Timothy Guy Gerard Powles (born 21 December 1959) is a New Zealand music producer and artist. Also known as "timEbandit" Powles, his main instrument and first love was the drums and percussion in general, though over time he's become a dab hand on a medium-sized pile of instruments and gadgets, not to mention the studio itself- and virtual instruments as they occur.
Early career
Powles started his music career at
Nelson College, which he attended from 1973 to 1977.
[''Nelson College Old Boys' Register, 1856–2006'', 6th edition] He subsequently moved to Wellington and then Auckland to join the band
Flight X-7
Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be ...
. In the 1970s he won a scholarship to join the New Zealand Youth Orchestra in a training camp in Cambridge. His interest in both classical and rock orchestrations and ambience has continued throughout his career, and was instrumental in his becoming the drummer with the Australian-formed band
The Church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
, with whom he was inducted into the ARIA Hall Of FAME in October 2010, coinciding with the band's 30 year anniversary celebrations and touring.
Powles eventually moved to Australia in 1981 where he first became known in 1980s' band
The Venetians. With this band in particular through the 1980s he learned his production skills working alongside greats like
Vic Coppersmith-Heaven and Mark Goldenberg, and locals
Mark Opitz and
Mark Moffatt
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Finn ...
, often in the Festival Records Studios.
The Church
He started working with
The Church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
in 1994,
with the album ''
Sometime Anywhere
''Sometime Anywhere'' is the ninth album by the Australian alternative rock band the Church, released in May 1994.
After the commercially unsuccessful 1992 album ''Priest=Aura'', founding guitarist Peter Koppes had departed, leaving the band d ...
'' (though he was misidentified as "Tim Powell" on the liner notes of that album). He became a permanent member of the band in the year following. He sings the lead vocal on the track "Take Your Place" on The Church album ''Pharmakoi/Distance Crunching Honchos with Echo Units'' (1996, as ''The Refo:mation'', Phantom Records) and has worked on all of their many releases since then, as a musician and composer, and taking production responsibilities on all levels. A highlight of these responsibilities was Powles' co-directing and co-producing ''A Psychedelic Symphony'' - The Church and the George Ellis Orchestra at the
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...
, a sold-out show in April 2011. He produced the band's 25th album ''
Further/Deeper'' in 2014, and th band toured that album extensively thru Europe and USA 2015 and 2016.
Production work
Powles resides in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, Australia and has his own recording studio; the current version is called Spacejunk III. Amongst others, timEbandit has produced albums/EPs/ singles of varying genres and styles for Skulker (debut), Switchkicker (debut), The Camels (debut), Regular John (he was ARIA-nominated for Producer of the Year for their debut album in 2009 - and then produced the follow up ''
Strange Flowers
''Strange Flowers'' is a domestic novel written by Irish novelist Donal Ryan. It was first published in 2020 by Doubleday. It was voted Novel of the Year at the 2020 Irish Book Awards
The Irish Book Awards are Irish literary awards given an ...
'';
Jack River (Holly Rankin project); Hammock ''Departure Songs'' (double album, mixed in
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
)
The Khanz(numerous singles and 2 EPs); Iota and the Beauty Queens; Laura Imbruglia (debut album); Winters Wish, Montpelier, The Faults...... (a constantly growing and always eclectic list).
Powles's official website is www.spacejunk.biz.
He released a solo album, ''Tyg's in Space'' (on
Spacejunk' thru Phantom Records), in 1999.
Currently he is working on multiple solo collaborations for imminent release. He features with a cameo vocal on Nashville post-rock ambient band Hammock's recent EP ''Asleep In The Downlights'', a band whose most recent albums he has co-produced and/or mixed.
Spacejunk Production House
"Combined with a reputation as one of Australia's most solid and diversely experienced drummers (The Church, The Divinyls, Rose Tattoo, Dragon, The Venetians, to name a few), this massive depth of experience makes Tim a 'big picture' producer in the true 'A&R' sense of the word. Allowing instinct and 'accident' to flourish and thrive are key ingredients on Tim's production canvas."
References
External links
Spacejunk studio website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powles, Tim
1959 births
Living people
The Church (band) members
New Zealand new wave musicians
People educated at Nelson College