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THIGHPAULSANDRA (UK)
Thighpaulsandra (Tim Lewis) is a Welsh experimental musician and multi-instrumentalist known mostly for performing on synthesizers and keyboards. As Tim Lewis, he began his career working with Julian Cope. Born June 19 in Pontypridd, Wales to a family of musicians. His grandfather being a conductor and mother, Dorothy Lewis an opera singer. He was frequently taken to classical concerts from an early age and studied French horn, church organ and piano. He had a strange band in school with odd combinations of instruments. Avant-garde was normal to him even though he didn't care much for the concerts he went to. He has worked as a session musician for unmentionable acts as well as a recording engineer and spent 8 years working in a psychiatric hospital as a staff nurse. He eventually quit the day job.
Beginning his career in the early 1980s with the hair metal band Temper Temper, Lewis next became the house engineer and studio manager at Loco Studios near Newport. Stuck in S. Wales, Lewis was at first unable to capitalize on his real influences, such as krautrock and improvised electronic music. Eventually, his work with Julian Cope provided the right atmosphere and Thighpaulsandra joined the band Spiritualized. He also joined Coil and performed on such albums as Astral Disaster, Musick To Play In The Dark Vol. 1 and Musick To Play In The Dark Vol. 2. His first three solo releases came out via the Coil label, Eskaton. John Balance provided vocals for Thighpaulsandra's first release Some Head EP, and Peter Christopherson designed the artwork for the I, Thighpaulsandra double album and for the following albums.
When asked to describe Thighpaulsandra's work to somebody recently, it was difficult to find the right words to serve any justice. Perhaps the best thing to therefore do is simply respond by illustrating this highly accomplished and visionary musician has been known for his assistance with groups and artists as diverse as Coil, Spiritualized and Julian Cope as much as his own albums during recent enough memory. Combining musique concrète, quasi-dimensional electronics, ravaged hums, atmospheric tones and all manner of different instruments nodding into focus makes him very unique and original artist.