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Music Interview #002 - Tim Fite

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  Music Interview #002 - Tim Fite

  So, I missed a Music Monday a few weeks ago. But it was because I was in NYC doing a ton of featured content for the site. Hope this makes up for it, and keep your eyes open for more stuff soon.

  I'm not sure I can give an acceptable introduction to Tim Fite. Tim is an artist and musician out of Brooklyn. He is one of those people that you come across and you look at all they do and say "how does one human being have the skills to do all this different stuff, much less the time to do it all?" When I was in NYC a few weeks ago he took some time to chat with me on his trip to the Brooklyn Library to pick up a book for his book club. After the jump is the conversation along with some drawings, short films and music videos.

  Chad Kouri: How did the Gun Show come about?

  Tim Fite: I had made a lot of videos for the [live] show but I don't really want to put them on the internet because they were for the show. And we had to put out records and stuff and record labels would say "We need more content!" And I was like "Well, if you buy me a video camera, I'll make some videos." So they bought me a camera and I made a bunch of Gun Shows and I'll probably make some more after a little while. Right now I'm making these little animated shorts called Dog and Pony show and it's about a little dog and a little pony and they just have these ridiculous conversations. So I have to make a bunch of Dog and Pony and then maybe I'll make another round of the Gun Show.

  <----------end audio clip

  Chad: How do you start when writing a song? Do you do music then lyrics? Vis versa?

  Tim: I make the song first. The music is first. And usually somewhere halfway through the music I'll think of a hook or I'll think of what it is going to be about. Or just like a nonsense melody. But I'm very used to writing in a rap music kind of way. Where it's like "This beat is fresh!" I wanna write words. And I had always relied on other people to make my music when I was younger because I didn't know how or think I could do it – I just wasn't confident enough – so I always had them give me the music first and then write words. Now I'm like my own beat-maker.

  <----------end audio clip

  Chad: You use a lot of samples in your music. Would you consider yourself a digger?

  Tim: The way I go about it I think is a lot different from most people who dig. I'm looking for the worst, cheapest, crappiest music possible where as other people look for stuff that they know they are going to sit and enjoy listening to. Most of the records that I would steal from I won't ever listen to. That's usually a requirement. If I think I like it then I'm not going to take from it. I'll just listen to it.

  Chad: I was reading something that said your favorite record was an Ox record that you found, right?

  Tim: Yeah, I liked the Ox record.

  Chad: So you didn't use it.

  Tim: Right. No. Never. It sounded great so I kept listening. You know? But it was a dollar just like all the other things. And now there is just so much music out there for free digging doesn't even occur to me anymore. And because all the records stores are closed so no body even has a bargain bin. So I haven't figured out whether or not I'm going to dig on the internet or just stop sampling because at this point I can just make my own damn music.

  <----------end audio clip

  Chad: I just saw something recently about your Halloween releases. Care to explain what they are all about?

  Tim: There was six tracks on the record this year, and six tracks on the record I made for it last year, and 6 tracks on the record I made for it the prior year to that, so that made the number of the beast, 666, which means the trilogy is over. The dark lord has been served. It's fun, you know? I stole a bunch of songs from scary horror funk and added words and made a big 'lo ugly mess. I talked to my mom yesterday and I hadn't really told her about those songs and she's like, "I went to your website and downloaded them… there not my favorite songs." And I'm like" Yeah those aren't really for you mom. You gotta listen to Big Mistake."

  <----------end audio clip

  Chad: Your live shows are quite impressive with all the video work, drawings, stories and so on. Is that something you have always incorporated into your shows or was it something you grew into?

  Tim: That was when I was at my own devices. I had always just played with a band like everybody else. But I like to do all kinds of things. In fact I like drawing probably more than I like making music so if I could draw pictures for a show it's a treat. It's like "Oh, I don't have to just practice these songs over and over again? I can draw or I could make a crazy video or it could do something else?" I'm like "Yay yay yay! I'm gonna have a fun time!"

  <----------end audio clip

  Chad: Have you done video work for anyone besides yourself?

