Lessons, punk music and freedom. We spoke with Tim about life in Paris and exiting the eye of the cyclone.

Meeting Tim in Paris a couple of times over the course of a year, it was clear that his electric energy penetrated everyone around him. His demeanour back then was composed and succinct, with a clear look in the eye and a leather jacket on most of the time. Tim came across as the embodiment of the music he made and an emulation of his creative influences. I saw him in concert only once, it was a mesmerizing almost hypnotic show of cool and aggressive energy; a clear communication of his passion for the music he makes and genuine love for the community he partakes in.

In 2015, Tim began his venture with his Coldwave EBM music project, Poison Point as a solo endeavour, over time it flourished into a two-piece with his creative partner Arnaud Derochefort, combining their forces on-stage - playing alongside some big names in the international post-punk scene including Drab Majesty, (who they supported on tour), Prurient, Silent Servant, Regis, Sydney Valette and more. Though the time has passed since our last encounter, it seems as though Tim has only grown more from there; we spoke about the latest in his creative pursuits, passions, influences, work processes, and what's most important to him.

Hey Tim! The last time I saw you must have been in 2018 in Paris! How have you been in between now and then? Except for this shitty year of 2020, 2019 wasn’t so bad. Both projects (IV Horsemen and Poison Point) turned more into an electronic scene, we played between concert and club shows with Poison Point and a bit more club action with IV Horsemen. 2019 was the year of travelling to different countries like Germany, Italy, UK, Georgia, Russia and we had a couple more gigs in Paris too. I’ve met so many incredible people, I've really missed being able to engage with others this year, as everyone has.

What’ve you been working on creatively lately? We took a break with Poison Point (just before Covid) so it’s actually on stand by, but I still work with my solo project IV Horsemen. I recently released a new record on Fleisch, another German label that signed many artists I truly love. Also many tracks in different various artists compilations from so many different countries (RAW, Hearec, Glauben Records, Area Z, Intervision, Insane Industry) and a few remixes as well. I've tried to keep my mind a bit occupied, so I did more graphic design jobs and few music videos for the French artists Sydney Valette and Blind Delon and for Machino from LA (the video will be released next year). I also took the time to learn more about some technical ways to produce images and worked with that on my latest films.

What’s the latest with IV Horsemen? Can we expect to see some new releases soon? Aside from my latest EP « Human Crash, I’ve got a split EP coming up on Veleno Viola with the French wave band Blind Delon. Also, a new track will be released exclusively on my Bandcamp on the 15th of December as a gift for the end of the year with a compilation of the tracks released in 2019/20 on different various artists.

What do you love about making the music that you do, if you can put it into words? A big part of what I like about doing music is completely forbidden nowadays: playing on stage and traveling to different countries. I mean doing music in the studio is quite exciting too but if I only do that I get the feeling of really missing something, and especially when it’s danceable or heavy music which is supposed to be played loud to really feel it!

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learnt? All this time deprived of freedom, trying to create alone in a big city like Paris strengthens the faith in my will to go back to living in a space much closer to nature and away from so much negative tension constantly floating in the air of a city with way too many people.

What authors and/or visual artists, if any, do you draw inspiration from at the moment? And who are your favourite musicians? Of course, I really like sci-fi books, especially the ones from Philipp K.Dick, poems from John Cooper Clarke, and Nick Cave’s books. Again because it’s about personal visions of our societies in the past/present/future, relationships between people, and all this through a surreal prism to bring the air we need to continue to breathe in this world.

So many artists actually, even if I don’t really have favourites, but I have to say Suicide was a real smash in my face when I discovered them. I come from the punk scene so when I saw people using synthesizers this way, very minimalistic, raw and brutal at the same time, in a complete DIY attitude, I was deeply touched. And the same for D.A.F, Nitzer Ebb, the early EBM scene, this music just strikes me in the head and has stuck to it since then. I’m still a fan of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Actually, I did my master degree in Art School about the lyrics of Nick Cave ahah. To stay on the Australian side but more recent, I really like Buzz Kull and Forces. To name of few others like Burzum, Marilyn Manson, Ministry, NIN etc. and goes back to electronic with Ancient Methods, Martial Canterel, Schwefelgelb, Die Selektion.

What is most important to you? Freedom.

What is your process with writing? Do you have a particular sound in mind or does it come organically? I don’t do dark music on purpose I guess. It sounds dark or cold or whatever we can call it but this is what comes out when I let myself go with some machines. Dark music is not sad at all, it's the opposite; I feel comfortable, relaxed and it genuinely puts me in a good mood. Wearing black clothes is not depressing, just elegant. But sorry, I got sidetracked from the question. I think since I was quite young I've been more interested in that kind of dark feeling in music and producing it, I've only delved into it more recently, like maybe in the last 6 years. I probably needed to get more confident in myself!

You began Poison Point as a solo project, introducing Arnaud after you'd played for a year or so. Do you and Arnaud always see eye-to-eye when creating together? With Arnaud, we're not on the same page all the time but that’s the best part. It makes both of us think differently about what we are used to doing and it brings more creativity into play.

What do you love? What do you despise? It sounds a bit cliche - but friendship, family, and freedom (again) are what I care about the most, so this is what I love. And I can find my freedom in many kinds of ways, like going to a museum, a concert, a film or trying to create something, this is what I love. What I despise? People who do not care about anything and push others into deep shit through selfishness. There's too much of this in the world, unfortunately.

How do you envisage your future self? Wow, hard one. I totally don’t know to be honest. I probably won’t stop doing music especially if it goes well, but sometimes I want to move far away into a no man's land to work differently with music and visual projects, sometimes I want to stay in the eye of the cyclone, too. After this year, as I mentioned though, I'm feeling like I really need to be out in nature. But anyway like I said before in one word, the most important is freedom for me, so any form of freedom is all I care about.

You can find Tim's work on most streaming platforms, including here and here.