Photograph of Timothy Fairless performing live music. Shot from above, the photograph shows a laptop, a vintage electric piano, sound mixers, and microphones.
RECENT: August 2022

Rising Water Live

Following the release of Rising Water I performed the album twice at KEPK in Meanjin. The first show (pictured) was in-the-round and supported by Flora Wong and Lou Janssen. Sound was set from 4 channels in the corners of the room, and new album-themed animations were projected across the space so both audience and performer had the same experience. The second show was a visual treat, with the projectors split by a screen and a curved wall. The second show was with Mekema, Unregistered Master Builder, and Madeleine Cocolas.

Photograph by Thomas Oliver

Rising Water album cover showing red and blue lines on a background of close-up water.
RECENT: May 2022

Rising Water

Rising Water is my second full-length album, and I'm very privileged for it to be released by the expansive London label FLaming Pines. The album is a meditation on the beauty and menace of water. It received radio play on the BBC (UK), 4ZZZ (Meanjin/Brisbane), and FBi (Eora/Sydney), and exceptionally favourable reviews from Chris Cobcroft at 4ZZZ and Peter Hollo from Utility Fog.

Artwork by Christopher Ahern & Timothy Fairless

Photograph of video installation projected onto a wall.
RECENT: April 2022

Heat & HUMIDITY

I held my first solo video exhibition in the area I grew up, at a watch-house that was decommissioned in the year I was born. It's both the heat & the humidity activated 2 cells and the vestibule at The Old Lockup. The works investigated the intersection of queer identity and natural+social environments of my formative years, and were made from fragments of sound and image from that time and place. The soundtrack is available here.

Photograph by Timothy Fairless

Still frame from performance film from Sessions at the Shangri-la. Taken from over Timothy's shoulder, his hands are seen playing 2 different keyboards. Photograph by Ally d'Alchemy.
RECENT: April 2022

SESSIONS AT THE SHANGRI-LA

An original-condition, architect-designed, Japanese-inspired mansion built in the 1970's plays host to artists and performers. Each artist gets a room to perform live in - but I got two. I performed The Howling, Control I and Control II for the series Sessions at the Shangri-la, which is out now.

Photograph by Ally d'Alchemy

Timothy Fairless and Henri van Noordenburg perform at Dogwood Crossing, Miles. Henri is etching or carving into black paper to create a new image in a technique that is like drawing with a knife. Timothy is making music with some keyboards and computers. Photograph by Mark du Potiers.
RECENT: January 2022

STILL WATER

In January I was privileged to travel and perform with Henri van Noordenburg at the opening of his exhibition in Miles, Westen Queensland. Henri and I captured sounds from the local environment, and performed with those while he made new work. It was an extension on a practice we've been developing for a while, in which I take an audible feed from Henri's mark-making and transform it. This sound becomes my performance, which in turn influences how Henri's visual art piece is composed. Across a lifetime of music making, this ranks as one of the best experiences I've had.

Photograph by Mark du Potiers

Solo Music

Rising Water

2022

Made about water, from water. Its terror, its patience, its ubiquity and scarcity. Released on Flaming Pines, London.

Cover art by Cristopher Ahern & Timothy Fairless

It's both the heat & the humidity

2022

Soundtrack to the exhibition. Queer identity & environment explored through treated field recordings, archival video and cassette recordings.

Cover art by Timothy Fairless

Common Electric Glare

2021

An album about diversion and distraction. Shedding reliance on familiar instrumentation, Common Electric Glare champions abstraction of tone & texture.

Cover art by Timothy Fairless

Split View

2021

5-song companion EP to Common Electric Glare re-imagines and reveals. Minimalism, sonic abstractions, and expansions on themes and ideas explored in the album.

Cover art by Timothy Fairless

Headwind

2020

Experiments in deep sampling of acoustic instruments, and adventurous manipulation of archival audio meets electric guitar and polyrhythms.

Cover art by Daniel Mayfield-Smith

POLLEN (KILLAWARRA)

2019

A composition for grand piano and violin maintaining the acoustic aesthetics of both instruments. Slight imperfections retained on the master convey honesty and authenticity.

Cover art by Mark du Potiers

Sum

2019

This final release in a triptych completes a 12 song cycle that includes Measurement (2012), and Plural (2015). Although abrupt and jarring in parts, it illuminates the space around the sound.

Cover art by Christopher Ahern

A Thin Black Line

2018

A Thin Black Line is the soundtrack album for the virtual reality experience of the same name. The score accompanies a charcoal depiction of the true story of a young girl and her family fleeing Darwin before the 1942 bombing.

Cover art by Vernon Ah Kee

Bias

2017

Bias is made of piano and processing. Performed elements were recorded without any 'traditional' playing of the instrument. Instead, the piano was stripped of non-structural outer panels and struck, plucked, and otherwise activated with a range of archaic implements.

