Tim Christensen
Encyclopedia
Tim Christensen is a Danish
singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
who plays guitar
, bass guitar
, drums
, Mellotron
, harmonium
, keyboard
, piano
and organ. He became famous at age 19 as the singer, guitarist and songwriter of the popular Danish band Dizzy Mizz Lizzy
, which garnered him the reputation of Denmark's 90s golden boy and near-savior of Danish rock music. After the band's break-up in 1998, he launched a very successful solo career. He makes rock
music with pop
and folk
influences. His live performances border hard rock
and his set list
s are known to include a large portion of songs off earlier studio albums. In 2010, Christensen went on a reunion tour with Dizzy Mizz Lizzy. His fourth album was made in collaboration with his backing band and is called Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals
. It was released on 25 November 2011
at age two or three. When John Lennon
died, The Beatles were often featured on television. Christensen was six years old at the time and was impressed by how The Beatles
played, which inspired him to start playing on his father's acoustic guitar. Because of John Lennon
's death, there were many shows about them on TV. Playing the guitar felt natural to him and he rather discovered everyone on his own rather than taking lessons and having to practice stupid children's songs. Christensen's family wasn't very wealthy, but when he was eight years old, his father received a one-time sum of money and let him decide what to do with it: build a pool in the back yard or go on vacation to Lennon's hometown of Liverpool
and to London
, where the Abbey Road Studios
are. The young Christensen chose the latter, and recalls that that this was the only time his family went on a vacation. At that age he also played in a children's rock band that performed at schools and he started writing his own songs.
In 1982 when living in Espergærde
, he formed the band Crep. They released a three-track recording in 1985 called En aften i fredagscafeen (An evening at Friday Café) and recorded a 4-song demo. Crep disbanded in 1986 when Christensen's family moved to Valby
, a suburb of Copenhagen. Dizzy Mizz Lizzy was founded in 1988 by Christensen and his classmate Martin Nielsen on bass, together with drummer Søren Friis who was recommended to them by a friend. Critics would explain: "From the outset it was clear that Tim Christensen was the group's undisputed center, but the band benefited significantly from the collective dynamics." Initially they played glam rock
, but inspired by Nirvana
, they made a switch to power rock
. They got signed with EMI
-Medley after winning Denmark's largest rock talent contest in 1993. Their eponymous debut album
, released in 1994, has sold over 250,000 copies in Denmark and 100,000 copies in Japan
. The band toured through Denmark, Europe
and Japan
, released the album Rotator
in 1996 which sold 100,000 copies in Denmark as well as in Japan, followed by another extensive tour.
The band decided to take a year off in 1997, during which time Christensen helped Swan Lee
, the band of his then-girlfriend Pernille Rosendahl
, in their start-up phase. She was a major support for him when recording Dizzy Mizz Lizzy's second album Rotator in London. Together they wrote the song "Tomorrow Never Dies", which was one of the 12 contestants for the Tomorrow Never Dies soundtrack
. It was written around a time Christensen first bought a Mellotron
and experimented with it, which would feature on many of his songs. Christensen also produced Rosendahl's 1997 demo Dream Away, and wrote arrangement
s and played several instruments on some of Swan Lee's earlier songs. When Christensen met up with his band mates from Dizzy Mizz Lizzy on 10 March 1998 at the Rosenborg Castle Gardens
, they decided to split up because they were fatigued. Because he was "bitten by a mad Mellotron" and was involved with several projects in music, critics already speculated he would come up with something interesting before too long.
Despite the circumstances, Christensen was involved with various side-projects. In 1997, he performed in a television show with B.B. King. He was a stand-in for the Danish Led Zeppelin
cover band Led Zeppelin Jam and co-wrote the Inside the Whale 1998 hit "Hvor Er Tiden Der Ta'r Os" (Where Is Time Taking Us). This was the start of the ongoing collaboration of Christensen with Inside the Whale singer and guitarist Marcus Winther-John, who both contribute to each other's solo albums. Christensen furthermore played Mellotron and Wurlitzer electric piano
on Kashmir
's 1999 album The Good Life, and Mellotron on Mew
's 2000 album Half the World Is Watching Me
. He would perform three songs on Mellotron with Kashmir at the 1998 Roskilde Festival
, and he would continue to perform there as a solo act in 1999, 2001, 2004 (on his 30th birthday) and 2009. In 2010, he played there again with Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, as he previously had done from 1993 through to 1996. He names the 1994 show, held shortly after their big breakthrough and on his 20th birthday, as special highlight in his career.
