Timber Timbre Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 8th 2010 1:30PM by Drew Berner

Timber Timbre's music has been called a lot of things -- rootsy, haunting, romantic, macabre -- but perhaps the most accurate way to describe the eerie folk-blues of Toronto's Taylor Kirk is "brilliant."

Kirk has assembled three albums under the moniker Timber Timbre, including his critically adored, self-titled third record, released last year. His shuffling, airy tunes evoke a meeting of Tom Waits and Screamin' Jay Hawkins, while he uses a kitchen sink approach to instrumentation, throwing wurlitzers, banjos, violins and anything else at his disposal into the mix. But the thread that ties it all together is his ghostly voice. Taylor Kirk shared his preparations for SXSW and what people can expect to hear from his performances.

Please describe your sound in your own words

I just call it folk music or blues. It's rock and roll though, I know it.

How did Timber Timbre begin?

I made some four-track recordings while I was living in a cabin north of Toronto. Timber Timbre was originally the title for that collection of songs until I adopted it as a moniker for performing.

What are your musical influences?

Roy Orbison, Lightning Hopkins, Bernard Herrmann, Nina Simone, Neil Young and Led Zeppelin.

How did you come up with the name Timber Timbre?

The first collection of songs were recorded in a timber-frame house in the woods. Timber Timbre seemed like a good fit and I thought it was catchy and looked good on paper. It's caused a lot of confusion -- I guess the word 'timbre' isn't really a part of the common lexicon.

What's your biggest vice?

Lately it's sleep. I can pretty much always go to sleep at any time it seems.

What will you include in your SXSW festival survival kit?

Sunglasses. Sunscreen. Sunhat. Sunshine. Sun.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Gwen Stefani.

What's the craziest or most unusual thing you've seen or experienced on tour?

Nothing too crazy yet. A strange moment was in Saskatoon, when a lone interpretive dancer violently heaved herself around the dance floor throughout our set. We were opening for Owen Pallett, who eventually used a psychic intimidation technique to make her stop.