the mini-album. Remenber Tom talked about it in a past interview.

3VOOR12 DEN HAAG Susanne Kooijman Monday 24th August (more here)

That the British Topband Keane will perform at the Beatstad Festival has not escaped many people. The inner city of The Hague is covered with posters of the three men. 3VOOR12 the Hague had an exclusive interview with Tim Rice-Oxley, songwriter and keyboardist of Keane.

Saturday, 29th of August, time for a new edition of Beatstad. The Festival at the Hague's Malieveld has managed to book Keane as the festival closer. The band itself look very much forward to the gig. “We like to play in the Netherlands. To play for a large audience in the finale of Beatstad Festival, we think is ace. It moves us and we therefore consider it a great honour. The Dutch public was one of the first that really appreciated our music outside England. Our first show in the Netherlands we played in the Melkweg, in 2003 I believe. The Netherlands has always welcomed us with open arms, and the public always reacts to us with much enthusiasm and the music.”

Keane is Ambassador of War Child. Part of the proceeds from ticket sales from Beatstad goes to a good purpose. “War Child was one of the first to link good music to a charity. That appealed to us. But the most important thing is, of course, that I think it is unfair that children are victims of war. Children are always innocent in my view.”

The band frequently plays in sold out stadiums to often wild fans. They are not however burdened by nerves. "There's always a little bit of nerves, but doing a festival we feel it more. There the visitors don't know you that well. That keeps it exciting for us.”

On the latest album, ‘Perfect Symmetry ’, the band took a new path. "The album is very philosophical. And more positive than the last two albums, I am pretty proud of that. The texts for this album came very naturally. We just looked around us, at people and to the world. It is also an album about the love that we have for humanity. This is the vision we have on the world at this point in time.”

Tim is the main writer of the band and has therefore already considerable hits in his pocket. "My favorite song in terms of text? [long silence] That is a difficult question. I think Spiralling. On the surface, it is a very danceable and poppy song, but the text is pretty deep, if that doesn't somewhat sound arrogant of me. I have taken a long time on this text, it is a pretty complex text.”

In the back of his mind, Tim is occupied with the following album. “I am trying to write, but we are still too busy touring. It would be nice if we could record the next album again in different countries. I found Berlin to be a very inspiring city, and I would like to go back there. It is important for us to sometimes have a change of environment. You meet new people and you can see new places. Before you know it you find yourself in a strange situation, like some weird pub at 4 o'clock in the morning. That inspires us.”

Despite the fact that there won't be a new Keane album for a while, the band will however release a mini album at the beginning of next year. “It will be an album with 6 or 7 songs. Somewhat larger than an EP, so we called it a mini album. There will be new songs on it, remixes and collaberations with other artists. We will be doing some promotion for that album in the spring next year. If it is picked up in the Netherlands, then we will probably come to the Netherlands as well for some promotion."

Life is treating Tim well at the moment. His role in the band suits him just fine. “I feel very happy when I see a sea of people that enjoys our music. Smiling and crying people, and that you yourself are in the moment, then we really have the time of our lives. I love that feeling. It does give you a useful feeling, that we have a sense of purpose in life. We know what the difficulties are to see a band live. The costs and travel and, therefore, we appreciate the fact that people pay to see us. It continues to surprise me always.”

The band still has a couple of weeks of touring to do, with shows in Switzerland, Russia, America and Canada. Then there will be some peace and quiet for the band members. “ We will however go back into the studio and the mini album is also coming up. But it is good to go back to the real world, to reality. I love being with my family and friends. Nice to play some guitar. Perhaps I am shortly going to live in America for a couple of months. But I often have other mad plans, which does not mean that they will all come true!"

Keane will close the Beatstad Festival . The band's gig will start at 10 p.m.