Tim Gennert

I was born in San Francisco and spent my younger childhood in that area. My father was a Jazz piano player and a filmmaker and my mother a graphic designer. I grew up being influenced by psychedelic music and art. 

I can remember hearing Walter Carlos' "Switched on Bach" and thinking that this is what I wanted to do.

Pop music in those days always seemed to fall short for me. Luckily, Mike Oldfield had a hit with a small snippit of music that was used in the film "The Exorcist." I heard this for the first time on the radio.

In those days, I lived in Cupertino and San Jose. We had a great underground radio show called "Stone Trek" by a DJ named Greg Stone on KOME, though "The Theme from the Exorcist" was being played on pop radio. Anyway, I bought the album"Tubular Bells" and I was completely mesmerized by it. I think since then I have been trying to understand how Mike Oldfield created that album, both musically and technically.

Of course, as I have grown, electronic music has also grown. I have followed other artists that have progressed this art form: Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, Klause Schultz, Bill Nelson, Peter Gabriel, Jean Michael Jarre, Vangelis, Kraftwerk, Mike Oldfield, Pink Floyd and all the others that pioneered this music that seems to have taken over the world. Early Genesis and Peter Gabriel were certainly some of my main influences.

And then the punk and New Wave movement began and a whole new world of gothic psychedelic music appeared. New Order, Cocteau Twins, Peter Murphy, Dead Can Dance and 4AD artists. I loved this music and it became another strong influence. 

Unfortunately, a lot of this excellent music got thrown into the category “New Age” which I think did it great disservice. My roots lie in the San Francisco and British psychedelic era and my music is a blend of the organic groovy music from that time and the more analytical framework that electronics imposes.

The range of my music goes from deep ambient to heavy rock. Over the years my tastes have changed a great deal. Currently my favorite bands are Gary Numan and Tool. Roots Reggae has also become an influence due to the soul of this music.

In general, I would say that as a composer and a songwriter I am trying to develop techniques that use modern technology without damaging what I consider the most valuable part of music: human expression and the underlying spirit that goes with it.