Tim Hecker is a Canadian

electronic music Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromech ...

ian, producer, composer, and sound artist. His work, spanning atmospheric ambient albums such as '' Harmony in Ultraviolet'' (2006), '' Ravedeath, 1972'' (2011) and '' Virgins'' (2013), has been widely critically acclaimed. He has released nine albums and a number of EPs in addition to a number of

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

s and collaborations with artists such as Arca, Ben Frost, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Daniel Lopatin, and Aidan Baker.

Biography

Born in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

, Hecker is the son of two art teachers. During his

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

years, he played in rock bands with friends, before acquiring a

sampler Sampler may refer to: * Sampler (signal), a digital signal processing device that converts a continuous signal to a discrete signal * Sampler (needlework), a handstitched piece of embroidery used to demonstrate skill in needlework * Sampler (surna ...

and working on solo material. He moved to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

in 1998 to study at

Concordia University Concordia University (French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the th ...

and explore his artistic interests further."Spin Interview 2013"
Christopher R. Weingarten, 'Tim Hecker: Attack of the Drones', ''Spin Magazine''; October 10, 2013 He initially performed internationally as a DJ and

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

producer under the name Jetone, releasing three albums under the moniker. By 2001 he became disenchanted with the musical direction of the Jetone project. In 2001, Hecker released the album ''

Haunt Me, Haunt Me Do It Again ''Haunt Me, Haunt Me Do It Again'' (or simply ''Haunt Me'') is the debut studio album by Canadian electronic musician Tim Hecker, released on November 20, 2001, on Substractif, a sub-label of Alien8 Recordings. The album mixes the digital sign ...

'', under his own name through the label

Alien8 Alien8 Recordings is an independent record label founded in 1996 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The label was founded by Sean O'Hara and Gary Worsley. The label released material from prominent noise artists such as Merzbow, Think About Life, A ...

. He followed with '' Radio Amor'' (2003) and '' Mirages'' (2004). In 2006 he moved to Kranky where he released his fourth album '' Harmony in Ultraviolet.'' He subsequently incorporated the use of

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''rank ...

sounds which were digitally processed and distorted. The album was called the 9th best ambient album of all time by

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

. For the album '' Ravedeath, 1972'', Hecker traveled to

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

where together with Ben Frost, he recorded parts in a church. '' Ravedeath, 1972'' was awarded the

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall o ...

for Electronic Album of the Year. In November 2010, Alien8 re-released Hecker's debut album on vinyl. Live performances contain improvisations by processing organ sounds that are manipulated, with great fluctuations in volume. In 2012, Hecker collaborated with Daniel Lopatin (who also records as

Oneohtrix Point Never Daniel Lopatin (born July 25, 1982), best known as Oneohtrix Point Never or OPN, is an American experimental electronic music producer, composer, singer and songwriter. His music has experimented with tropes from various music genres and eras, s ...

) on an improvisatory project which became ''

Instrumental Tourist ''Instrumental Tourist'' is a collaborative studio album by Canadian musician Tim Hecker and American musician Daniel Lopatin (who records as Oneohtrix Point Never). The album was recorded over several improvisational jam sessions, and was relea ...

'' (2012)."Instrumental Tourist review"
Mark Richardson, 'Tim Hecker/Daniel Lopatin Instrumental Tourist review', ''Pitchfork'', November 30, 2012 Following 2013's '' Virgins'', Hecker convened once again in Reykjavik,

for sessions across 2014 and 2015, to create what would become '' Love Streams''. Collaborators include Ben Frost, Johann Johannsson, Kara-Lis Coverdale and Grimur Helgason, whilst the 15th century choral works by Josquin des Prez birthed the foundations of the album. In February 2016, it was announced that Hecker had joined

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name "Axis" (after the Hendrix album) by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD af ...

while '' Love Streams'' (2016) was released in April of that year. Hecker admits to thinking about ideas like "liturgical aesthetics after '' Yeezus''" and the "transcendental voice in the age of

auto-tune Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances. Auto-T ...

" during its creation. In addition to touring with

Godspeed You! Black Emperor Godspeed You! Black Emperor (sometimes abbreviated to GY!BE or Godspeed) is a Canadian post-rock band which originated in Montreal, Quebec in 1994. The group releases recordings through Constellation, an independent record label also located ...

and

Sigur Rós Sigur Rós () is an Icelandic post-rock band from Reykjavík, active since 1994. The band comprises singer and guitarist Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson, bassist Georg Hólm, and keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson. Known for their ethereal sound, fr ...

and recording with the likes of Fly Pan Am, Hecker has also collaborated with the likes of Arca and Aidan Baker. He has also contributed remixes to other artists, including Ellen Allien,

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various sty ...

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic language, Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician language, Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major ancient Egyptian deities, goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughou ...

