Timothy James Arthur Wheeler (born 4 January 1977) is a Northern Irish singer, songwriter, and musician for the
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
band
Ash
Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...
. He has written nearly all of Ash's notable works, such as "
Oh Yeah", "
Shining Light", "
Girl from Mars", "
Kung Fu
Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...
", and "
Goldfinger". In November 2014, he released his debut solo album ''
Lost Domain''.
Early life
Timothy James Arthur Wheeler was born in
Downpatrick
Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be the bu ...
on 4 January 1977, the son of Rosalind E. M. (née Dickson), the daughter of a
Northern Bank
Northern Bank Limited T/A Danske Bank is a retail bank in Northern Ireland. Northern Bank is one of the oldest banks in Ireland having been formed in 1809, and forms part of one of the Big Four banks in Ireland. Northern Bank took on the name ...
manager, and George Bomfforde Wheeler (1932–2011), a solicitor and later judge.
He is a great-great-grandson of Rev. George Bomfforde Wheeler, who was editor of ''
The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' from 1859 to 1877.
He attended
Down High School
Down High School is a controlled co-educational grammar school located in Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland. The school has students from the ages of eleven to eighteen in the senior school — of which there are approximately 970 pup ...
with his fellow band members
Mark Hamilton and
Rick McMurray.
Music career
Ash
Wheeler won the
Ivor Novello Award
The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...
for Best Contemporary Pop Song in 2001 for "
Shining Light".
Other work
In 1999, Wheeler contributed guitar and backing vocals on
The Rentals
The Rentals are an American rock band fronted by vocalist Matt Sharp. Sharp has been the only consistent member since the group's inception. The band's best selling single is "Friends of P" (1995). The Rentals released two albums, ''Return of t ...
' album ''
Seven More Minutes''. He has also contributed backing vocals
Bob Geldof
Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter, and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Rock music in Ireland, Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved ...
's
Band Aid 20
Band Aid 20 was the 2004 incarnation of the charity supergroup Band Aid. The group, which included Daniel Bedingfield, Dido, Justin Hawkins of The Darkness, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Bono of U2, an ...
2004 single "
Do They Know It's Christmas?
"Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a charity song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded by Band Aid, a supergroup assembled by Geldof and Ure consisting of pop ...
" and on
Arthur Baker's song, "Glow".
As part of
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
's program ''The JD Set'', Wheeler worked with
Emmy The Great
Emma-Lee Moss (born 4 November 1983), known by her stage name Emmy the Great, is an English singer-songwriter. She has released four studio albums, ''First Love (Emmy the Great album), First Love'', Virtue (Emmy the Great album), ''Virtue'', ...
,
The Crookes
The Crookes were a British indie rock band who formed in Sheffield in 2007. They released their first single "A Collier's Wife" in 2009 as part of the Too Pure singles club, followed by single "Bloodshot Days" that was released on Heist or H ...
,
And So I Watch You From Afar
or AND may refer to:
Logic, grammar, and computing
* Conjunction (grammar), connecting two words, phrases, or clauses
* Logical conjunction in mathematical logic, notated as "∧", "⋅", "&", or simple juxtaposition
* Bitwise AND, a boolea ...
, and Ma Mentor, joining each band in covering songs by
Pixies
A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas arou ...
, and then performing at London's XOYO on 24 March 2011.
Wheeler has also been involved with film and TV soundtrack work, most notably ''
Ashes'' (2012), ''
Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond'' (2014) and the ''
Shaun the Sheep Movie
''Shaun the Sheep Movie'' is a 2015 stop-motion animated adventure comedy film based on the 2007 British television series ''Shaun the Sheep'', created by Nick Park, in turn a spin-off of the ''Wallace and Gromit'' film, ''A Close Shave'' (1995). ...
'' (2015).
Emmy the Great
Wheeler has collaborated frequently in recent years with
Emma-Lee Moss, AKA Emmy The Great, the duo have performed Ash track "
Tracers
Tracer may refer to:
Science
* Flow tracer, any fluid property used to track fluid motion
* Fluorescent tracer, a substance such as 2-NBDG containing a fluorophore that is used for tracking purposes
* Histochemical tracer, a substance used for tr ...
" on several occasions, and in 2011 Tim, Emma and Euan Hinshelwood covered
Robert Manning's song "Washington Parks", the cover was released as part of a collection of covers to raise awareness of
multiple sclerosis
Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...
