TimeCop1983 And The Evolution Of Electronic Music
By Bill Gallagher, PO BOX 125 HACHITA NM 88040
2900 Words
Any music that has been electrically recorded or amplified is electronic music. That goes back quite some time, to the 1920s, or even before. As a basic definition of Electronic Music this works fairly well, even clears the air a little, because there are some Rock N Roll people who have really looked down upon electronic sound synthesis, all the while loving their electrical instruments, amplifiers, and recording automata. These strict instrumentalists seem to have a hard time realizing they too make electronic music, it is just a matter of coloration, really, a matter of degree. Overall, the "Pure" Rock instrumentalists acted very spastic about the marriage of the personal computer with the modern sound synthesizer, and believe me, it was quite a thing to see. The word "DISCO!" was screamed repeatedly like an indictment. A lot of times speeches by these opponents of synthesized sound included things like foaming at the mouth, throwing objects in anger, stamping of feets, foul language, even squealing like pigs. Yes, its ugly but true. Many otherwise sane musicians became agitated in the extreme by the sound synthesizer and what it meant. Anyone would be able to make music! Anyone could be a Prodigy! It was devolution!
Incredible as it may seem, an informal movement composed of those hillbillys, er, I mean Sound Purists, began to form in America during the 1970s and 80s, openly disparaging use of keyboards with computer processing capabilities. Two basic camps formed, really. In the first group were the aficionados of electronic music, we who perceived it as a type of rock n roll, we who actively sought vinyl by Isao Tomita, Vangelis, Carlos, and Kraftwerk, not to mention Finitribe, Skinny Puppy, Grinning Plowman, Tones On Tail, DEVO, Front242 (Front to Front, Front Line Assembly), Oingo Boingo, Ministry through Revco, and many many more; we were like the earliest British rockers, who eagerly awaited the latest blues and other releases from America, except we awaited the Electronic Music releases from where ever they happened. Some of it was quite expensive and hard to get. One of my Tampa buds vacationed near Chicago where his girls family lived, and he hit some good record stores while in that area, bringing back hard to find vinyl discs that could one day, after they wore out, be softened with hot water right out of the tap and handcrafted into nice little pots for growing marijuana on windowsills. Hopefully a digital master or at least a cassette recording was made before the vinyl became a pot pot, but not always. Seriously, we could never get enough electronic music back in 70s and 80s, liking it loud and intricate, hoping to see what it would become someday, but not really able to see it then. We knew we were riding the front of a wave though. Some of what we listened to was classical musix redone on early sound synthesizers. Mammy dearest tossed my earliest collections while I was in the US Air Farce during the late 70s. Support The Troops, right.
The second group in American rock with opinions on Electronic Music was composed of the aforementioned musical elitists, I believe I also referred to them as "Hillbillys", a moniker well deserved imho. These pseudo-anti-technologists sought a glamorous approach to Rock N Roll, aiming for a very hairy mass appeal; rock groups were promoted on TV and FM radio like football teams, and rock concerts were events rivaling the Super Bowl. David Geffen comes to my mind when I think of people who would rather not hear a lot of synthesized sound, or perhaps it is more fair to say that he would much rather hear and see a group of men playing real instruments, versus music created by one person doing everything. There were and still are many who adhere to this outlook. Not to worry, Electronic Music is now coming into its best time, and it is a monster. Never has such creativity been manifest. Anybody who wants to can make music! Anybody could be a Prodigy!
It is EVOLUTION!
In America the modern synthesizer really crept in as an "Electronic Keyboard" duplicating sounds a piano or organ made. Those new electronic keyboards were a lot easier to lug around than even the smallest piano, so a good number of 60s and 70s rock acts made use of the earliest commercial synthesizers because of that. Even though use of electronic keyboards increased steadily through the 80s, 90s and to present, until very recently, almost all keyboardists supported a band. I've even seen a video where a very young Trent Reznor is playing a keyboard in a local band on an Ohio TV station, just like that, before Nine Inch Nails. Hardly any musicians that specialized or were heavy into electronic sound were allowed popular airplay on American rock radio, The Cars being one early and rare exception.
Over time experimentation transpired with those earliest keyboard instruments; their limits were constantly pushed and newer electronic synthesizers became ever more sophisticated, finally being incorporated into personal computers as software, nearly 50 years after debut. It was during the 80s, I think, when Eddie Van Halen got his first sound synthesizing keyboard, a Christmas present, and he taught himself to play it in a matter of weeks. Interesting times.