By 1999, Christensen had attained a new outlook on his future. With most of the money earned with living his boyhood dream spent, his ambitions had shifted to starting a stable ongoing career to earn his living while being able to develop himself both personally and musically. Although he had originally been writing the songs for a possible new band, it turned out as a solo career, with the added benefit of Christensen being fully in control. He gathered musicians to record his first solo album, Secrets on Parade
. Their first performance was on 28 June 1999, and they went on to play six shows that year before entering the studio in December for four months. The public had to get used to the idea of Christensen not heading a power rock trio anymore and choosing a wider musical horizon, as he would describe as follows: "Many run away screaming when they hear that there are two guitarists in the band. But performing live, we have seen that people really like to hear rock music." It was during this time he had to challenge the expectations people had based on his reputation as the driving force of a successful power rock band, and refuse to let that control him but to trust his own gut feeling on what he was doing. Although the majority of the material on the album has been written after Dizzy Mizz Lizzy disbanded, the title track "Secrets on Parade", along with "Prime Time" and "Caterpillar", were originally intended for the third Dizzy Mizz Lizzy album, which was never made. The album was launched in the autumn of 2000 and the single "Love is a Matter of...." became a hit single. The song "21st Century High" appeared on the soundtrack of the Danish movie Flickering Lights
(2000).
. The song "Right Next to the Right One" became a national hit in 2002, when it was used as the theme song for the Emmy Award
winning DR1
drama series "Nikolaj og Julie". It is a quiet ballad, one Christensen considers a masterpiece of his own, but it is entirely different from the power rock of Dizzy Mizz Lizzy. The general audience for a time got a rather awkward impression of the music he was making: "I sense that the entire general population knows about Dizzy Mizz Lizzy and about Nikolaj og Julie, but nothing of what's in between. That feels very strange because Secrets on Parade after all did sell nearly 60,000 copies and I even scored several hits." It did help him attract a far wider audience than he had before: "I get stopped on the streets by everything from five-year-old children to 60-year-old ladies." He got another wake-up call when over 60.000 people attended his concert at Tivoli Gardens on 30 May 2003; the only time a greater number of visitors attended one of the amusement park's live shows was when Sting performed there.
Christensen learnt his fame as a solo artist was different from the time he headed Dizzy Mizz Lizzy: "There is obviously much more attention being directed towards me than before. It is not something I have worked towards. I had not experienced it before, not even with Dizzy Mizz Lizzy; we were just a band — we were three long-haired guys who looked like all the others, and it was actually pretty anonymous. Now, 10 years later, there is a face to me, while I am also the face that people associate with the band that was big once, and no longer exists." To the artist who appreciates his privacy, it also came with the downside of receiving more direct criticism: "Most people that come over say sweet things, and then there is someone who just can't keep his mischief to himself. (...) Annoyingly, after a while it is the negative things that hit the hardest. I don't get why I didn't just push that aside and think of the good, but that one negative thing tends to overshadow everything else." Especially some fans of Dizzy Mizz Lizzy could not appreciate the change in musical style: "[they] do not understand that I sit down with an acoustic guitar and a hat on and sing love songs; then I am suddenly a fagot and so on." Christensen thinks this can be explained to some extent: "Now I sing more ballads, more girls are starting to like it, so the boys get extremely envious. Now I'm gay rock or whatever."
The second single, "Whispering At the Top of My Lungs", received heavy airplay on DR P3
in the summer of 2003. Honeyburst was released on 1 September 2003 and sold over 130,000 copies. It is quieter and more mature, with sometimes an explosion of rock, but it is more folkish and has a little twinge of country. It contains more ballads, as Christensen believes these are more timeless. On this album he almost recorded every instrument himself; only several songs feature Nicolai Munch-Hansen on bass, and Olaf Olsen or Laust Sonne on drums. He went on tour through Denmark and the Netherlands
. The Honeyburst tour's finale was on 3 September 2004 at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London. The concert was released on DVD/2CD and 2LP under the name Live at Abbey Road Studios 2004
, and includes the documentary
"Tim Christensen: From Roskilde to Abbey Road".
In 2003, news about a possible departure of several key figures at EMI-Medley surfaced. They were rumored to be starting Copenhagen Records
to give artists more artistic freedom
. These rumors turned out to be true, and when Christensen's contract expired, he departed from EMI in 2005 to join them because the people he worked most closely with at EMI had been replaced by new people he did not know. When his long-time friend and producer Nick Foss started Mermaid Records
together with former EMI-colleague Mik Christensen, Christensen switched to their label prior to the release of Superior. The label is party owned by Sony Music
Denmark.
