THE 'MIND TRICK' STORYTELLER - TIM CRIMZON

 

ABOUT CROOKED GRINS AND  PSYCHEDELIC FINGERPRINTS 

TIM CRIMZON 

The  Story-driven alternative,  blues-rooted folk musician. 

By RubySage

29 May 2026

Think eclectic.  Think psychedelic. Think Blues, folk-rock. Think camp fires and story telling, with tangible emotion and heartfelt expression.  That's what you can expect when you delve into the music realm of Tim Crimzon.  

Thinking about it now, it's kind of crazy to think that, after meeting Tim a good three plus years ago, our journey, comprising of a shared appreciation for all things harmonic, slightly obscure and a beat felt groove, has only just begun.  There is a lot more I could say on the topic of the CrimZon haired story teller ...with his slightly lopsided.. 'Uhem' ... I meant crooked grin. (😉) However, as it turns out, that would be  completely unnecessary.  His answers in the Q&A reveal a lot more than what I could even fathom, let alone find the right words to paint an authentic enough picture for you  ... 

And so, without further ado... Join me as we dive into a wonderland of all things obscure, enlightening and musically magical as we learn more about  Tim CrimZon.   

1. Q: Tell us a bit about yourself. Who are you on and off the stage?

A: On stage, Tim CrimZon is the storyteller with a guitar—somewhere between a campfire philosopher, a blues drifter, and someone just trying to make sense of the chaos. I gravitate toward songs with grit, groove, and stories that feel lived in rather than manufactured. 

Off stage, I’m a dad, a full-time HR/IR professional, a bit of a problem-solver, and someone who probably overthinks life more than necessary. I enjoy building things—whether that’s systems, ideas, music, or conversations that actually matter. I’d like to think I’m fairly grounded, but also slightly odd in the best possible way.

2.Q: Tell us about your music journey. When did you start writing songs, and how did the name Tim CrimZon come about?

A: Music has always been in the background, but I properly started writing in my younger years when life, emotions, and stories just needed somewhere to go. Back then, I carried around two albums’ worth of material, playing long sets of originals mixed with covers—blues, folk, rock, whatever carried feeling.   

Then life, responsibility, work, and time happened, and music drifted to the side for a while. But the strange thing is, songs don’t really leave you; they sit somewhere waiting in the dark. I’ve had to rewrite a lot over the years because memory is a tyrant and time scatters pieces.

As for the name, Tim CrimZon came from one of those wonderfully random roads life takes. Back in the day, there was a game called The Incredible Machine — or TIM — that somehow lodged itself permanently in my brain. I liked the acronym, I liked the weirdness of it, and somewhere between that, gaming, and the crimson colour of my guitar, “Tim Crimson” came to life. Over time, though, the “S” quietly got replaced with a “Z”. I just liked it more. It felt rougher around the edges, a little stranger, more visually memorable — and honestly, a lot more me.

3.Q:  Your music has a very unique style. What genre would you classify it as?

A: I usually tell people it’s blues-rooted folk rock with psychedelic fingerprints and storyteller energy. But honestly, I don’t think in genre first. I think in groove, feeling, and truth. Some songs lean folk, some blues, and some become strange little campfire philosophy sessions. If I had to stamp a label on it: Story-driven alternative folk-blues with a slightly crooked grin.

4. Working full time, being a dad, and a musician keeps you incredibly busy. How do you stay motivated?

A: I actually think motivation is overrated—systems help more. Discipline matters.  Some days you feel inspired, some days you don’t. But if something matters to you, you make space for it. I reached a point where I realized time is not endlessly patient. The dreams I had are still there, and I owe it to myself to see how far I can push them. Plus, music helps me make sense of life. That’s a decent motivator right there.

5. How do you feel the Internet and AI have impacted the music business?

A: Massively—for better and for worse.  

The good? Independent artists can release music globally without gatekeepers. You can learn, collaborate, market yourself, and reach audiences you’d never otherwise meet. 

