Tim Kingsbury (born 1977) is a Canadian musician and member of the indie rock band Arcade Fire. He plays bass guitar, guitar, and occasionally keyboards.

Tim Kingsbury
Kingsbury performing in 2007
Kingsbury performing in 2007
Background information
Birth nameTim Kingsbury
OriginGuelph, Ontario, Canada
GenresIndie rock
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)
  • Bass
  • guitar
  • piano
  • keyboards

Early life edit

Kingsbury spent his early years living in and around Guelph, Ontario.[1] He comes from a musical family; his mother Birdie was a pianist and a music director and Parkwood Gardens Community church in Guelph, and Kingsbury sang in the church choir.[2] His brother Brett is a professional classical pianist. After piano lessons as a child, Kingsbury stopped playing music until a friend of his mother gave him a guitar when he was fourteen. He began to teach himself to play and write music.[3] Kingsbury attended John F. Ross in Guelph[4] where he began playing in bands when he was sixteen.[3] Christian rock was an early influence for Kingsbury,[2] especially the music of pioneering American Christian rock artist Larry Norman.[3] Kingsbury cites his later influences as Pavement and Palace and Dinosaur Jr.[3] He played with Gentleman Reg while in high school, only playing one show outside of Guelph.[5]

Career edit

After high school, Kingsbury moved to Ottawa where he played with a number of bands such as the Killers and Geoffrey Pye, before joining Clark the band. While in Ottawa he met Jeremy Gara. The two played together in a band in Ottawa and would later move to Montreal and play together in The New International Standards, Arcade Fire and Kingsbury's solo project, Sam Patch.[6]

Kingsbury moved to Montreal in 2001.[7] Kingsbury had a hard time finding full-time work with a band and made ends meet by working as a telemarketer for a pharmaceutical company.[4] At the same time, he played in a number of bands, including the New International Standards.[5] The New International Standards included Richard Reed Parry, Annesley Black and Mike Feuerstack. The band was active for about two years. It was Parry that brought Kingsbury into Arcade Fire.[5]

Arcade Fire edit

Kingsbury began to play with Arcade Fire in 2003 after the break-up of the band's original membership.[8] Although Kingsbury primarily plays bass in Arcade Fire, he also plays guitar and sings.[7]

Guelph continues to be a contact for Kingsbury and the fellow members of Arcade Fire. Arcade Fire performed at Guelph’s Hillside Festival in 2005, a performance Sam Baijal, artistic director of Hillside, credits with giving the Festival a huge boost in popularity.[4]

Other projects edit

Kingsbury also toured and recorded with Montreal band Wolf Parade as a bassist, appearing on the album the 2005 album Apologies to the Queen Mary.[9] He has also been involved with the bands Clark and The New International Standards in addition to recording as a solo artist.[10]

Sam Patch edit

In August 2015 he launched a side project under the name "Sam Patch" along with fellow Arcade Fire member Jeremy Gara and Toronto artist Basia Bulat.[11] He played his first show as Sam Patch at Montreal's Bar Le Ritz.[12] Kingsbury began writing music while on tour with Arcade Fire and recorded the album Yeah You, and I post-tour, with Gara, Bulat. John McEntire of the bands Sea and Cake, and Tortoise and fellow Tortoise member Doug McCombs also appear.[13] Kingsbury named the project after an early 19th-century daredevil by the same name. Sam Patch, also known as the Jersey Jumper, would jump from bridges, buildings and other heights, including the Niagara River at the base of the Falls. Patch met his death in 1829 attempting a stunt at Rochester's High Falls.[6]

Kingsbury recorded the song "In to Trouble" for the film 2020 film Pieces of a Woman, and in 2021 released the song as a digital single.[14]

References edit

  1. ^ Record, The. "'To us, he'll always just be Tim'". www.therecord.com. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
  2. ^ a b Guelph Public Library. "Kingsbury, Tim (Famous Guelphites)". Archived from the original on 2017-01-18. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  3. ^ a b c d Sabadosh, Erol (2008-04-24). "Interview with Tim Kingsbury from Arcade Fire". Don't Do It. Retrieved 2017-01-18.
  4. ^ a b c Halfnight, Drew (2011-02-14). "'To us, he'll always just be Tim'". The Record. Kitchener, Ontario. Retrieved 2017-01-18.
  5. ^ a b c "Arcade Fire 04: Tim & Richie". radiofreecanuckistan.blogspot.ca. 10 January 2007. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
  6. ^ a b Dunlevy, T'Cha (2015-08-25). "Arcade Fire's Tim Kingsbury takes a leap of faith as Sam Patch". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. Retrieved 2017-01-20.
  7. ^ a b mmmbarclay (2007-01-10). "Arcade Fire 04: Tim & Richie". radio free canuckistan. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
  8. ^ "Can Arcade Fire Be the World's Biggest Band?". Rolling Stone. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  9. ^ "10 Years: 'Apologies To The Queen Mary' by Wolf Parade: Last Gang Records". 2015-09-27. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
  10. ^ Andrews, Coral (2015-12-04). "Kingsbury pulls Sam Patch out for a session". The Record. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
  11. ^ Rettig, James (2015-08-28). "Watch Arcade Fire's Tim Kingsbury Debut Sam Patch Side-Project At Passovah Summer Fest". Stereogum. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
  12. ^ Minsker, Evan (2015-08-25). "Arcade Fire's Tim Kingsbury Debuts New Project Sam Patch, Working on Album". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
  13. ^ Breihan, Tom (2016-12-09). "Sam Patch (Arcade Fire's Tim Kingsbury) – "St. Sebastian"". Stereogum. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
  14. ^ "In To Trouble, by Tim Kingsbury". Sam Patch. Retrieved 2021-05-16.

External links edit

  Media related to Tim Kingsbury at Wikimedia Commons