In 2004, Christensen used the pseudonym
Charlie Dinsdale when he co-wrote the song "Haunted Honeymoon" with the Danish musician Gunnar Mikkelsen. Although it has never officially been confirmed that this is a pseudonym of Christensen, he was explicitly named as the songwriter when the Dutch rock band Di-rect
covered the song under the title "I Forget Your Name" on the live-cd Live & Acoustic (2008) and released it as a single, which failed to catch on. The song has so far not been brought out by Christensen. Charlie Dinsdale is also credited as co-author of the song "Lille Søster" on the album Søs (2000) by the Danish singer-songwriter and guitarist Søs Fenger. Christensen was officially asked to write the people's gift to the wedding of Crown Prince Frederik
and Mary Elizabeth Donaldson
, but he turned it down: "It was flattering, but I thought it sounded a little too corny. The task was much better placed in the hands of Erann DD." Crown Prince Frederik has attended many shows by Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, and Crown Princess Mary is known to love Christensen's solo work.
On 16 August 2006, Christensen briefly reunited with his Dizzy Mizz Lizzy band mates for a 5-song performance at the charity event Brandalarm (Fire Alarm).
, the success of its predecessor Honeyburst and the expectations that followed laid a burden on his shoulders. It was released on 24 November 2008. He again had played almost all instruments himself and experimented with several uncommon instruments such as a baritone guitar
and a dulcimer
. Olaf Olsen and Laust Sonne played drums on selected songs. Around this time, he also co-wrote the song "Say No More" with Mads Langer
, and on 28 February 2009, he performed with Danish indie rock band Figurines
on the TV show DR2 Backstage. Besides solo shows in Denmark and the Netherlands, he also performed in the German city of Bonn
on 25 March 2009 for Rockpalast
.
Between 18 March and 29 September 2010, Christensen went on a reunion tour through Denmark and Japan with Dizzy Mizz Lizzy. During the final two concerts in Japan on 29–29 September, Christensen played the solo songs "Love is a Matter Of..." and "Surfing the Surface" acoustically, which may be a precursor to future solo shows in Japan. After the tour, he was the closing act at the annual Ken Gudman Prisen award ceremony on 10 October 2010, where his guitarist Lars Skjærbæk got that year's award. He played the songs "Surfing the Surface", "Tell Me What You Really Want", "Jump The Gun", "Isolation Here I Come", "Superior", and "Whispering At the Top of My Lungs. The only solo performances with a full set Christensen played in 2010 were held in the Netherlands
on 4–7 November, for which he received the Inner Ear Media Award for Best Live Show 2010. On 8 November he attended the official premiere of a documentary about his former band Dizzy Mizz Lizzy entitled Lost Inside a Dream at CPH:DOX, which received the Politiken Publikumspris (people's choice award).
On 12 November 2010, EMI released the compilation albums Big-5: Tim Christensen and Big-5: Dizzy Mizz Lizzy as part of their Big-5 series, containing their artists' five best tracks. Christensen played guitars for Heidi Svelmøe Herløw's second album Talisman (2011, Playground Music
), among others on the single "Angerholic" which was released on 29 November 2010, and the song "Shame on Us" on which Christensen features with vocals and guitars. As a contestant for X Factor
in 2008, she sang Christensen's song "Whispering At the Top of My Lungs" in the first live show.
On 14–24 July 2011, Christensen was in the line-up of the Grøn Koncert
, as he previously did in 2002, 2005 and 2009. A recent highlight is the show Christensen played with Gemma Hayes
on 25 August 2011. In the fall of 2011, In October 2011, Christensen participated as a mentor in the DR project Dr.dk/Sangskriver, which aims to get children and teenagers to sing more. Each week, he would provide feedback to three of the songs that were uploaded to the project's website.
, was released on 25 November 2011. The album is a collaborative effort between Christensen and his backing band The Damn Crystals. About the relation of this album to the reunion tour of Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, Christensen says: "I have not tried to suck juice from the Dizzy-reunion and use it on my next solo project. To me, Dizzy has been extremely separated from my ongoing development as an artist, musician, or whatever you call it. The reunion was a pit stop to celebrate music. But already one week after the last concert - and I am not lying here - Dizzy was already completely out of my system again. Weird huh?"