Cover art by Mark du Potiers

Plural

2015

Flying birds are processed to become the haunting introduction to Fault Lines. Waves recorded just north of Byron Bay become the rattling, noise-laden foundation of Holograms (Y). Grand piano and violin are nestled amongst unrecognisable sonic mush harvested from Notre Dame on the heart-wrenchingly gorgeous Pollen.

Cover art by Christopher Ahern

Measurement

2014

This debut EP of 4 songs is where you should start. Crushed leaves are stretched to become the entire ambient wash on piano-based Lumen. The knock of a finger against a microphone is transformed into the cacophonous middle passage in Decibel. Electric piano and slide guitar sit amongst a cinematic soundscape made from unrecognisable household objects on Deep North.

Cover art by Christopher Ahern

Video, Performance Art, Sound Installation

It's both the heat & the humidity

2022

Solo exhibition at The Old Lock Up about queer identity & environment. The show had 2 video/audio works and a sculptural work, was extended by a SoundCloud playlist, performance & artist talk.

CATScan

2021

Experimental performance at the group exhibition, What Matters. The work combined processed pre-recorded vintage audio mined from digital reproductions of video and current audio submitted by audience members, responded to on piano and guitar.

REVIRGINATE

2021

Collaborative exhibition with Mark du Potiers, presented as MSTR. Featured 3 new video art pieces presented as immersive audio visual installations and 2 scultpural works, alongside print work and site specific installation by Mark du Potiers.

NO 4AM PHONE CALL FROM TOKYO

2020

Audiovisual installation first shown on the elevated warehouse screen at the Wide Open exhibition at KEPK Space in Brisbane.

RISING WATER

2019

Multi-channel audio installation as part of the You Can Lead a Horse to Water... exhibition at the Grey Street Gallery in Southbank, Brisbane. Made entirely from a glass of water, the work ran 4 discrete audio channels of differing lengths. Looped, these created an endlessly evolving soundscape.

RECUSE FOR MONO

2018

A generative and responsive sound installation presented at the collaborative exhibition, Don't Drink the Milk with visual artists Emmalyn Hawthorne and Aaron Perkins. Exploring language and communication, Recuse for Mono listened to the gallery space and processed the audio in a multitude of ways before playing the result back into the space.

Film, TV & Theatre Scores, Collaborations & Commissions

I Am Home

2022

Soundtrack for Ali Choudhry's video, exploring what 'home' means and where it is. First exhibited at Incinerator Gallery (Naarm/Melbourne) in June 2022.

In Search of Home

2021

Theatrical score for William Yang's performance of In Search of Home, commissioned by QAGOMA (Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art) as part of the major survey show William Yang: Seeing and Being Seen.

ROD & DAVE'S SUMMER PARTY

2020

Soundtrack accompaniment to William Yang's short video Rod & Dave's Summer Party. Presented as part of the major survey show William Yang: Seeing and Being Seen at the Queensland Art Gallery in 2021.

SILENCER

2019

An experimental soundtrack to the short film Silencer. The rhythm of a bouncing ball anchors the score, which features heavily processed noise and aggressive, evolving textures.

A THIN BLACK LINE

2017

Score for the virtual reality experience directed by Douglas Watkin. The work was commissioned by SBS/NITV, produced by VRTOV & Doublewire and premiered at the 2018 Adelaide Biennial of Art. The score is made from bowed acoustic guitar, kalimba, felt piano and violin.

CONTINUE TO DRIVE

2014

Commercial for BMW, with an electronic score made from sounds recorded from their cars and transformed into tuned and playable instruments.

BLACK BETTY

2013

Soundtrack to the short film about a single father learning how to step back to let his daughter grow up.

BOUNCER

2013

Soundtrack to the short film set outside a nightclub. The diegetic score drives the action and emotion while using only sub-120Hz frequencies.

THE HOUSEWIFE

2012

A short film about revenge and freedom. The gritty soundtrack holds the tension with hybrid acoustic/electronic elements, scultped noise, and treated foley recordings.

Actor Jamie Dunn in his role in the Short Film 'True Love'. In this image, he's set against a bright blue sky and menacingly points a pistol at the viewer.

TRUE LOVE

2011

Soundtrack to the award-winning short film about a killer seeking redemption when he intervenes in a woman burying her freshly-murdered partner.

Biography

Timothy Fairless is a composer and music-maker exploring the space where found sound and sonic manipulations intersect with familiar acoustics. As a composer, he engages schema-driven, conceptual methods. Timothy’s work is realised as sound installations, recordings, performances, and music for film.