. The pair acoustically performed a set of Ash and Emmy The Great songs, as well as some covers at Willowstone Festival on 1 July 2011.
In November 2011 the pair released a Christmas album, entitled ''This Is Christmas'' (Infectious, 2011).
''Lost Domain''
In September 2014, Wheeler announced the release of his first solo album, ''
Lost Domain'', a heartfelt and emotional response to the loss of his father George to dementia. ''Lost Domain'' was released on Sony Red on 3 November 2014, with a portion of the proceeds being donated to The
Alzheimer's Society
Alzheimer's Society is a United Kingdom care and research Charitable organization, charity for people with dementia and their carers. It operates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, while its sister charitieAlzheimer Scotlandand Alzheimer's ...
, a charity Wheeler has worked closely with since his father's death in 2011.
''Lost Domain'' is an album in which Wheeler battles to come to terms with his loss, charting his father's rapid decline into illness, his death and the tumultuous effect that it had on his life over the course of 11 songs. As Wheeler explains: “After losing my father to dementia, I felt the need to personally do something to fight Alzheimer’s. My friend
Neil Hannon
Edward Neil Anthony Hannon (born 7 November 1970) is a Northern Irish singer and songwriter. He is the creator and front man of the chamber pop group The Divine Comedy, and is the band's sole constant member. Hannon wrote the theme tunes for t ...
from
The Divine Comedy
The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...
's father also has Alzheimer's so we put on a concert in Belfast in November 2011 with
The Divine Comedy
The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...
,
The Undertones
The Undertones are a rock band formed in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. From 1975 to 1983, the Undertones consisted of Feargal Sharkey (vocals), John O'Neill (rhythm guitar, vocals), Damian O'Neill (lead guitar, vocals), Michael Bradley ...
and Ash to raise funds and awareness for the
Alzheimer's Society
Alzheimer's Society is a United Kingdom care and research Charitable organization, charity for people with dementia and their carers. It operates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, while its sister charitieAlzheimer Scotlandand Alzheimer's ...
. Since then I've had close links with The
Alzheimer's Society
Alzheimer's Society is a United Kingdom care and research Charitable organization, charity for people with dementia and their carers. It operates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, while its sister charitieAlzheimer Scotlandand Alzheimer's ...
and this year was involved with the Dementia Friends campaign. I'm proud to continue to support them and raise more awareness with the album Lost Domain."
Recorded in Ash's New York studio, Wheeler played almost everything himself, roping in musician friends when he needed a hand:
Andy Burrows
Andrew William Burrows (born 30 June 1979) is an English songwriter and musician. He's best known as the drummer for Razorlight from 2004 until 2009 before rejoining in 2021. He's also served as the drummer for We Are Scientists from 2009 to ...
formerly of
Razorlight
Razorlight are an English indie rock band, formed in 2002 in London by lead singer and guitarist Johnny Borrell. Along with Borrell, the current line-up of the band is composed of founding members Björn Ågren on guitar and bassist Carl Delemo ...
and Fred Aspelin (
Alberta Cross
Alberta Cross are an Anglo-Swedish rock band, formed in 2005 in London, England by singer-guitarist Petter Ericson Stakee and bassist Terry Wolfers.
In 2013 Wolfers left the band, leaving Stakee as the only permanent member. The band's officia ...
) each played some drums;
Ilan Eshkeri
Ilan Eshkeri (born 7 April 1977) is a British neoclassical composer known for his concert music, films scores and artist collaborations.
Early life
Eshkeri was born to a Jewish family in London. During his childhood, he learned to play the ...
and
Oliver Kraus
Oliver Kraus (born 1970 in Shepherd's Bush, London) is an English musician best known for his work as a cellist and string arranger/ producer and composer for film and television.
String Arrangements and Performance
Kraus has performed with nume ...
helped with the string and brass arrangements performed by the
London Metropolitan Orchestra
The culture of London concerns the music, museums, festivals and lifestyle within London, the capital city of the United Kingdom. London has frequently been described as a global cultural capital and is one of the world's leading business cent ...