The album's first single "Surprise Me" was previewed to the fans for 48 hours on October 21, 2011 and officially released on October 24, 2011. During its first week, DR P3 chose it as "Single of the Week". According to Christensen, "the single might be the most classic rock-track of the bunch."
At the 2011 Danish Music Awards
, they performed "Surprise Me" and "Get the Fuck out of My Mind". From 26 January through to 7 April 2012, they will hold 27 performances throughout Denmark.
amplifiers from the 1960s on top of Marshall
4x12 G1275 cabinet
s which he got from his parents for his 18th birthday.
, an old sunburst Fender Telecaster
, a white Fender Stratocaster
, a red Gibson ES-330
and a deep red Gibson ES-125
, and three Rickenbacker
480 guitars from 1973 and 1974 in white or black. He also uses Henning Hansen guitars, and had a worn red Fender Telecaster
body revised by them in 2008. In his living room, he keeps a Höfner
bass guitar.
On 28 January 2010, Christensen put his customized white Fender Stratocaster
up for auction for the fundraiser Danmarks Indsamling 2010, where it was sold for 26,000 kr
(about €
3.500, or US$
4.700). The guitar was used during the 2010 Dizzy Mizz Lizzy reunion tour before it was handed over to the buyer.
On 18 January 2011, Christensen announced on his Facebook
fan page that he will be selling 4 of his acoustic and 4 of his electric guitars in a sort of garage sale
held on 30 April 2011. The reason is that he has many guitars in his collection that he does not get to play as much he would like to, and he would like people to have them who will care for them the way they deserve. The guitars on sale were:
In addition, to the guitars, Christensen offers a 1965 Fender Bassman (Blackface), which belongs to the classic amps. He used it a lot in the studio but because he favors Vox
, he could not give it the attention it deserves. He is also selling off his T-Rex Bigfoot Remote System 2000, used 2000–2006, complete with all pedals and cables he used in combination with the system, complete with flight case. It includes among others a Vox wah, the BOSS TU-2 Chromatic Tuner, a T-Rex Mudhoney (fuzzy distortion) and a T-Rex Replica (delay).
His pedal board in use until 2008 sported the following pedals:
In February 2009 he ordered a custom-made line driver
from Skrydstrup, and together with Rasmus Meyer of Carl Martin, Christensen designed his signature Dizzy Drive with knobs for level, tone, drive and edge. It was limited to 250 pedals, and went on sale on 16 May 2010. Christensen used this pedal for the Dizzy Mizz Lizzy reunion tour, with his setup being:
Guitarist Lars Skjærbæk uses Matchless
amplifiers, most notably the Matchless Chieftain. His current pedal board is composed of:
as an example of a band that draws their inspiration from the same source he does, but that "the reason I can't stand Oasis is that they are so condescending. They have a nasty attitude that I dislike. It irks me a little because I think it's great band, and they write insanely good songs." On the other hand, there is a side to Christensen which is focused and dedicated to the things he is passionate about, which primarily is his music. In that respect, he knows what he wants, is a control freak, a perfectionist, and a night owl
. who has difficulty getting enthusiastic about other people's causes if they do not interest him, and who admits that his ability to quickly switch from highly interested to completely uninterested is both a major talent and a bad habit. Where his modest and driven sides meet, he believes in his talent, but he would rather have his music be widely appreciated than to be a celebrity. When asked what he would still like to accomplish, he answered: "That my songs become world stars, preferably without me."
According to the press release to his fourth album, "Tim Christensen in many ways is a man of tradition, [but] he also knows that he needs to challenge himself in order to create the durable songs which in many ways have come to be his trademark." Christensen is a lover of vintage, especially in regard to the (late) 1960s and (early) 1970s. He drives a 1960s Ford Mustang
, collects and plays on vintage guitars and other musical equipment, and is an avid collector of vinyl records, some of which are framed and hanging on his wall, and the reason why all of his own albums are also released on vinyl (albeit in limited quantities). He also takes a record player with him on the tour bus.
