6 Things W/Tim Carr

Tim Carr explores a new sonic palette on his latest solo work Pleasure Drives. Carr (Hand Habits, Perfume Genius) delivers textured compositions, driven by a mix of lo-fi recording techniques and strong songwriting. His vocals are laid delicately over his home-recorded beats, emphasising the sonic architecture and its foundation of electronic rhythms.

“I really resonate to recordings that sound distinct, whether they’re highly produced or extremely lofi,” he says. “I love the spectrum that can be explored here, and I think there is a fair amount of collaging these two qualities on the record.”

There’s a sense of honesty that permeates throughout the album. On “Pleasure Drives” Carr sings just loud enough to be heard. “90s R&B,” is a ballad about the musical genre which he says “explores nostalgia.” On “Alone Playing Piano,” he relays, “It’s a song about what we reveal, what we hold back, and evokes a sense of timeless searching.” The throughline is Carr’s ability to craft expansive sonic landscapes, while sticking to a diy approach.

As Carr explains, it was joy that steered the album. “Pleasure drove this album to completion, as it was made from a playful place as opposed to a melancholic state or being smothered by perfectionism,” he explains. It shows.

We connected with Carr about writing while recording, his home set up, the 90’s R&B era, stepping away to gain clarity and how a photograph can capture a sound. Read it below.

1/WRITING & RECORDING

I often write and record at the same time. It can feel like working inside-out but it often leads to more creative surprises. The production inspires melodies and lyrics, and vice versa—the two elements fuel each other and build momentum.

2/GEAR

I recorded this album while I was living at my friend’s back house in Tujunga, CA. I had a small standalone recording set up in a converted one-car garage with a ’60s Baldwin upright piano, Hammond S6 Chord Organ, a random assortment of drums and percussion, and a handful of cheap guitars. You can hear the real drums on “Stranger Tonight”, “Alone Playing Piano”, “Metamorphosis”, “Goodbye Days” & “Sha Sha La”. I also played a classical nylon guitar I bought in Barcelona a couple years ago on “Melody From Last Night”.

The bulk of the album was made on an iMac computer using Ableton (and some Pro Tools) with a UAD Apollo 8p interface running through a couple of external preamps. For the main takes on “Melody From Last Night” and “Goodbye Days”, I brought out an old Tascam 414 MKII 4-track cassette recorder. For all the vocals, I sang through either a Mojave MA-300 tube mic or an SM7.

I try to lean into the philosophy of working with what I have, making the most of a minimal set up, though every once in a while it’s fun to bring in a new toy to spark energy in the workflow.

Later in the process, I purchased a Casio CT-410V synth which ended up embellishing a few tracks before the album was finished.

3/90S R&B

Timbaland’s production, TLC, and Ginuwine are some that come to mind.

There’s a silky quality in the sound of 90s r&b that I was hooked on when I was a kid. The melodies, production and overall feel of that music are like no other. My song “90s R&B” explores nostalgia and is, in part, about reconnecting to that music.

4/PERFECTIONISM

I think finishing a recorded song has always been challenging for me. Deciding to mix the album myself might have been masochistic, but it felt like the right move—and it’s what I’ve done for my last releases. You mentioned writing and recording in parallel; mixing was also happening simultaneously! Choosing to mix it really just meant finishing what I had started, but at times that led me down some dark alleys and deep rabbit holes. I see the value in letting something be messy, as well as in editing over and over until it finally feels right. Ultimately, it’s a matter of bringing a song closer to its bullseye.

5/CREATIVE BLOCKS

Stepping away and then returning can make a roadblock disappear. I’ve found that driving around in silence can unlock sections or ideas for how to move forward. Breaking out of usual patterns and comforts, listening to other music or watching a film intently also can be informative on where or where not to go. That said, I think stepping away is most effective when there is a push or creative purge, so that there are materials to make sense of once you return.

6/VISUAL ART

I have always resonated with music that evokes a unique visual world, and love thinking about creating a song like a painting or an album like a film.

Most of this album was written with the cover art in mind—a hazy film portrait (shot by cloudy thoughts) of my vacant doll-like face split down the middle by two neon projected lights. I wanted to step further into that world, envision more of its imagery and score it all like a film. I’d listen to drafts of the songs while looking at the image to see if they matched the mood.

Pleasure Drives is out now. You can be stream it below or wherever you listen to music. Follow Tim Carr on Instagram.

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