The bad? Noise. Endless noise. Everyone can publish, which is a beautiful thing, but it also means true authenticity matters more than ever. AI is interesting. I see it as a creative sparring partner, not a replacement. It can help refine ideas, visuals, workflows, and occasionally unlock a creative block, but the soul of a song still has to bleed out of a human being.

6. Q: Where do you draw inspiration from to write your songs?

A: Memory. Contradictions. Human messiness. Love, loss, mistakes, resilience, strange conversations, campfires, people trying to survive life—and occasionally, bizarre thoughts that arrive at highly inconvenient times. Sometimes songs come from heartbreak. Sometimes they come from one sentence someone says out loud and can’t take back.

7. Q: Which famous musicians do you admire?

A : There are honestly too many to mention, and my answer changes depending on the day.

First up, Sixto Rodriguez—because truth travels farther than hype. There was something deeply honest about his music and his story that just stuck with me. 

Jack White, for his fearless creativity and rawness. He reminds me that music doesn’t have to be polished to matter; sometimes the rough edges are the entire point.

 Violent Femmes for the weirdness. Absolute chef’s kiss. They somehow made the awkward, strange, and brilliant feel completely natural.

And then you fall down the alternative rock rabbit hole: Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, Foo Fighters, and The Doors—all for different reasons. Groove, experimentation, atmosphere, honesty, madness, energy. 

But something I’ve intentionally done over the last three years is force myself to keep listening to new music. I actively go hunting for bands I’ve never heard. I think artists get stale when they stop being students, and I’d like to keep discovering music indefinitely.

8. Q: What is the most trouble you’ve ever gotten into?

 A: Nothing wildly rock-and-roll, disappointingly enough. One night we were making posters for an upcoming gig. Somewhere in the chaos, I deeply cut my finger on a blade while prepping things. I wrapped it up, carried on, and thought, “Ah, it’ll be fine.” The next day I looked at it and realized

it was absolutely not a "put-a-plaster-on-it" situation.  The problem is, I’ve had enough stitches in my life to feel strangely overqualified. Now, let me be very clear: I do not recommend this to anyone. But my internal logic went something like: Needle… thread… painkillers… how hard can this be? So… one stitch. Two stitch. Three stitch. Closed. 

Again—terrible idea medically speaking. But somehow I survived both the cut and my own confidence. I suppose I tend to be more rebellious in my ideas than in actual chaos… although apparently, there was a brief period where I moonlighted as a deeply unqualified field surgeon.

9. Q: What is your absolute favourite sound that is entirely unrelated to music?

A: Campfires. There’s something hypnotic about crackling wood at night. It feels like the world slows down enough to hear itself think. You sit there, staring into the flames like they owe you answers, and somehow the noise in your head gets quieter. A campfire doesn’t rush anything. It crackles, shifts, breathes—and for a moment, life becomes wonderfully simple.

10 .Q:  If your guitar suddenly developed the ability to talk, what is the very first complaint it would make about you?

A: Probably: “Mate… could we maybe stop the endless doodling for five minutes?” Or: “You know you don’t actually have to pick me up every time a random thought enters your brain?”

In fairness, I think continuous playing, noodling, and absent-minded doodling on an instrument is fundamental to writing. You don’t always sit down with the intention to write a song—sometimes you just mess around long enough for a song to sneak up on you. So my guitar’s main complaint would definitely be: “Could we PLEASE have one evening where you don’t accidentally invent three half-songs and forget where you put them?”

11. Q: What is the most spectacularly useless real-world talent you possess that nobody would ever guess? 

A: This is deeply weird… but I can spit like a cobra. And the strangest part? It wasn’t accidental. A friend from school and I somehow spent about a week refining and practicing this absolutely useless skill like we were preparing for some bizarre Olympic category. Looking back, I have so many questions. (...Wtf, TIMMY...🤦🏻 )

I’m also somewhat double-jointed, which sounds more impressive than it actually is, but cobra-spitting feels like peak uselessness. Completely unnecessary skill. Excellent memories.

