TYMON: “I’d like to think of myself as one of the last English singer/songwriters,” laughs the enigmatically-named Tymon Dogg. “We were all kind of driven underground a while ago! But I’ve been writing and recording songs since I was 15 years old, though I guess most people remember me fro the work I did with The Clash, and then Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros.”
GEAR: What was it that inspired Tymon to initially take up the violin in particular?
TYMON: “I remember seeing someone playing violin well at school and being amazed that anything so basically dreadful could be transmuted into a very, very beautiful sound! I was 15 then, and playing guitar, but the violin to me represented some kind of alchemy of the soul, taking this ‘raw’ scratch and releasing the voice inside it. At the time I started out in the late sixties, it seemed everyone was a great guitarist, so I picked up the violin and decided I was going to crack it, and because I came at it from a singer/songwriter angle and learned it as an accompanying instrument like a guitar. The first thing I learned on it was chords, so by the early 70’s, I was singing and accompanying myself on violin.”
GEAR: Anyone who has seen witnessed Tymon play will know about his energetic and unorthodox playing style on violin. Is that something he deliberately set out to do, to create a real show whilst playing the instrument?
TYMON: “When I went to New York in the early 80’s,” explains Tymon, “I remember going to Gerde’s Folk City (legendary folk club) for auditions, there were queues of 150 people with guitars, waiting to play two songs. So it was quite refreshing for everyone, to be there with a violin… it also took up less space in the queue! You can also get it on a plane easier. As I said, I really used it as an accompanying instrument instead of a guitar, and singing and playing at the same time, and that helped me stand out and get the gig.”
GEAR: With so much live and recording experience, what’s Tymon’s opinion of the current music scene?
TYMON: “Because of what’s happened with technology and the internet, it’s amazing. When I started out, someone had to ‘spot’ you, then take you to a record company and try to sell you to them. The idea that someone can go out and buy a good multi-track system and a couple of mic’s, and for very little money record their songs, and then set up an internet and myspace site to publicise and release those tracks is amazing! The only thing that’s sadly lacking (in England at least) is provision for a good gigging space. By that I don’t mean a beer joint or somewhere that puts an act on in the corner near the toilets sometimes, but dedicated live venues. Young acts working on their material are running out of places to play, to meet other musicians and be creative. But at least they don’t have to pander to commercial pressures from record and management companies.”
GEAR: Tymon collaborations with The Clash and Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros are some of his best-known work. What were those gigs like?
TYMON: “I’d been friends with Joe (Strummer, Clash frontman) for many years, but it was actually (Clash guitarist) Mick Jones who got me involved with their famous ‘Sandinista’ album, because Mick had been coming along to lots of my London gigs. The Clash was a very personal thing, like being part of a family, a relationship of music and songs. But Joe and I had never written songs together until we did songs like ‘Johnny Appleseed’ and ‘Mondo Bongo’ (from Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros album, ‘Global A Go-Go’) where we took my melody and sound, Joe wrote the lyrics, and the other guys in the band brought their own textures to the tracks as well.”
GEAR: Strummer fans will remember Joe’s sudden passing in 2002. Tymon meantime, continued to record and play, now with a new project, ‘The Quikening’ (sic).
TYMON: “I’ve done about 10 gigs now, mostly in London,” he states. “I’ve gone through about four drummers, because what I tend to do is get the gig, and then see who, from the many great musicians I know, is actually free to play on the night! We like it to be thought of as a “testament to being inspired” rather than people just performing.” Someone asked me when I was going to put out a new album the other day and I thought, well, what is an album now? It used to be something quite tangible, on your turntable or your CD player, but now every myspace band has an MP3 player with a few tracks on. The music industry is on a massive pivotal change now, where the material side of a physical ‘album’ is less important because of the internet.”
GEAR: What’s the story about ‘shoe money’…?
TYMON: “I was about 16, and my mother said, “Your shoes are terrible, go into Liverpool and get yourself a new pair,” and so I set off, but unfortunately I called into a record store and listened to my first Leonard Cohen record, and used the money to buy it. It was the start of a wonderful journey really. I mean, I wasn’t going to waste that money on shoes…!” (laughs)
GEAR: Tymon was originally ‘discovered’ by Paul McCartney and signed to the Beatles’ famous Apple Label in the 60’s…
TYMON: “I had made a record which Paul heard on the radio, a song I wrote in ’67, it was very Beatle-influenced you know (with John Paul Jones playing bass on it!). Anyway, Paul McCartney heard it and decided he wanted a shot at re-recording it. I was a bit worried actually, because I didn’t want my friends thinking I only had one song!”
GEAR: Tymon has been putting a new Antoni violin through its paces – and that’s a heavy duty test! What does he think of the Antoni?
TYMON: “It’s well presented, well finished, with a great tone. Obviously, it’s not the tone you would get from an aged violin, but it isn’t harsh like a lot of new ones tend to be. And of course, they really need to be played-in to get the best from them, but I could tell that at this price (RRP 249), it’s great, really. I used a Shadow pickup system with it (The SH945NFX Nanoflex pickup, RRP 104.99), and was really pleased by how natural sounding it is. I like the way it takes some sound from the bridge and the body of the violin. It’s the best way I can think of amplifying a violin. I managed to get a very pleasing tone form the Antoni through my speaker set up using it. The strings seemed very nice as well (Super Sensitive), as a lot of violins are so spoiled by cheap strings.”
GEAR: Does Tymon have any musical heroes?
TYMON: “Having been born in the 50’s and growing up in the 60’s, I have been saturated with musical heroes. But to me, inspiration itself is the hero, and if there is a true ‘world religion’, it’s music.”
- Gavin Coulson is 35-year-old guitarist from West Yorkshire, currently working as Product Demonstrator/Artist Liaison Manager for a major independent musical instrument distributor. Gavin also plays live in three different cover bands, is a session musician and teaches guitar and bass. For more information regarding Gavin, check out his website at: www.gavincoulson.co.uk