Today Electronic Music is not just a genre of its own, but is also composed of many sub-genres. Synthwave and Dreamwave are just two of the categories within the sub genre called New Retro Wave, meaning music emulating an earlier time, say the 80s, which is when electronic music really began taking form in the dance clubs of America and Europe. Techno and Industrial musix reigned supreme early on, but because of that vibrant and alive dance club activity there was a lot of international exchange going on too, in spite of the total lack of FM airplay, when FM airplay was all there was. Thank goodness those corporate dick head days are over. The vampires have to feed elsewhere now, wall streets just full of them. FM disc jockeys are finally starting to look as ridiculous as they are.
The dance clubs of the 80s became the Raves of the 90s and 2000s, and in spite of Raves being outlawed in some places (Tampa, FL, others), electronic music continued to grow and gain acceptance at the grassroots level in America. One thing I noticed early, as an avid observer of the Electronic Music Scene: there did not seem to be any type of taboo operating in Europe concerning electronic music, no hillbillys, and use of the synthesizer was wanton there from its earliest inception, especially in middle and northern Europe with Hardcore/Gabberhouse a good example. In America there was a late 80s early 90s American synthesizer scene, with excellent pioneering groups like Controlled Bleeding, The Neon Judgment, and 3 teens kill 4, but none of it got any airplay to speak of, anywhere, so a lot just remained local. Forever. Then, finally, came the internet. The fact that a lot of the earliest electronic bands are being "Rediscovered" on youtube now lets everyone know the music has always been there, its just that mass market control is a must if one is to maximize profits, one being the corporation, of course. And perhaps that is my favorite part of modern electronic music, it is becoming controlled by musicians not stockholders.
I recall living in Tampa Florida during the 1980s, the rock and roll stations had the Glam Rock and pre-Grunge markets locked up tight, we are talking about millions of dollars a year in ad revenues from a captive audience, and those FM zombies actively discouraged even American electronic acts like Ministry and the rest of the Wax Trax groups. For one short period of time during the early 80s they were selectively playing some electronic music like Thomas Dolby, but it was very short lived, perhaps due to local outcry: there are a lot of hard head instrumentalists in Tampa Rock N Roll. In Tampa Metallica was God. The older stuff I mean. Being a Tampan may not mean being number one, but we are way up in there.
I once played Ministry's "Over The Shoulder" for some non-rocker African American friends of mine at a college art show in Tampa, and they dug it a lot. Ministry had one radio hit in the early 90s, "Jesus Built My Hotrod", because things were starting to loosen up a little in rock radio, mainly due to there being a boatload of change in the wind. Those changes were just beginning and there was no end in sight. I used to do a little jig just thinking about it, my friends and relatives thought I was possessed. Really, rock was beginning to show the pressures it was receiving from other popular FM categories, who were using a lot more electronic music, and heaven forbid were gaining market share! There has been very active and ardent use of sound synthesizers in Rap and other forms of modern music outside of Rock in America, which is nice, but it was the internet and only the internet that finally pried the cold dead fingers of Rock radio from the throat of electronic music.
The college affiliated radio station WMNF Tampa played an hour or two of Techno-Industrial every week on special 1 hour shows during the 80s and 90s, and they were listened to avidly by some of us, it was heavy with Wax Trax stuff. Trent Reznor broke into the mainstream fairly early, but remained the token synth solo guy in American Rock for a long time. His first big problem was producing the same sounds live onstage as he did on his sound synthesizing computers. He is a stickler is Trent, and it took a lot of practice to make him happy (if there is such a thing) but he said it was one of the most satisfying achievments of his career, creating a true likeness onstage, with a group of people. Snagging Jeordie White from Marilyn Manson helped a lot. And Atticus Atticus Ross Ross...
Trent Reznor was the Original Real Wild One in electronic music, bucking the record companies, and succeeding, but not without dark moments and dreadful days. I remember where I was when I saw the music club advertisement for Pretty Hate Machine, and I bought it, sent away for it, not vinyl, a cassette, and I wore that thing out and bought a couple other copies over my life, next of course was the CD, and when it got too beat to use I bought another one. After Reznor "Discovered" Marilyn Manson (Artist Brian Warner), electronic weirdness took on new meaning and reached the mainstream hard. Do we get it? NO. Do we want it? YEAH. Adrien Sherwood came into his own as a producer, and Al Jourgensen continues to make music to this day from his El Paso ranch, along with his role at Wax Trax.
