Interview with Tim Eilers

Recently the bar has been raised on the quality of Gary Numan covers posted on youtube. La Lune Noire have made a top notch version of Tracks

However one artist has posted (update) EIGHT top notch Numan covers (at time of writing). Timothy Eilers has kindly allowed his answers to some questions about his life to be published as mini interview.

The Interview

"...curious what your musical experience is and your interest in Numan.
I am assuming you didn't just wake up one day and think, I'll try and do some music. This CD with the man with blue hair and white face looks interesting, perhaps I can do it too. And then make 7 of the 10 best Numan covers I've seen on youtube."

... my music background began at an early age with piano lessons in Minnesota. I was privately taught by members of the Minnesota Music Teachers Association. This involves testing in theory and statewide competition recitals.

The highest honor was to make it to the Honors Concert where you would play one part of a duet with nineteen other pianists on new Steinway pianos at the Northrop Auditorium in front of 4500 people. I took lessons for nine years between the ages of 6 to 15.

I made Honors twice.

I hated it.

I was a terrible reader and I usually cheated and played by ear. The instructors were usually amazed and annoyed by my approach.

The same year I heard Gary for the first time, I was in Minneapolis for a recital and I found a store with a real synthesizer to play.

Hearing "Down in the Park" for the first time (and seeing the live video) and playing that first keyboard were huge moments in my life.

I was absolutely enamored with Gary's music and style. Suddenly my piano lessons didn't seem like such a bad idea. I was able to play almost any song pretty quickly. I still couldn't read music very well, but it didn't matter.

I stayed a loyal fan through most of the 80's but I started to drift after The Fury. I can barely remember any songs from Strange Charm and Outland.

"Obviously there's one you can remember from Strange Charm."

I stand corrected....there is obviously one song from Strange Charm I remember. I love My Breathing. The original is amazing and unique. It is also far apart from the rest of the album.

I think I jumped back on board at Sacrifice and have been excited to see Gary back in the groove and looking very happy about it.

I have, over the years, dabbled in professional music making with some co-writing and film scores but I didn't really have the heart for it. I found the industry too overwhelming.

I have worked as a visual artist for years making props, sculpture, miniatures and models for the entertainment industry. I never took that work personally so it was much easier to be competitive.

The last five years of my life have brought about some big personal changes and I've come to a place where the music is important enough to me to brave some challenges that I was honestly unwilling to face before.

I'm looking forward to releasing these covers, with the consent of Gary Numan, and also releasing my own material soon after.

I love recording music and singing. I really love reshaping Gary's music and creating the videos.

I am fortunate that Gary has such a gracious and appreciative audience. Everyone......almost everyone (LOL) has been very supportive and positive.

I hope this answers your questions. Thanks again for listening.

Timothy Eilers' You Tube channel.

24 March 2010