Tim Arnold (musician)

Tim Arnold
Tim Arnold with Michael Nyman at The Almeida Theatre in 2010
Background information
Birth name	Timothy Marcus Arnold
Born	3 July 1975 (1975-07-03) (age 36) Soho, London, England
Origin	London, England
Genres	Alternative rock, Indie rock, classical, new age, pop, progressive rock, rock and roll, theatre
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter, Composer, Record label owner
Instruments	vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion, bass, piano, organ, glockenspiel, mandolin
Years active	1995–Present
Labels	V4 Records, Epic, Sajja Records, TA Music
Associated acts	Jocasta
Website	Tim Arnold's official website

Tim Arnold (born 3 July 1975) is an English singer-songwriter, composer, producer^[1] and musician from Soho, London. He is currently a solo artist, but first achieved success as the singer and songwriter of Britpop band Jocasta in the mid-1990s. He runs the record label TA Music^[2] and has released thirteen albums, one with Jocasta and twelve solo albums. He is also author and composer of the musical Secrets of Soho.^[3]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 Jocasta 2.2 Solo career 3 Discography 4 References 5 External links

Early life

Tim Arnold's childhood was spent travelling through Europe, as his mother,1960s singer Polly Perkins, performed cabaret in theatres and nightclubs. Between the ages of eight and fourteen, he lived in France, Spain and the UK.^[4]

At fourteen years old, he enroled as a bard in The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids.^[1] The teachings inspired him to leave his mother's home in Spain and return alone to England to study at the Rudolf Steiner School, where he formed the band Jocasta with best friend Jack Reynolds.^[4]

Career

Jocasta

In 1994, Arnold and the band moved from Hertfordshire to London. Jocasta had chart hits with "Go" and "Change Me" in 1997. The band's only album, No Coincidence was released in June 1997, but they disbanded soon after its release.

Solo career

In 1999 he signed a publishing deal with Richard Branson's V2 Music. he also became Master of Music at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, composing original music for Peter Oswald's 'Augustine's Oak', a new verse play written especially for the Globe. In 2000 he briefly begun a new band called Spearshaker. The band recorded several songs at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales, which would later be released on Arnold's 3rd solo album 'En Route'.^[5]

In 2001, Arnold left V2 and signed to Universal Music Publishing. For two years, he wrote and produced music for newly signed artists at Universal, mostly pop, R&B, garage and hip hop.

In 2003 Arnold travelled to the Wat Tham Krabok Buddhist monastery in Thailand, the trip financed by his godmother, the actress June Brown, where he was successfully treated for crack cocaine addiction.^[6][7] Life at the monastery had a profound effect on Arnold who subsequently left London and moved to Thailand to live in the monastery, where the monks built him a recording studio.^[8]

He recorded his debut solo album Lokutara with the monks who cured him,^[9] in which the music was created by following cracks in the earth, which metamorphosed into pop rock melodies.^[10]

Brown and Arnold subsequently set up a fund to help other addicts receive treatment at Wat Tham Krabok.

A Tham Krabok success story,^[11] Arnold returned to the UK in 2004. Over the following 18 months, he recorded and released 6 solo albums,^[12] including Secrets of Soho ^[13] recorded in Francis Bacon's spiritual home (The Colony Room). A companion to Secrets of Soho, Soho Confidential featured seven live tracks recorded throughout venues in Soho in 2006 including Tim and his ensemble's rendition of the Edith Piaf classic "Je Ne Regrette Rien". The album also features an interview by BBC London DJ Gary Crowley.

In 2006, Arnold got together with Chilean lyricist and journalist, Antonio Ramirez and embarked on writing new lyrics to selected tracks that Arnold had previously recorded in English. The result is a collection of Spanish versions of songs from Arnold's first three solo albums, including a song called "Perfectos" (originally recorded with Jocasta as "Perfect") and a cover of the famous Mecano song "Hijo De La Luna", which literally means 'Moonchild'.

Arnold then recorded Clever Ain't Wise (2007), an album of Pete Doherty songs.^[14]

Another World is Tim Arnold's eighth solo album, produced by former Jocasta guitarist Jack Reynolds. Contributing musicians include cellist Nick Holland (Michael Nyman, Balanescu Quartet), violinist Jonathan Hill (Feeder, Travis) and Anna Phoebe (Nitin Sawhney, Oi Va Voi).

Restrung is a collection of Arnold songs, re-recorded instrumentally and re-arranged for strings and piano. It was released exclusively as a free Christmas album by Peter Gabriel's label, We7.

Oaky Dokey, his 10th solo album, features thirteen tracks, with musicians including Steve Rushton (Imelda May), Ben Castle (Duke Special, Beth Rowley), and Nick Holland (Balanescu Quartet).

Arnold embarked on his 11th solo album Sonnet 155 by writing over 30 letters to Shakespearean actors, including Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi, Pete Postlethwaite, Richard Briers, Janet Suzman and Emma Thompson in the hope that they would provide further inspiration and help turn ideas into songs. The responses he received became the basis for many of Arnold's songs. The album is a rock/classical crossover all driven by Shakespearean themes.^[15][16]

The single 'Hurly Burly' was a co-write with Michael Nyman.

Sonnet 155 previewed to standing ovations at the Almeida Theatre, London (2 & 9 May 2010), a cross-media performance, including contributions from actors Richard Briers,^[17] Paul McGann, Benedict Cumberbatch and Lisa Dillon.^[18][19][20] The album also re-interprets classical pieces of music by Mozart, Rimsky-Korsakov and Michael Nyman - each song a contemporary response to a Shakespearean theme. B7 Media are currently developing the format of the stage show with a view to taking Sonnet 155 on tour.

In 2011, Arnold reassembled the musicians he worked with at Shakespeare's Globe, to record the music he had composed for the 1999 anniversary season. Augustine's Oak is Arnold's 12th solo album and features contributions from The Dufay Collective's William Lyons.

Discography

• Jocasta - No Coincidence (1997)
• Seeker's Serum (1998)
• Lokutara (2004)
• En Route (2005)
• Secrets of Soho (2006)
• Soho Confidential (2006)
• Hijo de la Luna (2007)
• Clever Ain't Wise (2007)
• Another World (2007)
• Restrung (2007)
• Oaky Dokey (2009)
• Sonnet 155 (2010)
• Augustine's Oak (2011)

References

External links

• Tim Arnold's official website

Persondata
Name	Arnold, Tim
Alternative names	Arnold, Timothy Marcus
Short description	Musician, Songwriter
Date of birth	1975-7-03
Place of birth	Soho, London, England
Date of death
Place of death