As a long time fan of all electronic music I can honestly say that one of the highlights of my lifetime has been listening to a nearly surreal synergy develop between the electric guitar and the modern computerized sound synthesizer, though a lot of music today is being done sans instruments of any kind, strictly computer generated. Some listeners believe that electronically generated sounds are more perfect, more pure than those created with strung ligaments and stretched skins. There is a much greater variety of sound and nuance, thats for sure. It is becoming impossible to tell electronically generated sounds from their mechanically produced counterparts, except, of course, when computer sound synthesis exceeds parameters, parameters which have always been defined by mechanical equipment, but no more.
It is like we imagined as teenagers, back in the early and middle 70s: artists are taking total control of their music through sound synthesizers and by managing themselves in the music market. It seems even more than evolution, it seems like freedom. The internet facilitates this wonderful synergy, and kick ass tunes abound, because artists work best when they do not have to answer to drones and their bean counters. If a musician is happy and healthy and free from worry, that is manifest in their music, and the crowds gather to listen.
One such solo artist is TimeCop1983, of Eindhoven, The Netherlands. There is one word that describes TimeCop1983 very well, and that word is: Phenomenon. The music that shines from this young man has called to many people, and continues to do so more and more every day. Media where Timecop1983 has found success includes the internet, digital video games, satellite radio and film (Netflix production Coin Heist and You Get Me, others). I found TimeCop1983 in March 2015, and have been enjoying his music via youtube for well over 2 years now. The music is what can only be called eminently listenable. The musician himself describes it as romantic, cinematic and dreamy. He actively attempts to achieve nostalgic feelings and evoke memories of earlier times with the music, and his success in doing so is pretty evident, though newer projects find TimeCop1983 ranging out (Division - 2083 EP released in June), looking at musical possibilities akin to some of his contemporaries such as Carpenter Brut, and Perturbator. Other influences cited were FM-84, The Midnight, and Electric Youth.
TimeCop1983 admits he was surprised by the success of his music, even though he has been at it a long time for someone so young. It was at the age of 12 when he obtained a program called "Scream Tracker" and began recording snatches of song, the little pieces of music that arrived from the ether, but it was quite some time before the pieces of music became songs. The aging of that early music did not hurt it at all; the mental cooking of those early ideas and pieces has made TimeCop1983 adept at creating original and highly listenable music based on thematic musical types; his well constructed and orderly audio-electrical fields of duration, his songs, are like sculptures for the ears. He and his music have gained wide fandom quickly.
The name TimeCop1983 was something invented on the fly, while he was signing up for one of the online band sites. TC83 admired the band Futurecop! so he quickly cobbled together a name incorporating his birth year with words along those lines. He says he wished he had thought more about it, and even thought of changing it but did not. It was not until later that he found out there was a movie with the name Time Cop. One of my initial questions asked if TimeCop1983 believed in creative reincarnation, in other words was he a for-real time cop? But I scratched it at the last minute. Theological considerations are sometimes like exit ramps from the highway of Reason, leading right into Hillbilly Circus. Instead I simply asked about the origin of the name TimeCop1983 and got the truth, now revealed with taste and accuracy to you dear reader, thanks very much.
TimeCop1983 is adamant concerning his access to communications with people in general, and he considers that aspect of his career one of the real perqs of self management. He also has a degree in event management which has assisted him well in his musical endeavors.
TimeCop1983 draws collaborators of the highest quality on a very consistent basis, and likes to keep the avenues of possibility always open, operating smoothly. He loves to work with Dana Jean Phoenix because, in his words "She is just so good". I myself remember the first time I heard Tonight, featuring "Back in the Future", another of the collaborators who contacted TimeCop1983. I was really floored but mistakenly took the song to be a new one by Robbie Robertson! When I found out the real musicians, I went "Whoa thats TimeCop!", because I was familiar with some of his music already, but had not heard that song yet. It was quite a nice surprise, and I really gained a whole new perspective, a perspective incorporating the amazing collaborations which are happening in music on the internet today. It is one of the loveliest things I have ever seen.
A sense of humor became evident when I asked the musician if any of the vocals on his works were his own. He said that if he ever put any of his vocals to the music, people would listen exactly once, so no, the answer is no. The only lament I heard during our conversation was that music has taken up most of his mountain biking and road racing time; he would like to get back to those activities a little more in the near future. Another plus in the life of this self managed musician is travel, which TimeCop1983 eagerly embraces. He likes to stay extra days after a concert to see the various places he plays, if it is possible.