  Tim: I help my friend Ryan make videos sometimes for other people. We made a video for My Brightest Diamond that came out really good. I did a lot of paper collaging and cutting and stuff for that and then Ryan does all the computer stuff. We did a video for this bad called DeLeon. They take traditional Sephardic folk songs and turn them into rock and roll songs. We made a video for them. It came our really good. Same thing. Lots of paper and collage and then green screen. Throw them in there and, you know, sking-didy-bong.

  <----------end audio clip

  Chad: The new site looks great. Is all of the work newer stuff? How old is the oldest thing you have up? Newest?

  Tim: The oldest thing is prolly Gone Ain't Gone from 2005, and the newest is prolly the drawing of dog fighting from a month or so ago.  I hope to put up a gang of new shit in the next month, as soon as my web-helper can climb out from under more pressing responsibilities.  Just for you, I will send a drawing from this week, so you have some extra current shit. [pictured below]

  

  How do you find time to do everything?

  I think knowing that the one thing that I like to do most, which is drawing, that that will last me the rest of my life. Like I can do that when I'm old and tired. Knowing that, I don't feel like they all have to compete. Yeah, music is going to run out one day. The chance of doing rock and roll for the rest of all time… you know. There's one in a million chance of doing rock and roll period, when your young, and then it's like one in ten billion to have a career that lasts for a long time. But knowing that drawing will always be there and I can always try and get better at that. I can always try and get better at the other things but for drawing I can just keep trying and trying and that makes me happy.

  <----------end audio clip

  Chad: do you have any formal visual art training?

  Tim: I do!  I studied print-making at Rutgers University. 

  Chad: How long have you been print-making?

  Tim: A long time.  At least 15 years, if you include linoleum and a spoon. 

  Chad: What art materials do you have within arms reach right now?

  Tim: Pudding, pens, pencils, paper, a spoon, synthesizer, wood, brick, chair, pillow, shoe. 

  Chad: Do you have a day job? What is it? Why?

  Tim: I do.  I teach english to foreign scientists.  I do this because I am an ardent supporter of foreign science; and if the scientists who practice this esteemed discipline want to learn english, I am the man for the job.  (I also need money) 

  Chad: You where in Chicago a few years ago for the Hideout Block Party and all I can remember people talking about after the show was your performance. Care to tell the story? You couldn't project any of your videos, right?

  Tim: It was too bright, so we couldn't use the screen. They had told use that we would be playing at night and we got there and it was like "Oh, snap. We're playing in the middle of the day and the sun is shinning right where we would need to project." So my brother and me was driving to the show and seen some fruit stand near by and they had a sale on watermelons for a dollar or something crazy. Might have even been cheaper than a dollar, like fifty cents or something. So we bought forty or fifty watermelons and they had a limit of four watermelons a piece so Greg stole the golf cart from the show, he did't ask permission, and he filled it with people from the show and they drove over to the place and everybody pretended that they were only buying four but went around in a circle until we had enough. And I drew all the pictures for the show as fast as I could on to the watermelons. And then we threw the watermelons to the crowd. And I think I hurt a few people. This one girl was saying that her titties were bruised for three weeks because she didn't realize how hard the watermelon was gonna hit when she caught it off the stage. But it was a good time.

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  Chad: What is the best show you have ever seen?

  Tim: Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series.

  I stole the idea for the next part from our previous interview that James did. I asked Tim some quick yes or no and either, or questions. I didn't bother transcribing this one… it is so much better to listen to I'm sure of it

  After the Q&A I asked Tim to do some 30 second drawings of random stuff I had come up with before getting together with him. I gave him the subjects one at a time and he drew for 30 seconds between each subject. Below is the results.

  
  A Mother's Day card for your mom.

  
  A contraption that brushes your teeth and trims your mustache at the same time.

  
  A computer with the fastest internet in the world.

  
  A Pool filled with the best pool toys ever along with the tallest building in the world.

  Lastly, a bedtime store.

  Posted on November 30, '09 by Chad Kouri | Share this Post | Permalink

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