, and

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cr ...

Personal life

Hecker pursued a professional career outside music and worked as a political analyst for the

Canadian Government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the Corporation sole#The Crown, corporation sole, assuming distinct ro ...

in the early 2000s."Guestlist on Pitchfork"
'Guest Lists: Tim Hecker', ''Pitchfork Media'', October 27, 2006 After leaving his employment in 2006 he enrolled at McGill University to study for a PhD,"McGill Daily"
John Watson 'Bring the noise', ''The McGill Daily'', April 5, 2011 with a thesis on urban noise that was published in 2014. He has also worked there as a lecturer in

sound culture Sound studies is an interdisciplinary field that to date has focused largely on the emergence of the concept of "sound" in Western modernity, with an emphasis on the development of sound reproduction technologies. The field first emerged in venues l ...

in the Art History and Communications department."Quietus Interview"
Ryan Alexander Diduck 'Darkness More Than Anything: Tim Hecker Interviewed', ''The Quietus'', March 21, 2012

Discography

Tim Hecker

Albums

*''

'' (2001) *'' Radio Amor'' (2003) *'' Mirages'' (2004) *'' Harmony in Ultraviolet'' (2006) *'' An Imaginary Country'' (2009) *'' Ravedeath, 1972'' (2011) * '' Virgins'' (2013) * '' Love Streams'' (2016) * '' Konoyo'' (2018) * '' Anoyo'' (2019) * '' The North Water (Original Score)'' (2021)

EPs and other

*'' Trade Winds, White Noise'' (2002) *'' My Love Is Rotten to the Core'' (2002) *''Radio Marti / Radio Havana'' (2004) *''

Mort Aux Vaches Mort aux Vaches is the name of a series of albums released by the Staalplaat record label in collaboration with the Dutch radio station, VPRO. The name translates literally from French as “Death to Cows,” with “cows” being French slang fo ...

'' (2005) *''Pareidolia'' (2006) *''Norberg'' (2007) *''Atlas'' (2007) *''Apondalifa'' (2010) *''

Dropped Pianos ''Dropped Pianos'' is an EP by Tim Hecker, released on October 10, 2011 by Kranky. It was recorded in early 2010 in Montreal and Banff, Canada, before its companion album, ''Ravedeath, 1972 ''Ravedeath, 1972'' is the sixth studio album by Ca ...

'' (2011)

Collaborations

*''Random_Inc Meets Tim Hecker In Musrara'' with Random_Inc (2002) *''Fantasma Parastasie'' with Aidan Baker (

Nadja Nadja may refer to: * Nadja (given name) * Nadja, pen-name of Louisa Nadia Green (1896—1934), British poet * ''Nadja'' (novel), 1928 surrealist novel by André Breton * ''Nadja'' (film), 1994 vampire film by Michael Almereyda * Nadja (band), ...

) (2008) *''

Archer on the Beach ''Archer on the Beach'' is an EP by Destroyer (band), Destroyer released in November 2010, on 12" Vinyl. Track listing ;Side A #"Archer on the Beach" (with Tim Hecker) - 7:21 ;Side B #"Grief Point" (with Loscil) - 8:40 Style Merge Records s ...

'' with Dan Bejar ( Destroyer) (2010) *''

'' with Daniel Lopatin (

) (2012) *''Qalaq'' with Jerusalem In My Heart (2021)

As Jetone

*''Autumnumonia'' (2000) *''Ultramarin'' (2001) *''Sundown'' (2006)

Credits

*Mitchell Akiyama – 'Temporary Music' (2002) *Désormais – 'Climate Variations' (2002) *Ghislain Poirier – 'Sous Le Manguier' (2002) *Tennis – 'Self-Heal Mishap' (Undertaker Mix) (2003) *

– 'Carry' (2004) *

– 'Carry' (Tim Hecker Remix Second Version) (2004) * Ris Paul Ric – 'Purple Blaze' (2005) *TV Pow – 'Whiteout' (2005) *Ensemble – 'Disown, Delete' (2006) * Lesbians On Ecstasy – 'We Know You Know' (2007) * Colin Stetson – 'Time Is Advancing With Fitful Irregularity White Pulse Mix' (2009) *

Bell Orchestre Bell Orchestre is a six-piece instrumental band from Montreal. It was formed in 1999 by multi-instrumentalist Richard Parry and violinist Sarah Neufeld. Both also joined Arcade Fire. They were joined in Bell Orchestre by Michael Feuerstack (ste ...

– 'Water / Light / Shifts' (Remix) (2009) *

Genghis Tron Genghis Tron is an American four-piece cybergrind band formed in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States, and latterly based in Brooklyn, New York and San Francisco, California. The band signed to Relapse Records after releasing two recordin ...