No matter the self management though, or even the internet; no matter any of that if the music is not there. I say that TimeCop1983 is the latest installment in the evolution of Electronic Music, and a fine one at that.
The music is most definitely there.
fin
Upcoming concerts
Saturday 25 November 2017
Timecop1983 with Sung, Neoslave, and 2 others
Le Batofar, Paris, France
website: https://timecop1983.bandcamp.com/
Discography from Discogs: Timecop1983; 9 Releases. 3 Albums, 5 Singles & EPs, 1 Miscellaneous
Albums
Childhood Memories Playmaker 2014
Journeys (Timecop1983 Self-released) 2014
Reflections (Timecop1983 Self-released) 2015 NewRetroWave
Singles & EPs
Waves EP (Timecop1983 Self-released) 2014
Synthetic Romance - Future City Records 2014
We Are The Future! WATF003 2014
Running In The Dark (7xFile, FLAC, EP) 2016 (Timecop1983 Self-released)
Lovers Part I (7xFile, FLAC, EP) 2016 (Timecop1983 Self-released)
Lovers Part II (7xFile, WAV, EP) 2017 (Timecop1983 Self-released)
Daydreaming (3xFile, MP3, EP)
Bandcamp: timecop1983.bandcamp.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/Timecop1983
iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/artist/timecop1983/id827647533
SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/timecop1983
Facebook: www.facebook.com/timecop1983
Twitter: twitter.com/Timecop1983
Bibliography
Authors personal experience and observation
Email Interview with TimeCop1983
YouTube.com
New Retro Wave (NRW) youtube.com
THE CIAs COVERT WAR ON ROCK, ALEX CONSTANTINE
Songkick
What Does the Future Hold for Timecop1983? Published July 1, 2015April 30, 2017 by Aaron Vehlinggo in Features
Fandom
Rolling Stone: Van Halen synthesizer
On Art and Aesthetics
Marilyn Manson, Trent Reznor, The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell, MM Autobiography, various articles
David Geffen, Playboy Interview, Observations
Conversations with Sonar Bonar
By Bill Gallagher, PO BOX 125 HACHITA NM 88040
2900 Words
Any music that has been electrically recorded or amplified is electronic music. That goes back quite some time, to the 1920s, or even before. As a basic definition of Electronic Music this works fairly well, even clears the air a little, because there are some Rock N Roll people who have really looked down upon electronic sound synthesis, all the while loving their electrical instruments, amplifiers, and recording automata. These strict instrumentalists seem to have a hard time realizing they too make electronic music, it is just a matter of coloration, really, a matter of degree. Overall, the "Pure" Rock instrumentalists acted very spastic about the marriage of the personal computer with the modern sound synthesizer, and believe me, it was quite a thing to see. The word "DISCO!" was screamed repeatedly like an indictment. A lot of times speeches by these opponents of synthesized sound included things like foaming at the mouth, throwing objects in anger, stamping of feets, foul language, even squealing like pigs. Yes, its ugly but true. Many otherwise sane musicians became agitated in the extreme by the sound synthesizer and what it meant. Anyone would be able to make music! Anyone could be a Prodigy! It was devolution!
Incredible as it may seem, an informal movement composed of those hillbillys, er, I mean Sound Purists, began to form in America during the 1970s and 80s, openly disparaging use of keyboards with computer processing capabilities. Two basic camps formed, really. In the first group were the aficionados of electronic music, we who perceived it as a type of rock n roll, we who actively sought vinyl by Isao Tomita, Vangelis, Carlos, and Kraftwerk, not to mention Finitribe, Skinny Puppy, Grinning Plowman, Tones On Tail, DEVO, Front242 (Front to Front, Front Line Assembly), Oingo Boingo, Ministry through Revco, and many many more; we were like the earliest British rockers, who eagerly awaited the latest blues and other releases from America, except we awaited the Electronic Music releases from where ever they happened. Some of it was quite expensive and hard to get. One of my Tampa buds vacationed near Chicago where his girls family lived, and he hit some good record stores while in that area, bringing back hard to find vinyl discs that could one day, after they wore out, be softened with hot water right out of the tap and handcrafted into nice little pots for growing marijuana on windowsills. Hopefully a digital master or at least a cassette recording was made before the vinyl became a pot pot, but not always. Seriously, we could never get enough electronic music back in 70s and 80s, liking it loud and intricate, hoping to see what it would become someday, but not really able to see it then. We knew we were riding the front of a wave though. Some of what we listened to was classical musix redone on early sound synthesizers. Mammy dearest tossed my earliest collections while I was in the US Air Farce during the late 70s. Support The Troops, right.