Fairless' formative years were in regional areas. Growing up queer in the 90’s, difference and concealed identity set the foundation for a frame through which sound is interrogated as multi-layered, masked, and can simultaneously be more than one thing. Through experimental music and sound installation he explores themes of position and privilege, identity and isolation.

Solo work is published on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp and most other streaming services. Installation work has been exhibited at Webb Gallery. Grey Street Gallery, and KEPK in Meanjin/Brisbane. Timothy’s soundtrack and scores have been exhibited in the Adelaide Biennial of Art, at Queensland Art Gallery’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) and appeared on broadcasts for SBS/NITV, in addition to independent release. He has performed live in venues across Brisbane, Hong Kong and at the Art Gallery of SA. As a panelist, he's discussed composition for film and virtual reality at the Byron Bay International Film Festival and at the QLD State Library, and talked about creativity and AI at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art. As a music producer, co-writer & collaborator he has worked with artists of many genres across Australia, and internationally in Hong Kong and Germany.

Timothy lives in Meanjin (Brisbane).

Selected Solo Works & Commissions

Year Description Medium
2023 William Yang's "Gay Sydney, A Memoir" - Seymour Centre, Sydney Performance
TONDI () TONDO Exhibition Closing Party - KEPK Performance
2022 "Rising Water" - Flaming Pines, London Album
"It's both the heat & the humidity" - The Old Lock Up, Maroochydore Video & Sculpture
Yonder Festival - The Lost World Performance
"Fragile States" - New Weird Australia Compilation
"Still Water" with Henri van Noordenburg - Dogwood Crossing, Miles Performance
"Kelp Culture" group exhibition - Project Gallery, South Brisbane and Woodford Folk Festival, Woodfordia Sound Installation
"You're Still Perfect" Not Quite There group exhibition - Project Gallery, South Brisbane Video
"I Am Home" with Ali Choudhry - Incinerator Gallery, Naarm/Melbourne Soundtrack
2021 "No 4AM Phone Call From Tokyo" - Loei Art Festival, Loei Province Thailand Video
"Split View" - Independent Release EP
"Creative AI" - Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane Panelist
"Common Electric Glare" - Independent Release Album
"WWWYAL" - A Country Practice Remix
Drone Festival - KEPK Space, Brisbane Longform Ambient Performance
Henri van Noordenburg's "Still Water" - Side Gallery, Red Hill Longform Ambient Performance
"CAT Scan" - What Matters Exhibition, KEPK Space, Brisbane Audiovisual Performance
William Yang's "In Search of Home" - Queensland Gallery of Modern Art Theatrical Score
William Yang's "Rod & Dave's Summer Party" - Seeing & Being Seen Exhibition, Queensland Art Gallery Soundtrack
"Revirginate" with Mark du Potiers, as MSTR - Webb Gallery South Brisbane Video & Sculpture
2020 "No 4AM Phone Call From Tokyo" - Wide Open Exhibition, KEPK Space Brisbane Video
"Platypus Corridor - Slow Motion Electrolocation" - Andrew Tuttle Remix
"Headwind" - Independent Release EP
"Waves at South Golden Beach" - Field Recordings Podcast Field Recording
2019 "Pollen (Killawarra)" - Independent release EP
"Sum" - Independent release EP
"Rising Water" - You Can Lead a Horse to Water Exhibition, Grey Street Gallery South Brisbane Sound Installation
"Silencer" - Cosmonaut Creative Media Film Score
William Yang's "Gay Sydney: A Memoir" - RMIT Melbourne Victoria Theatrical Score
"Made Today: Sound Composition for Film & Game" - State Library of Queensland Panelist
2018 Dead Air Festival - Backbone, East Brisbane Performance
"Co-Lab Create VR Symposium" - Byron Bay Film Festival, Byron Bay New South Wales Panelist
"Recuse for Mono" - Don't Drink the Milk Exhibition, Webb Gallery, South Brisbane Sound Installation
"A Thin Black Line" - Adelaide Biennial of Art, Art Gallery of South Australia Performance
2017 "Bias I/II/III" - Independent release EP
"A Thin Black Line" - VRTOV and SBS/NITV Australia VR Score
2016 "Fiona Wirrer George" - Double Wire and SBS/NITV Australia TV Doco Score
2015 "Plural" - Unperceived Records, Berlin, Germany EP
"Deploy Your Senses 2015" - Deploy Your Senses Label, Spain Compilation
"Eclosion" - Duskdarter Label, Brisbane Compilation
2014 "Measurement" - Independent release EP
"Continue to Drive - Music from a BMW" - BMW Australia TV Commercial
2013 "Black Betty" - Creative Carps Film Score
2013 "Bouncer" - Soap & Water Productions Film Score
2012 "The Housewife" - Retroset Films Film Score
2011 "True Love" - QPIX and Ignition Films Film Score
"[Robots] Never Die" - Rat vs. Possum Remix