12. Q: What is one piece of advice another musician gave you that you completely ignored, only to realize years later they were actually right?

A: “Just release the music.” I used to overthink everything—timing, quality, perfection, readiness, whether it was "good enough." At some point, you realize songs can become museum pieces in your own head if you let them. Finished beats perfect. Every single time.

13. Q: Share one awkward fact or embarrassing moment.

A: I once completely blanked on the lyrics to one of my own songs during a live set. I confidently replaced the forgotten lines with absolute gibberish and nonsense while trying to look deeply intentional and soulful. You know that moment where you hope confidence alone can carry you through the absolute wreck you're making? That.

The weirdest part is that people came up afterward and complimented the performance. I’m still not sure if that says something nice about audiences, or something deeply concerning about the power of false confidence.

14.Q:  You've released a bunch of singles and albums. Tell us a bit about your writing process.

A: Usually, it starts with a line, a phrase, an image, a feeling—or just something strange that refuses to leave me alone. Then, I chase the groove. Lyrics matter deeply to me, but rhythm matters just as much. Sometimes I’ll sit and absent-mindedly doodle on guitar for ages because playing continuously is how the magic happens. Then comes the rewriting… and rewriting again. I’ll reshape ideas, forget them, rediscover them, argue with them, throw them away, and rebuild them until something clicks and feels honest. Some songs arrive quickly. Others have to be excavated.

15. Q: Which one of your own songs/albums is your favourite, and why?

A: That changes constantly. One of my biggest joys is when close muso buddies or friends suddenly start singing one of my songs back to me. Weirdly, that’s often been “Grounded Sailor.” It’s an older track, but it just seems to stay with people.

“Mind_Trick” is also special to me in a completely different way—there’s something strange and layered in it that feels very quintessentially "Tim CrimZon." But honestly, songs are snapshots of who you were at a particular moment in time. Your favourites change because you change.

16. Q: If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?

A: Less obsession with algorithms and more space for artists to grow, experiment, and fail without disappearing entirely. Everything moves so fast now. Music used to sit with people longer. Albums lived longer. Artists evolved slower. I’d love for authenticity, experimentation, and long-term artistry to matter more than trend-chasing and thirty-second attention spans.

17.Q:  Share some bragging rights or "Aha!" moments.

A: Realizing people remembered songs I thought had disappeared into memory was a massive one for me. Getting pulled back into music after life happened has also been a quiet but incredibly meaningful win.

Honestly, anywhere Mr. Eleazar has roped me into has usually turned into an adventure. Getting welcomed back into music through a festival opportunity, and then being able to drag Mr. Strachan alongside me, felt like the perfect full-circle moment. That experience reminded me that I don’t just want to play music—I want to open songs up, collaborate more, and see what strange chemistry happens when different musos bring their flavour to the table. More of that, please.

18.Q:  Any pearls of wisdom for new, upcoming artists?

A: Stop waiting for permission. Start moving. Start grooving. Start badly if you must—just start. Release the music. Learn constantly. Don’t chase trends so hard that you lose yourself trying to impress people who were never going to be your audience anyway. And don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle. Most importantly: Don’t stop. Keep rocking.

19. What can we look forward to in the near future in terms of upcoming shows, albums, or projects?

A: More music. More storytelling. More collaborations. Live shows might be a little slower while life balances itself out, but the songs are moving. There are new ideas in the pipeline, continued releases, and plenty of creative chaos brewing. The goal is simple: Keep building. Keep releasing. Keep making noise that means something. So yes—more music is coming.

20.Q:  Where can we find you and your music?

A: Search “Tim CrimZon” across all streaming platforms and socials. I’m currently in the process of getting the structures and the wider Tim CrimZon universe organized for future musical MALICE.

Listen to the full #jollingwithseanmcbride show here: https://musiciansdomain.com/activity/p/8298/