As time progressed and Tim entered high school his musical tastes began to drift from classical to classic rock, alternative, rap, world music and beyond. He began to follow in the footsteps of his father by picking up the bass in grade nine, however soon after Tim decided he wanted to learn to play the electric guitar.
Tim was continually discouraged by his music teacher who told him he was “a bass player, not a guitar player”, but this didn’t stop him from his new passion. Soon after Tim’s parents purchased his first guitar, a black fender Stratocaster, and he began to teach himself how to play by listening to his new favourite guitar player: Jimi Hendrix.
Like many other kids in high school, Tim made some poor choices in friends, which simply led to more poor choices. By the age of 16, without his parents or sisters knowledge, Tim started to experiment with drugs; a choice that plunged him into a world of evils previously unknown. “I had spent the next four years without perspective, concern for others, or a plan for my life. I wasted those years of my life, and lived in a cloud of darkness.”
During this time Tim continued to peruse music as a hobby, not as a profession. The “dream” as he describes it "was always there, but I never really perused it with passion, though at that time I could have had my father’s help.” Instead Tim began to play with various bands and others from the area, however nothing official ever emerged.
Tim would play in school coffee houses and talent shows, but found himself becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of professionalism and dedication in other musicians. Though at this time he was not perusing music as a career, he was serious about all he played and performed. Tim recalls thinking to himself "if I ever decide to try and make a career out of music, it's going to be a solo one I think."
While in school, Tim would work nights in the kitchen of a local bar. Hearing the local bands play every weekend as he closed the kitchen further ignited his passion to perform.
Once graduating from High School Tim immediately went to work in a large seatbelt factory about 25 minutes from his home. “Windsor was a factory city, and at the time, it made sense to go where the industry was growing. Working at the seatbelt plant was a good experience, not that I enjoyed it, but it showed me exactly what I didn’t want to do for the rest of my life.”
While working at the seat belt plant Tim continued to use drugs, and though his happiness continued to decrease, his passion for music did not. At this point Tim started to think about a career in music and decided to start documenting all the material he had written over the years. “All the songs or lyrics I had written were on scraps of paper somewhere in the house. I wasn’t serious, so I wan’t organized, and as I decided to get my music organized, I decided it was also time to get my life together as well.”
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