Christensen loves music, describing himself as "a true retro-rocker", who loves more modern music too, but most of all he is a massive Beatles fan and considers The Beatles' collection as a sort of bible to him that laid the foundations for his own music. When he was younger, Christensen often dreamt of being able to travel back in time to the 1950s Liverpool so he could persuade John Lennon and Paul McCartney he is a better guitarist than George Harrison. In 1996 he recorded Rotator
with Dizzy Mizz Lizzy at the Abbey Road Studios
because of Christensen's love for The Beatles. That album also includes the song "11:07 PM", which is about the murder and legacy of John Lennon. On 3 September 2004, the final show of the Honeyburst tour was held at the studios as well. The concert was released as Live at Abbey Road Studios 2004 on DVD and 2-CD. Backstage, he said he would definitely want to return there for studio recordings: "I can really imagine myself recording an entire record over here. There is a very special vibe here which is really inspiring. Additionally there are a whole buch of interesting old instruments standing in the corners, that I can really see me playing around with." The song "Wonder of Wonders" on the Superior album tells about how Christensen was starstruck when he met Paul McCartney. In terms of more recent music, the Seattle (grunge
wave, especially Nirvana
, has for example been Dizzy Mizz Lizzy's primary inspiration. According to Christensen, "in twenty years, they [Nirvana] will be in the top five of most significant bands. I have no problem when a lot of bands follow suit after one band has opened a door to something new - please let us go in through the door. I can not see why people are constantly so busy with renewing." He considers Claus Hempler
the best singer and songwriter in Denmark.
When it comes to relationships, Christensen says: "I'm not the type who just going to bed with anyone; I favor a permanent relationship and a woman I can also talk with." His best-known relationship was with singer Pernille Rosendahl (1995–1999), to whom he has also been engaged according to a 1996 interview. After a hiatus of at least five years he has also been with Danish top model and actress Cecilie Thomsen
and singer and hairdresser Michelle Djarling. He currently is single, but as he explains,"I just have not been 'Right Next To the Right One', haha. But I set high standards. I sat the other day wondering about the story of a songwriter who writes about love, and who can not get his own love life to work like that of a family therapist, with his family life going to hell. I do not believe it is the same thing; I choose to think it is sheer coincidence." Since both Christensen and Rosendahl enjoy a proficient career in music, they sometimes cross each other's paths, but have been seen talking and laughing together. Thomsen has featured in the music video for the 2003 single "Jump the Gun" and even after breaking up in the 2008 single "Superior". "Song for Shelly" on the album Superior was written for Djarling, after which the couple briefly got together again.
Although Christensen has no objections to musicians stating their political color, he finds that "music and politics are not always such a lucky combination," and he does not consider himself politically sharp. "It can be dangerous for musicians and idols to engage politically. Many fans are listening blindly, but you know there are also people in the opposition. If Lennon in his time announced he would attend a demonstration, the number of protestors could multiply by tenfold. Many believe it was because of his political involvement that he was shot."
In 2003 Christensen mentioned he was getting a tattoo, but he also admits "I am not a big tattoo fan myself." Whether and where he has one is not known. He does not do drugs and considers them to be used by weaker souls.
Since 2004, Christensen has lived in an apartment in Frederiksberg
, consisting of two storeys and a loft. In his living room, he keeps a Yamaha grand piano, a Höfner bass guitar, and a 1966 Gibson
J-50.
His father Dan Christensen is an independent graphic designer. He designed the cover for the 2002 compilation album The Best of Dizzy Mizz Lizzy
and the bonus disc Live in Aarhus '96. He co-designed the front cover of Secrets on Parade; the front cover of Honeyburst is based on a 1966 collage he made which was modified by him and Christensen, and the front cover of Superior is based on a photo he made of Christensen in 1979. His father is an important figure in Christensen's life. They are alike in some ways, for example: "I can be on my own very well. I can easily entertain and immerse myself in my own company when I have my 'buddy' with me, which is my guitar. It is somethingI have inherited from my father, I think." When asked what the best advice was Christensen had gotten over the past 20 years, he answered: "I have received countless tips and pearls of wisdom from my dad."
of TimC. The subsequent studio albums Honeyburst and Superior were not recorded in formation, although current and former band members would contribute on select songs. Because the recording sessions for the fourth solo album were done in a band setting and the band members contributed importantly to the album, the band received an official name: The Damn Crystals. This name was introduced on 21 October 2011 with the preview release of the single "Surprise Me".
, after which Christensen thought it impossible to find a proper replacement, nor could he find one right away. As a result, his record company EMI-Medley placed an ad
in the June issue of GAFFA
requesting applications for "a drummer for an established Danish rock artist." Since the album had already been recorded, it asked for an experienced, energetic and technically good drummer between 20 and 30 years old that enjoys both hard and melancholic rock, and is available for a year ahead starting July 2000 for a domestic and international tour and related promotional activities. This call did not remain unanswered: "I spent endless difficult nights listening through the applications, but before I had to decide, one of my friends told me about a drummer who had just left his Norwegian band BigBang, which seemed a fantastic opportunity to me. And it went well during a tryout, so we went with him," Christensen explains. This was Olaf Olsen, who subsequently moved to Copenhagen for Christensen's cause and Christensen would later admit that "[Olsen] has saved the band" Nicolai Munch-Hansen replaced Damsgård on bass. This band contributed to Honeyburst, played in the ensuing tour, and and recorded the live album Live at Abbey Road Studios 2004 together. Johan Lei Gellet has stood in for Olsen during the summer of 2002.