– 'Board Up The House' (Tim Hecker Remix) (2009) * Ellen Allien – 'Sun The Rain' (Tim Hecker Remix) (2011) *

– Suffocation Raga For John Cale (Tim Hecker Transition) (2012) *

Mogwai Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). ...

– 'Rano Pano' (Tim Hecker Remix) (2012) * Ellen Allien – 'Sun The Rain' (Tim Hecker Rmx) (2013) *The Field – 'No. No...' (Tim Hecker Mix) (2014) *

Hundred Waters Hundred Waters is an American band formed in Gainesville, Florida in October 2011, composed of Nicole Miglis (vocals, piano, flute), Trayer Tryon (production, electronics, bass) and Zach Tetreault (drums, percussion, trumpet). The group came to pr ...

– 'Down From The Rafters' (Tim Hecker Remix) (2014) * Ben Frost – 'Aurora' (2014) * Dorian Concept – 'The Sky Opposite' (Tim Hecker Remix) (2015) *

– Twice As Hard (Remixed By Tim Hecker) (2016) *

Sarah Neufeld Sarah Neufeld (born August 27, 1979) is a Canadian violinist who is known for her work with indie rock band Arcade Fire, with whom she is a former core member and currently a touring member. She has contributed to each of the band's studio alb ...

– 'The Ridge' (2016) * Michael Gordon, Mantra Percussion – Timber (Tim Hecker Remix) (2016) * Ben Lukas Boysen – 'Nocturne 4' (Tim Hecker Remix) (2017) * Chitose Hajime – '豊年節' (Tim Hecker Remix) (2019) * Arca – 'Cayó' (2022)

Art

Hecker occasionally makes sound installations and has collaborated with visual artists such as

Stan Douglas Stan Douglas (born October 11, 1960) is an artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Douglas' film and video installations, photography and work in television frequently touch on the history of literature, cinema and music, while examining t ...

and Charles Stankievech. Hecker, along with other musicians Ben Frost and Steve Goodman ( Kode9) and artists Piotr Jakubowicz, Marcel Weber (MFO) and Manuel Sepulveda (Optigram), provided music for Unsound Festival's sensory installation, Ephemera. Hecker composed the score for

Damien Jalet Damien Jalet (born 17 August 1976) is a Belgo-French freelance choreographer, dancer and performer working internationally. His work is often collaborative, creating intricate bounds between dance and other artistic media such as visual art, fa ...

's performance piece Planet anderer

Film

Hecker composed the score for 2016's ''

The Free World ''The Free World'' is a 2016 American drama film directed by Jason Lew. It was shown in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Plot Martin "Mohamed" Lundy (Boyd Holbrook) has been released by the efforts of ...

'', selected to be shown in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section at the

2016 Sundance Film Festival The 2016 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 21 to January 31, 2016. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 2, 2015. The opening night film was ''Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You'', directed by Heidi E ...

. He composed the score for

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

drama series '' The North Water'' directed by Andrew Haigh and based on Ian McGuire's novel of the same name. Hecker also composed the score for the Austrian drama and horror film Luzifer, which won the Best Actor Award for

Franz Rogowski Franz Rogowski (; born 2 February 1986) is a German actor and dancer. He has appeared in films directed by Michael Haneke, Christian Petzold and Terrence Malick. Life and career Franz Rogowski was born in 1986 in Freiburg im Breisgau, West Germ ...

at Fantastic Fest in 2021 and Best Actress Award for Susanne Jensen and Best Actor Award for

at the 2021

Sitges Film Festival The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear ...

. Hecker is currently composing the score for Infinity Pool, the upcoming film by Canadian director Brandon Cronenberg, starring

Alexander Skarsgård Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård (; born August 25, 1976) is a Swedish actor. Born in Stockholm, he began acting at age seven but quit at 13. After serving in the Swedish military, Skarsgård returned to acting and gained his first role in t ...

and Mia Goth, which will premiere at

Sundance Film A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony. Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to: Places ;Canada *Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood *Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town ;United States * Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated place ...

References

External links

* * *
Discography at Discogs

Interviews

*McDermott, Emily.
Tim Hecker’s Peace of Mind
''Interview Magazine'', May 19, 2016. *Kretowicz, Steph.
“I am lost with infinite choices”: Tim Hecker on the information overload of his new album ''Love Streams''"
''FACT Magazine'', 31 March 2016. *Burns, Todd.
Tim Hecker
''Red Bull Music Academy'', October 19, 2016. *Gottsegen, Will.
Tim Hecker 'Anoyo' Interview
, ''SPIN'', May 31, 2019. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hecker, Tim Living people Musicians from Montreal Musicians from Vancouver Ambient musicians Canadian electronic musicians Noise musicians Alien8 Recordings artists Paper Bag Records artists 1974 births Juno Award for Electronic Album of the Year winners