; Leanne Macomber from
Ejecta
Ejecta (from the Latin: "things thrown out", singular ejectum) are particles ejected from an area. In volcanology, in particular, the term refers to particles including pyroclastic materials (tephra) that came out of a volcanic explosion and magma ...
and
Neon Indian
Neon Indian is an American electronic music band from Denton, Texas. The music is composed by Mexican-born Alan Palomo (born July 24, 1988), who is also known for his work with the band Ghosthustler, and as the solo artist VEGA. The project has b ...
sang; and Moon Hooch's Wenzl McGowen played saxophone. There is even a sample of Wheeler's father's piano playing on the album's epic centerpiece "Medicine".
The album track "The First Sign of Spring" is available to listen to on YouTube now.
Wheeler announced his first solo dates to support the release of the album on 4–7 November. He played
Bush Hall
Bush Hall is located at 310 Uxbridge Road, Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. Originally a dance hall, it is now an independent music venue with a capacity of 400.
Bush Hall was built in 1904. It was used as a soup kitchen during World W ...
– London, Night & Day- Manchester, ABC2 – Glasgow and
Oh Yeah Centre – Belfast. In addition, he supported
Andy Burrows
Andrew William Burrows (born 30 June 1979) is an English songwriter and musician. He's best known as the drummer for Razorlight from 2004 until 2009 before rejoining in 2021. He's also served as the drummer for We Are Scientists from 2009 to ...
in Amsterdam and Brussels.
Musical style
Equipment
Wheeler is perhaps most recognised for using a
Gibson Flying V
The Gibson Flying V is an electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1958. The Flying V offered a radical, "futuristic" body design, much like its siblings: the Explorer, which was released the same year, and the Moderne, which was designed ...
, which he has frequently used live since 1998 onwards. His Flying V has a 1950s Zebra Coil PAF pickup, and has also been modified in the past for pyrotechnics; the Flaming Flying V acts as a
flamethrower
A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World ...
, firing from between the V part of the guitar body.
Prior to this, Wheeler mainly used various
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typi ...
models. He also plays a
Gibson SG
The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961 as the Gibson Les Paul SG. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. The SG (where "SG" refers to Solid-Body Guitar) Standard is Gib ...
and
Gretsch
Gretsch is an American company that manufactures musical instruments. The company was founded in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York by Friedrich Gretsch, a 27-year-old German immigrant, shortly after his arrival to the United States. Friedrich Gretsc ...
Silver Jet, which was frequently used both live and in the studio since Ash's album ''Twilight of the Innocents''. For heavier tracks such as "The Dead Disciples", Wheeler has used a
Fender Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful Les Paul had built a prototype solid bo ...
. In 2011, he purchased a Gretsch 1966 Sal Fabrio, for work in the studio and rehearsals. He also uses a
Gibson
Gibson may refer to:
People
* Gibson (surname)
Businesses
* Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment
* Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based
* Gi ...
Custom Inspired By
Kiefer Sutherland
Kiefer William Sutherland (born 21 December 1966) is a British-Canadian actor and musician. He is best known for his starring role as Jack Bauer in the Fox drama series '' 24'' (2001–2010, 2014), for which he won an Emmy Award, a Golden Glo ...
Semi-Hollow KS-336 guitar on a number of tracks live, including songs such as "
Walking Barefoot". He used an
Elliot Easton
Elliot Easton (born Elliot Steinberg, December 18, 1953) is an American guitarist. He played lead guitar and sang backing vocals for The Cars, and his guitar solos are an integral part of the band's music. Easton has also recorded music as a so ...
signature model
Gibson Firebird
The Gibson Firebird is a solid-body electric guitar manufactured by Gibson beginning in 1963.
History
The Gibson Guitar Corporation released several new styles during the 1950s to compete with Fender's solid-body instruments, such as the Telecas ...
on a number of songs during the
Kablammo! tour.
Wheeler predominately uses a
Mesa Boogie
Mesa/Boogie (also known as Mesa Engineering) is an American company in Petaluma, California, that manufactures amplifiers and other accessories for guitars and basses. It has been in operation since 1969.
Mesa was started by Randall Smith as a s ...
Road King Series II amplifier, and also sometimes uses a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier amplifier. He uses numerous effects pedals which are housed in a rack and controlled via
MIDI
MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...
. His effects pedals include; an
Electro-Harmonix
Electro-Harmonix (also commonly referred to as EHX) is a New York City-based company that makes electronic audio processors and sells rebranded vacuum tubes. The company was founded by Mike Matthews in 1968. It is best known for a series of gu ...