Olsen left the band in 2005 to focus on BigBang, to which he had returned in 2001. He was replaced by Jesper Lind, who first performed with the band during the July 2005 Grøn Koncert
series. At the time, Lind played on drums in the band Kira and the Kindred Spirits, led by singer Kira Skov
who is married to Munch-Hansen. Later in 2005, Munch-Hansen left the band so he and Skov could start a new band, named Kira and the Ghost Riders. He was replaced by Søren Koch, who was a band mate of Skjærbæk in the band Boat Man Love. Christoffer Møller joined the band on keys, allowing Skjærbæk to focus entirely on playing guitar. This formation has contributed to Superior and its tour, and they took on the name The Damn Crystals prior to the release of the forthcoming fourth studio album.
Tim Christensen solo
Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals
Tim Christensen solo
Dizzy Mizz Lizzy singles
Tim Christensen solo
Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals
Tim Christensen solo
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
who plays guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, Mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
, harmonium
Harmonium
A harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ. Sound is produced by air being blown through sets of free reeds, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion...
, keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and organ. He became famous at age 19 as the singer, guitarist and songwriter of the popular Danish band Dizzy Mizz Lizzy
Dizzy Mizz Lizzy
Dizzy Mizz Lizzy was an alternative rock band from Denmark that started in 1988. Between 1994 and 1997, they were highly successful in Denmark and Japan, heading the early 1990s rock revival in Denmark. The trio consisted of Tim Christensen , Martin Nielsen and Søren Friis...
, which garnered him the reputation of Denmark's 90s golden boy and near-savior of Danish rock music. After the band's break-up in 1998, he launched a very successful solo career. He makes rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
music with pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
influences. His live performances border hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
and his set list
Set list
A set list, or setlist, is a document that lists the songs that a band or musical artist intends to play, or has played, during a specific concert performance...
s are known to include a large portion of songs off earlier studio albums. In 2010, Christensen went on a reunion tour with Dizzy Mizz Lizzy. His fourth album was made in collaboration with his backing band and is called Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals
Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals
Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals is the fourth studio album by Danish singer-songwriter Tim Christensen, and the eponymous first album of the formation Christensen and The Damn Crystals...
. It was released on 25 November 2011
Bands (1982–1998)
Christensen was already madly in love with The BeatlesThe Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
at age two or three. When John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
died, The Beatles were often featured on television. Christensen was six years old at the time and was impressed by how The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
played, which inspired him to start playing on his father's acoustic guitar. Because of John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
's death, there were many shows about them on TV. Playing the guitar felt natural to him and he rather discovered everyone on his own rather than taking lessons and having to practice stupid children's songs. Christensen's family wasn't very wealthy, but when he was eight years old, his father received a one-time sum of money and let him decide what to do with it: build a pool in the back yard or go on vacation to Lennon's hometown of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where the Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
are. The young Christensen chose the latter, and recalls that that this was the only time his family went on a vacation. At that age he also played in a children's rock band that performed at schools and he started writing his own songs.
In 1982 when living in Espergærde
Espergærde
Espergærde is situated in Northern Zealand near Øresund and is statically considered part of the larger urban area Espergærde-Snekkersten-Elsinore, some 5 to 8 km south of the centre of Elsinore and in reality separated from the urban area of Elsinore-Snekkersten by a 100 m wide unbuilt area,...
, he formed the band Crep. They released a three-track recording in 1985 called En aften i fredagscafeen (An evening at Friday Café) and recorded a 4-song demo. Crep disbanded in 1986 when Christensen's family moved to Valby
Valby
' is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. Located in the southwestern corner of Copenhagen Municipality, it is a heterogeneous mixture of different types of housing - including apartment blocks, terraced housing, areas with single-family houses and allotments, as well as remains...