The second group in American rock with opinions on Electronic Music was composed of the aforementioned musical elitists, I believe I also referred to them as "Hillbillys", a moniker well deserved imho. These pseudo-anti-technologists sought a glamorous approach to Rock N Roll, aiming for a very hairy mass appeal; rock groups were promoted on TV and FM radio like football teams, and rock concerts were events rivaling the Super Bowl. David Geffen comes to my mind when I think of people who would rather not hear a lot of synthesized sound, or perhaps it is more fair to say that he would much rather hear and see a group of men playing real instruments, versus music created by one person doing everything. There were and still are many who adhere to this outlook. Not to worry, Electronic Music is now coming into its best time, and it is a monster. Never has such creativity been manifest. Anybody who wants to can make music! Anybody could be a Prodigy!
It is EVOLUTION!
In America the modern synthesizer really crept in as an "Electronic Keyboard" duplicating sounds a piano or organ made. Those new electronic keyboards were a lot easier to lug around than even the smallest piano, so a good number of 60s and 70s rock acts made use of the earliest commercial synthesizers because of that. Even though use of electronic keyboards increased steadily through the 80s, 90s and to present, until very recently, almost all keyboardists supported a band. I've even seen a video where a very young Trent Reznor is playing a keyboard in a local band on an Ohio TV station, just like that, before Nine Inch Nails. Hardly any musicians that specialized or were heavy into electronic sound were allowed popular airplay on American rock radio, The Cars being one early and rare exception.
Over time experimentation transpired with those earliest keyboard instruments; their limits were constantly pushed and newer electronic synthesizers became ever more sophisticated, finally being incorporated into personal computers as software, nearly 50 years after debut. It was during the 80s, I think, when Eddie Van Halen got his first sound synthesizing keyboard, a Christmas present, and he taught himself to play it in a matter of weeks. Interesting times.
Today Electronic Music is not just a genre of its own, but is also composed of many sub-genres. Synthwave and Dreamwave are just two of the categories within the sub genre called New Retro Wave, meaning music emulating an earlier time, say the 80s, which is when electronic music really began taking form in the dance clubs of America and Europe. Techno and Industrial musix reigned supreme early on, but because of that vibrant and alive dance club activity there was a lot of international exchange going on too, in spite of the total lack of FM airplay, when FM airplay was all there was. Thank goodness those corporate dick head days are over. The vampires have to feed elsewhere now, wall streets just full of them. FM disc jockeys are finally starting to look as ridiculous as they are.
The dance clubs of the 80s became the Raves of the 90s and 2000s, and in spite of Raves being outlawed in some places (Tampa, FL, others), electronic music continued to grow and gain acceptance at the grassroots level in America. One thing I noticed early, as an avid observer of the Electronic Music Scene: there did not seem to be any type of taboo operating in Europe concerning electronic music, no hillbillys, and use of the synthesizer was wanton there from its earliest inception, especially in middle and northern Europe with Hardcore/Gabberhouse a good example. In America there was a late 80s early 90s American synthesizer scene, with excellent pioneering groups like Controlled Bleeding, The Neon Judgment, and 3 teens kill 4, but none of it got any airplay to speak of, anywhere, so a lot just remained local. Forever. Then, finally, came the internet. The fact that a lot of the earliest electronic bands are being "Rediscovered" on youtube now lets everyone know the music has always been there, its just that mass market control is a must if one is to maximize profits, one being the corporation, of course. And perhaps that is my favorite part of modern electronic music, it is becoming controlled by musicians not stockholders.
I recall living in Tampa Florida during the 1980s, the rock and roll stations had the Glam Rock and pre-Grunge markets locked up tight, we are talking about millions of dollars a year in ad revenues from a captive audience, and those FM zombies actively discouraged even American electronic acts like Ministry and the rest of the Wax Trax groups. For one short period of time during the early 80s they were selectively playing some electronic music like Thomas Dolby, but it was very short lived, perhaps due to local outcry: there are a lot of hard head instrumentalists in Tampa Rock N Roll. In Tampa Metallica was God. The older stuff I mean. Being a Tampan may not mean being number one, but we are way up in there.
