Hi Tim, tell us a little about yourself?

My name is Tim Knapp. I come from a little city called Rochester, NY. My main joy in life is writing and singing songs. Thanks for chatting!

How long have you been making music for?

I’ve been fascinated with the creation of sounds and melody for as long as I can remember. When I was 3 or 4, I had this Playskool tape player that had a record function on it as well. I would sing and record these little jingles I made up, pretending to be Michael Jackson or Ice Cube. Incorporating keys from a starter Casio synthesizer that ran on AA batteries. They’d be truly dreadful to hear today, haha. But the process of recording myself became sort of mesmerizing from that point on.

I see in your bio that you have musical parents, would you say their music has shaped your sound?

I’m very grateful that I came from the parents that I came from. Both played in bands and remained highly musical well into my adolescence, but music wasn’t ever forced upon us. We sort of organically and willingly allowed that to be a part of who we are, to be a part of our souls. But, you know, it’s kind of funny as it pertains to the music they played and enjoyed while I was growing up. I didn’t hate any of it at the time, it just didn’t speak to me yet. So I’m finding that as I’m getting older, I’m still enjoying the modern music waves, but I’m also starting to really connect with some of the things I used to hear my parents listening to. And even starting to broaden the horizons of my sound, to be more reflective of music in the past. Crazy how it came around full circle like that.

What do you remember listening to when growing up?

Growing up, I was exposed to such an eclectic variety of music and have continued to keep my listening varied ever since. But throughout the life journey, I had my eras where a certain type of music was hitting harder for me than others. When I was very young, it was a lot of Michael Jackson and Tears For Fears. Whatever Pop music was big in the late 80s. Then in the 90s, hip-hop played a giant role in my music listening. It’s never really gone away for me, but grade school and middle school was when a lot of the messages in hip-hop started to speak to me. Once I hit high school, I was really starting to get into punk rock and hardcore. Much like hip-hop, I loved the rebel vibes and the sense of individuality. It was so refreshing. I remember going to my first punk rock show, it was The Get Up Kids. The energy at the show was intoxicating and something I needed more of. But I also wanted to be on that stage. So that was the point in my life I decided I wanted to sing in a punk rock band, or several as it came to be. Now I feel like my listening is an unpredictable mix of all of those personal music eras and more.

What would you say your sound could be compared to, both current and old?

One of the most difficult things in being a solo artist is figuring out your sound. Especially when you have this freedom to try to sound however you want to. There are no other band members to fine tune that with, so a lot of what you do can become extremely exploratory at times. Finding my sound was quite a roller coaster, and I feel like it’s never quite finished evolving. But I have finally come to rest on a general sound that I’m completely happy with and excited to delve deeper into. I’m the worst at comparing myself to anything, but people seem to liken my music to artists such as Depeche Mode and The Cure. I won’t deny that certain artists from the 80s and 90s are a huge influence, so I happily accept that comparison. My aim is to merge the past sensibilities with the modern ones.

How do you think the music industry has changed since COVID?

The music industry obviously took a pretty big hit over the course of the pandemic, especially with the absence of live music. I’m hoping and presuming that one of the biggest positive changes will be a renewed appreciation for this type of entertainment. I feel like we all started to take these privileges for granted and when it went away, we realized how much of a comfort they are. So I think we’ll see a greater support for live music, for live music venues and furthermore for the artists that rely on the ecosystem for survival.

What is your 2021 looking like?

Well, thanks to this excellent engineer I found(that’s you), I feel like my 2021 is gonna be filled with maximum music creation. I’ve been releasing nothing but singles and it’s time I release a larger body of work. So it’ll be cool to just lower my head and essentially block out the world for several months, haha. I’ll also be working my way down the checklist of “must do as an independent artist”. The pandemic has made it difficult to do things like schedule a photo shoot or shoot a music video, so now that the smoke is clearing slowly I’m excited to get those things taken care of. I don’t have a job to return to and I feel like the universe is telling me to commit to this. So that’s what I’m gonna do. We’ll see how it goes! Haha.

I’m sure you’re excited for live music to return, is there a gig/band you’re particularly looking forward to seeing?

I can confirm that I am ultra hyped for the return of live music! But I gotta be honest, I have no idea who’s going where and when, haha. Extremely out of the loop right now, but this question alone has me curious as to when touring picks up again for most artists. I will say this, it feels like a decade since the last show I went to, so it’s gonna have to be something epic/life changing. Like a Radiohead or a Nine Inch Nails. Or Bjork.

You can follow Tim on his instagram and listen to his music on Youtube, Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer