Pulling inspiration from classical composer Gustov Mahler, the gentle sounds of Sufjan Stevens and the infectious soul of Van Morrison, singer-songwriter Timmy Milner curates soft-spoken reflections that take you to the trenches of emotion on his debut album Fall Risk.
After waking from a coma caused by a serious car accident, Milner was told by doctors that making music was in the past. Left with a series of spiritual and metaphysical visions but having made a full recovery, the folk artist had a backbone for his first record and the determination to produce it.
Titled after the wristband he wore as a patient, the project is an ode to the trials of life and constant yearning for a peaceful state of mind. Having saved up to build an entire studio for the record, Milner’s unwavering passion slips into each guitar lick and lyric.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Timmy about his latest project, the compelling story behind this album and much more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I was born and raised in Orange, California. My family kinda bounced around from California to Colorado throughout my upbringing and I’m living in Costa Mesa, CA right now. I’d say an acurate description of my style would be folk-rock singer-songwriter with pop elements.
I try to make songs that create the style, as opposed to the other way around. So one song on the album might sound quite different stylistically than another, but I try to keep uniformity at some level too because the order and presentation of an album as one work is very important to me.
I always want to bring something new to the table and I’m also studying artists I admire like Nick Drake, The Beatles (especially solo stuff like Harrison and Lennon), Neil Young, Beach Boys (Pet Sounds and other specific Brian Wilson songs), Elliott Smith, Radio Head, John Prine, Kris Kristofferson, and many more, inlcuding jazz artists like Charles Mingus and various classical composers.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
My mom is a writer and was always urging us to stay creative. I started playing guitar at nine and wrote my first (very simple) song at eleven. It’s not necessarily that I ever tried to go start writing and I really wouldn’t be able to stop if I wanted. Yeah there is times where I was creatively dry or didn’t like what I was writing but I’ve always written music since then. I went to school to learn to compose for orchestra and got more than I bargained for. It was intensive and although there wasn’t a huge value for “pop music” I kept writing songs throughout that very busy time where I became involved in the contemporary classical scene.
When it comes down to it, I feel like it’s something I was made to do and there’s every reason not to do it (money, security, practical stuff) and every reason to do it anyway. In some ways its a curse because I feel really stupid in most areas of life but when I’m being creative I know I’m doing what I’m here to do. My wife, friends, and family always get me back to making music when I get too caught up in my insecurites on the subject; it’s hard to make music.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
Fall Risk is my debut and although I’ve written many songs I’ve never done any production at this scope before. It began with me recording myself alone in my apartment with a laptop and eventually became an all analog tape recording which was like a dream come true for me because all my favorite albums were made that way.
Most of the songs on this album were me processing pivotal times in my life that had to do with health related trauma like this car accident that left me in a coma to just name one example. It’s called fall risk because when I slowly came to after days of being close to death I was wearing a FALL RISK band on my hand the hospital gave me so people would know if I get up, I might fall. I wanted to stay honest and to share any insight I may have after these unique experiences. I also just wanted make music that I would enjoy if I was listening to it.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
Well I’m no social butterfly online or in normal life. I prefer one on one interaction with people so the whole digital world for me has always kinda left me burnt out. At the same time, I see the value in that stuff and when push comes to shove if you want anybody to share in what you’re doing you gotta bite the bullet and get on the gram or whatever you choose to use. I decided to document this whole feat of us self producing an all analog recording and I’m really glad I did. Instagram was a cool way for me to create a fan base out of involving them in the process with updates and even live videos of this old craft we were ressurecting in some ways. I know people do this stuff it’s just really hard to find good information on recording analog so it felt like we were just exploring something completely new even though it’s old tech.
The music business is oversaturated, and that can be a real bummer. But at least now there’s more access for people to reach people instead of needing to be liked by the record label or whoever “matters”. I personally feel labels still have a future and a place that is just changing but time will tell. The oversaturated aspect isnt so bad though.
Sam Winsor (engineer, producer) and I were both kind of doing something that most people our age in our situation don’t do with the production side. There was little computers involved in the recording if any. Most the gear we used was labeled obsolete.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
Follow me on Instagram @timmymilner or Facebook @timmymilnermusic. The music is on Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, and all the rest.
Anything else before we sign off?
I worked with Sam Winsor at a coffee shop in Costa Mesa and he mentioned nonchalantly that he had an all analog studio in his bedroom with a two inch tape machine. This wasn’t some rich boy with all the hookups, he had scrounged together resources because he was passionate about it. He ended up pitching the idea of producing my album with me and it was like God had sent this person to me because it was my pipe dream to record my first record onto tape.
We both committed to the project and I committed to helping him get his studio more functional in order to get the album done on the budget of baristas with no label. We muscled a Trident 24 track console into his bedroom after buying it from a guy in Iowa. We then spent months fixing it and just learning about a mostly dead art of recording on tape. We wanted the sound of all our favorite recordings which were almost all analog recordings.
We also recorded much of the album at some great, somewhat affordable studios in LA like New Monkey Studio which was the private studio of Elliott Smith before he passed. We spent a couple days at Kingsize Soundlabs and then mixed analog back at Sam’s house and also at Palomino Sound in LA.
The album took a year of my life, and it was a lot of work but I think it paid off.