I once played Ministry's "Over The Shoulder" for some non-rocker African American friends of mine at a college art show in Tampa, and they dug it a lot. Ministry had one radio hit in the early 90s, "Jesus Built My Hotrod", because things were starting to loosen up a little in rock radio, mainly due to there being a boatload of change in the wind. Those changes were just beginning and there was no end in sight. I used to do a little jig just thinking about it, my friends and relatives thought I was possessed. Really, rock was beginning to show the pressures it was receiving from other popular FM categories, who were using a lot more electronic music, and heaven forbid were gaining market share! There has been very active and ardent use of sound synthesizers in Rap and other forms of modern music outside of Rock in America, which is nice, but it was the internet and only the internet that finally pried the cold dead fingers of Rock radio from the throat of electronic music.
The college affiliated radio station WMNF Tampa played an hour or two of Techno-Industrial every week on special 1 hour shows during the 80s and 90s, and they were listened to avidly by some of us, it was heavy with Wax Trax stuff. Trent Reznor broke into the mainstream fairly early, but remained the token synth solo guy in American Rock for a long time. His first big problem was producing the same sounds live onstage as he did on his sound synthesizing computers. He is a stickler is Trent, and it took a lot of practice to make him happy (if there is such a thing) but he said it was one of the most satisfying achievments of his career, creating a true likeness onstage, with a group of people. Snagging Jeordie White from Marilyn Manson helped a lot. And Atticus Atticus Ross Ross...
Trent Reznor was the Original Real Wild One in electronic music, bucking the record companies, and succeeding, but not without dark moments and dreadful days. I remember where I was when I saw the music club advertisement for Pretty Hate Machine, and I bought it, sent away for it, not vinyl, a cassette, and I wore that thing out and bought a couple other copies over my life, next of course was the CD, and when it got too beat to use I bought another one. After Reznor "Discovered" Marilyn Manson (Artist Brian Warner), electronic weirdness took on new meaning and reached the mainstream hard. Do we get it? NO. Do we want it? YEAH. Adrien Sherwood came into his own as a producer, and Al Jourgensen continues to make music to this day from his El Paso ranch, along with his role at Wax Trax.
As a long time fan of all electronic music I can honestly say that one of the highlights of my lifetime has been listening to a nearly surreal synergy develop between the electric guitar and the modern computerized sound synthesizer, though a lot of music today is being done sans instruments of any kind, strictly computer generated. Some listeners believe that electronically generated sounds are more perfect, more pure than those created with strung ligaments and stretched skins. There is a much greater variety of sound and nuance, thats for sure. It is becoming impossible to tell electronically generated sounds from their mechanically produced counterparts, except, of course, when computer sound synthesis exceeds parameters, parameters which have always been defined by mechanical equipment, but no more.
It is like we imagined as teenagers, back in the early and middle 70s: artists are taking total control of their music through sound synthesizers and by managing themselves in the music market. It seems even more than evolution, it seems like freedom. The internet facilitates this wonderful synergy, and kick ass tunes abound, because artists work best when they do not have to answer to drones and their bean counters. If a musician is happy and healthy and free from worry, that is manifest in their music, and the crowds gather to listen.
One such solo artist is TimeCop1983, of Eindhoven, The Netherlands. There is one word that describes TimeCop1983 very well, and that word is: Phenomenon. The music that shines from this young man has called to many people, and continues to do so more and more every day. Media where Timecop1983 has found success includes the internet, digital video games, satellite radio and film (Netflix production Coin Heist and You Get Me, others). I found TimeCop1983 in March 2015, and have been enjoying his music via youtube for well over 2 years now. The music is what can only be called eminently listenable. The musician himself describes it as romantic, cinematic and dreamy. He actively attempts to achieve nostalgic feelings and evoke memories of earlier times with the music, and his success in doing so is pretty evident, though newer projects find TimeCop1983 ranging out (Division - 2083 EP released in June), looking at musical possibilities akin to some of his contemporaries such as Carpenter Brut, and Perturbator. Other influences cited were FM-84, The Midnight, and Electric Youth.