, a suburb of Copenhagen. Dizzy Mizz Lizzy was founded in 1988 by Christensen and his classmate Martin Nielsen on bass, together with drummer Søren Friis who was recommended to them by a friend. Critics would explain: "From the outset it was clear that Tim Christensen was the group's undisputed center, but the band benefited significantly from the collective dynamics." Initially they played glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
, but inspired by Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, they made a switch to power rock
Power metal
Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
. They got signed with EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
-Medley after winning Denmark's largest rock talent contest in 1993. Their eponymous debut album
Dizzy Mizz Lizzy (album)
Dizzy Mizz Lizzy is the eponymous debut album of the Danish rock band Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, released in on 4 March 1994.- Reception :Before the album was even recorded, the songs "Waterline" and "Silverflame" from the band's 1993 demo received heavy rotation on radio stations, including DR P3 and DR P4...
, released in 1994, has sold over 250,000 copies in Denmark and 100,000 copies in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The band toured through Denmark, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, released the album Rotator
Rotator (album)
Rotator is the second and final studio album released by the Danish rock band Dizzy Mizz Lizzy.- Overview :EMI-Medley head of A&R and producer Nick Foss had made an agreement with lead singer and guitarist Tim Christensen that if their debut album Dizzy Mizz Lizzy won gold , the next would be...
in 1996 which sold 100,000 copies in Denmark as well as in Japan, followed by another extensive tour.
The band decided to take a year off in 1997, during which time Christensen helped Swan Lee
Swan Lee
Swan Lee was a Danish band featuring Pernille Rosendahl on vocals. The name was taken from a Syd Barrett song.In 1996 Pernille Rosendahl formed a band with guitarist Jonas Struck, drummer Emil Jorgensen and her boyfriend Tim Christensen. After Christensen left in 1999, the remaining trio continued...
, the band of his then-girlfriend Pernille Rosendahl
Pernille Rosendahl
Pernille Rosendahl is a Danish singer, who besides her solo career was lead singer of the Danish band Swan Lee and now is lead vocalist for the Danish rock band The Storm....
, in their start-up phase. She was a major support for him when recording Dizzy Mizz Lizzy's second album Rotator in London. Together they wrote the song "Tomorrow Never Dies", which was one of the 12 contestants for the Tomorrow Never Dies soundtrack
Tomorrow Never Dies (soundtrack)
Tomorrow Never Dies is the soundtrack of the 18th James Bond film of the same name.David Arnold composed the score of Tomorrow Never Dies, his first full Bond soundtrack...
. It was written around a time Christensen first bought a Mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
and experimented with it, which would feature on many of his songs. Christensen also produced Rosendahl's 1997 demo Dream Away, and wrote arrangement
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
s and played several instruments on some of Swan Lee's earlier songs. When Christensen met up with his band mates from Dizzy Mizz Lizzy on 10 March 1998 at the Rosenborg Castle Gardens
Rosenborg Castle Gardens
Rosenborg Castle Gardens is Copenhagen's oldest and most visited park with 2.5 million visitors per year.-The Renaissance gardens:...
, they decided to split up because they were fatigued. Because he was "bitten by a mad Mellotron" and was involved with several projects in music, critics already speculated he would come up with something interesting before too long.
Secrets on Parade (1998–2003)
Christensen went through a difficult time after the break-up of Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, which he names the deepest low point in his career. He had not seen it coming as he was living in a dream: "We believed that we were still down to earth, but that was very unrealistic. Only afterwards did we learn we were skating around on a silver platter. Since day one, we had only tasted success, and it is very unhealthy for such a young band to have so much going for them from the start." Nevertheless, he was deeply grateful about the way his career had evolved, but describes it as "a typical example of how you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone." Adding to his trouble was that the relationship with Rosendahl had also ended around that time. He used songwriting as a form of therapy to overcome both break-ups, putting his feelings and thoughts to words as one normally would do in a diary, but in stead of lying hidden in a drawer somewhere, his secrets are literally on display. This has also changed his approach to songwriting. In 1994, although it wasn't gibberish what he wrote, he considered music as having first priority and words coming in second as he is a composer, not an author or a poet; by 2003 he put equal emphasis on lyrics and music, where his songwriting is derived from his own experiences, making the lyrics more direct.Despite the circumstances, Christensen was involved with various side-projects. In 1997, he performed in a television show with B.B. King. He was a stand-in for the Danish Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
cover band Led Zeppelin Jam and co-wrote the Inside the Whale 1998 hit "Hvor Er Tiden Der Ta'r Os" (Where Is Time Taking Us). This was the start of the ongoing collaboration of Christensen with Inside the Whale singer and guitarist Marcus Winther-John, who both contribute to each other's solo albums. Christensen furthermore played Mellotron and Wurlitzer electric piano
Wurlitzer electric piano
Wurlitzer 200A|250px|thumbThe Wurlitzer electric piano was one of a series of electromechanical stringless pianos manufactured and marketed by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, Corinth, Mississippi, U.S. and Tonawanda, New York...
on Kashmir
Kashmir (band)
Kashmir is a Danish alternative rock band consisting of Kasper Eistrup ; Mads Tunebjerg ; Asger Techau and Henrik Lindstrand .-History:...
