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mrTimothy gets ready to be number 1!
Quiet Achiever is a good description of mrTimothy. Despite having worked with names such as Madonna (or should we say Esther), INXS, Felix Da House Cat and many more famous artists, we hear very little about the Vicious artist. From my conversation with him it is clear why, you won’t find aspirations in being the next pop sensation – mrTimothey is in fact a little surprised that his tough vocal house track has been so successful commercially. The track “I am Tha 1” was never intended to have a commercial release but the reaction from the dance floors and listeners of stations like Nova, has pushed the tune to number one on the ARIA club charts. Released on July 4th, it also looks to be a contender for the number one spot in the commercial music charts and is fast becoming the biggest hit for Vicious since Madison Avenue’s “Don’t call me baby”.
Nice work for the Melbourne artist, who is far more at home in the studio or behind the decks than playing the pop star. mrTimothy is quick to point out that the song was always intended for the clubs and that the album will not be a commercial release, “It's not to say that I don’t want my track to be successful, but I want my credibility to come from being a producer and as a DJ not a pop star”. To be fair it is a sign of how far radio has progressed over the last 12 months in Australia, that this type of track is so successful in the commercial market rather than the track being commercial.
Starsailor “Four to the floor” and “Flashdance” are two more perfect examples of how tracks that have just slammed into the main rooms are now on the radio within a matter of weeks. Lets be honest, our club music hasn’t changed, the tracks being released at the moment are getting tougher, not more commercial. “Flashdance” and now “I am Tha one” are tough, house tunes. “Four to the Floor” is progressive. They are by no means commercial. So what’s changed? The difference is described beautifully by mrTimothey, “The radio has become more street, not the clubs more commercial”. With big names DJs such as John Course getting club tracks early play on the radio and commercial releases, have the stakes been raised for our DJs? Do they play the main room favorite once it hits the radio?
Hammering yet one more nail in the coffin of Vinyl, it seems technology is once again the answer. mrTimothey explains that he still plays "Four to the Floor", but plays his own mix. “It’s not enough for a DJ to come on and just spin some records anymore. The great DJs like John Course are playing their own mixes of the big tracks. Many of the big names and the younger DJs are remixing tracks live. The technology is there now, the programs are strong – using a laptop you have access to many more tracks and you can reconstruct a track live. This has to happen in order to differentiate yourself from other DJ’s”. The frustration of not being able to play the big tracks because they are overplayed leads DJs to the next level. Personally I’m looking forward to seeing our DJs turn up for a set with a laptop and only a handful of vinyl tracks. To have local DJs not just using the CDs - cutting and looping tracks but actually watching a DJ remix and reconstruct a track live." For those of us that saw DJ Falcon, quite simply tear the roof off the Artehouse at Kink earlier in the year remixing live on his laptop, you have to want to see some more of it!
Kink will be playing host again when mrTimothy headlines the event on 21st of August. No ordinary DJ set is planned for the night – remixing live, a mixture of new and classic tunes, we can expect to hear mrTimothy reconstruct early house tunes from the likes of Inner City or Steve 'Silk' Hurley toughening them up and sampling accapellas to drop into a tougher beat. Inaya the US vocalist for “I am Tha 1” will be performing alongside musicians on the night. The deep African-American vocals are something of a signature sound for mrTimothy and as I listen to his explanation of how he chooses his vocalists, one thing stands out - this one very lucky artist – because mrTimothy is recording and succeeding whilst playing the sound he loves. A luxury he acknowledges too few artist have “I get to play my own sound, from the heart”.
"I am tha 1" was released on 4 July by Vicious. An album by mrTimothy will follow in October. You can catch mrTimothy at Kink on August 21st.
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Published / Tuesday, 06 July 2004
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