TimeCop1983 admits he was surprised by the success of his music, even though he has been at it a long time for someone so young. It was at the age of 12 when he obtained a program called "Scream Tracker" and began recording snatches of song, the little pieces of music that arrived from the ether, but it was quite some time before the pieces of music became songs. The aging of that early music did not hurt it at all; the mental cooking of those early ideas and pieces has made TimeCop1983 adept at creating original and highly listenable music based on thematic musical types; his well constructed and orderly audio-electrical fields of duration, his songs, are like sculptures for the ears. He and his music have gained wide fandom quickly.
The name TimeCop1983 was something invented on the fly, while he was signing up for one of the online band sites. TC83 admired the band Futurecop! so he quickly cobbled together a name incorporating his birth year with words along those lines. He says he wished he had thought more about it, and even thought of changing it but did not. It was not until later that he found out there was a movie with the name Time Cop. One of my initial questions asked if TimeCop1983 believed in creative reincarnation, in other words was he a for-real time cop? But I scratched it at the last minute. Theological considerations are sometimes like exit ramps from the highway of Reason, leading right into Hillbilly Circus. Instead I simply asked about the origin of the name TimeCop1983 and got the truth, now revealed with taste and accuracy to you dear reader, thanks very much.
TimeCop1983 is adamant concerning his access to communications with people in general, and he considers that aspect of his career one of the real perqs of self management. He also has a degree in event management which has assisted him well in his musical endeavors.
TimeCop1983 draws collaborators of the highest quality on a very consistent basis, and likes to keep the avenues of possibility always open, operating smoothly. He loves to work with Dana Jean Phoenix because, in his words "She is just so good". I myself remember the first time I heard Tonight, featuring "Back in the Future", another of the collaborators who contacted TimeCop1983. I was really floored but mistakenly took the song to be a new one by Robbie Robertson! When I found out the real musicians, I went "Whoa thats TimeCop!", because I was familiar with some of his music already, but had not heard that song yet. It was quite a nice surprise, and I really gained a whole new perspective, a perspective incorporating the amazing collaborations which are happening in music on the internet today. It is one of the loveliest things I have ever seen.
A sense of humor became evident when I asked the musician if any of the vocals on his works were his own. He said that if he ever put any of his vocals to the music, people would listen exactly once, so no, the answer is no. The only lament I heard during our conversation was that music has taken up most of his mountain biking and road racing time; he would like to get back to those activities a little more in the near future. Another plus in the life of this self managed musician is travel, which TimeCop1983 eagerly embraces. He likes to stay extra days after a concert to see the various places he plays, if it is possible.
No matter the self management though, or even the internet; no matter any of that if the music is not there. I say that TimeCop1983 is the latest installment in the evolution of Electronic Music, and a fine one at that.
The music is most definitely there.
fin
Upcoming concerts
Saturday 25 November 2017
Timecop1983 with Sung, Neoslave, and 2 others
Le Batofar, Paris, France
website: https://timecop1983.bandcamp.com/
Discography from Discogs: Timecop1983; 9 Releases. 3 Albums, 5 Singles & EPs, 1 Miscellaneous
Albums
Childhood Memories Playmaker 2014
Journeys (Timecop1983 Self-released) 2014
Reflections (Timecop1983 Self-released) 2015 NewRetroWave
Singles & EPs
Waves EP (Timecop1983 Self-released) 2014
Synthetic Romance - Future City Records 2014
We Are The Future! WATF003 2014
Running In The Dark (7xFile, FLAC, EP) 2016 (Timecop1983 Self-released)
Lovers Part I (7xFile, FLAC, EP) 2016 (Timecop1983 Self-released)
Lovers Part II (7xFile, WAV, EP) 2017 (Timecop1983 Self-released)
Daydreaming (3xFile, MP3, EP)
Bandcamp: timecop1983.bandcamp.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/Timecop1983
iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/artist/timecop1983/id827647533
SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/timecop1983
Facebook: www.facebook.com/timecop1983
Twitter: twitter.com/Timecop1983
Bibliography
Authors personal experience and observation
Email Interview with TimeCop1983
YouTube.com
New Retro Wave (NRW) youtube.com
THE CIAs COVERT WAR ON ROCK, ALEX CONSTANTINE
Songkick
What Does the Future Hold for Timecop1983? Published July 1, 2015April 30, 2017 by Aaron Vehlinggo in Features
Fandom
Rolling Stone: Van Halen synthesizer
On Art and Aesthetics
Marilyn Manson, Trent Reznor, The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell, MM Autobiography, various articles
David Geffen, Playboy Interview, Observations
Conversations with Sonar Bonar