Micro Synthesizer, a
Dunlop Crybaby 95Q
Wah pedal
A wah-wah pedal, or simply wah pedal, is a type of electric guitar effects pedal that alters the tone and frequencies of the guitar signal to create a distinctive sound, mimicking the human voice saying the onomatopoeic name "wah-wah". The ped ...
, a
Death By Audio
Death By Audio was a warehouse space on the first floor of an industrial building in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The warehouse took its name from the boutique effects pedal company, Death By Audio, based in the space.
Th ...
Fuzz War, a Carl Martin HeadRoom
Reverb
Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abso ...
, an
Electro-Harmonix
Electro-Harmonix (also commonly referred to as EHX) is a New York City-based company that makes electronic audio processors and sells rebranded vacuum tubes. The company was founded by Mike Matthews in 1968. It is best known for a series of gu ...
Poly Chorus, a Morpheus Droptune, a Catalinbread Karma Suture
Fuzz, a
Mesa Boogie
Mesa/Boogie (also known as Mesa Engineering) is an American company in Petaluma, California, that manufactures amplifiers and other accessories for guitars and basses. It has been in operation since 1969.
Mesa was started by Randall Smith as a s ...
Tone Burst, a Coloursound Tonebender, a
Moog Moogerfooger
Phaser, an ADA
Flanger
Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, one signal delayed by a small and (usually) gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a swept comb filter effect: peaks and not ...
pedal, and a Nocto Loco octave pedal which replaced a
Korg
, founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments, audio processors and guitar pedals, recording equipment, and electronic tuners. Under the Vox brand name, they ...
synthesiser in his effects rack. Wheeler controls his pedals in his effects rack using a Voodoo Lab Ground Control Pro
MIDI
MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...
foot controller.
The Flying V guitar that Wheeler set on fire on the Ash
Meltdown
Meltdown may refer to:
Science and technology
* Nuclear meltdown, a severe nuclear reactor accident
* Meltdown (security vulnerability), affecting computer processors
* Mutational meltdown, in population genetics
Arts and entertainment Music
* Me ...
tour is now on display at the
Oh Yeah centre in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
. The Oh Yeah centre is dedicated to the music of Northern Ireland and was named after the song "Oh Yeah" by Ash.
Lyrical themes and writing
With the release of the band's fifth studio record ''
Twilight of the Innocents
''Twilight of the Innocents'' is the fifth studio album by Irish rock band Ash. It was released on 29 June 2007, through Infectious Records. Following the departure of guitarist Charlotte Hatherley in early 2006, the band began recording their ne ...
'', in 2007, Wheeler spoke of how if the group hadn't toured so heavily they would have been more prolific, that: "It would have been cool to have twice as many songs by now. I definitely could have done it, but if I go on tour I have to stop writing. Writing needs to be a relaxing process and you need peace and quiet and the right stuff around you. Whenever we take a break I could write a song every day, pretty much."
Personal life
Wheeler is an
Arsenal FC
Arsenal Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Islington, London, England. Arsenal plays in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The club has won 13 league titles (inclu ...
fan, which began during his nine-year stint living in
Highbury
Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington
in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads.
The manor house was situ ...
. He has been dating French model and art director
Julia Restoin Roitfeld
Julia Restoin Roitfeld (born 12 November 1980) is a French creative director and designer, based between New York City and London. She is the daughter of Carine Roitfeld and Christian Restoin.
Career
She graduated from Parsons School of Design in ...
since 2018. On September 9, 2021, they announced via Instagram that they were expecting a baby together. In February 2022, they announced the birth of their son George.
In 2016 the
Open University
The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
awarded Wheeler an
honorary Doctor of the University, citing his "exceptional contribution to education and culture".
Discography
Studio albums
* ''This Is Christmas'' (with
Emmy the Great
Emma-Lee Moss (born 4 November 1983), known by her stage name Emmy the Great, is an English singer-songwriter. She has released four studio albums, ''First Love (Emmy the Great album), First Love'', Virtue (Emmy the Great album), ''Virtue'', ...
; 2011)
* ''
Lost Domain'' (2014)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, Tim
1977 births
Living people
People from Downpatrick
Male singers from Northern Ireland
Rock guitarists from Northern Ireland
Irish male guitarists
Ivor Novello Award winners
Ash (band) members
Rock singers from Northern Ireland
People educated at Down High School
Musicians from County Down