's 1999 album The Good Life, and Mellotron on Mew
Mew (band)
Mew is a Danish alternative music band consisting of Jonas Bjerre, Bo Madsen, and Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen. Bassist Johan Wohlert was also a founding member of the band, but left in 2006...
's 2000 album Half the World Is Watching Me
Half the World Is Watching Me
Half the World Is Watching Me is the second album by Danish alternative rock band Mew, released on their own record label Evil Office in 2000. The album was originally printed in about only 5,000 copies, but has been reissued twice for wider distribution. The most recent dates to 6 August 2007 and...
. He would perform three songs on Mellotron with Kashmir at the 1998 Roskilde Festival
Roskilde Festival
Roskilde Festival is a festival held south of Roskilde in Denmark and is one of the six biggest annual music festivals in Europe . It was created in 1971 by two high school students, Mogens Sandfær and Jesper Switzer Møller, and promoter Carl Fischer...
, and he would continue to perform there as a solo act in 1999, 2001, 2004 (on his 30th birthday) and 2009. In 2010, he played there again with Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, as he previously had done from 1993 through to 1996. He names the 1994 show, held shortly after their big breakthrough and on his 20th birthday, as special highlight in his career.
By 1999, Christensen had attained a new outlook on his future. With most of the money earned with living his boyhood dream spent, his ambitions had shifted to starting a stable ongoing career to earn his living while being able to develop himself both personally and musically. Although he had originally been writing the songs for a possible new band, it turned out as a solo career, with the added benefit of Christensen being fully in control. He gathered musicians to record his first solo album, Secrets on Parade
Secrets on Parade
Secrets on Parade is the debut solo album by Danish singer-songwriter Tim Christensen, released on 5 October 2000 on CD and vinyl. It is considered the transitional work between the music he made with Dizzy Mizz Lizzy and his solo music...
. Their first performance was on 28 June 1999, and they went on to play six shows that year before entering the studio in December for four months. The public had to get used to the idea of Christensen not heading a power rock trio anymore and choosing a wider musical horizon, as he would describe as follows: "Many run away screaming when they hear that there are two guitarists in the band. But performing live, we have seen that people really like to hear rock music." It was during this time he had to challenge the expectations people had based on his reputation as the driving force of a successful power rock band, and refuse to let that control him but to trust his own gut feeling on what he was doing. Although the majority of the material on the album has been written after Dizzy Mizz Lizzy disbanded, the title track "Secrets on Parade", along with "Prime Time" and "Caterpillar", were originally intended for the third Dizzy Mizz Lizzy album, which was never made. The album was launched in the autumn of 2000 and the single "Love is a Matter of...." became a hit single. The song "21st Century High" appeared on the soundtrack of the Danish movie Flickering Lights
Flickering Lights
Flickering Lights is a 2000 Danish action-comedy directed by Anders Thomas Jensen.-Plot:Four small-time gangsters from Copenhagen trick a gangster boss: they steal over 4,000,000 Danish kroner which they were supposed to bring him...
(2000).
Honeyburst and Abbey Road (2003–2008)
Eager to move on from the transition album Secrets on Parade, which included songs that by now were up to seven years old, Christensen started work on his second studio albumStudio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
. The song "Right Next to the Right One" became a national hit in 2002, when it was used as the theme song for the Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
winning DR1
DR1
DR1 is a Danish national television channel, produced by the public service broadcaster, DR. It was the first television station to be established in Denmark, and began broadcasting in 1951 – at first only for an hour a day three times a week....
drama series "Nikolaj og Julie". It is a quiet ballad, one Christensen considers a masterpiece of his own, but it is entirely different from the power rock of Dizzy Mizz Lizzy. The general audience for a time got a rather awkward impression of the music he was making: "I sense that the entire general population knows about Dizzy Mizz Lizzy and about Nikolaj og Julie, but nothing of what's in between. That feels very strange because Secrets on Parade after all did sell nearly 60,000 copies and I even scored several hits." It did help him attract a far wider audience than he had before: "I get stopped on the streets by everything from five-year-old children to 60-year-old ladies." He got another wake-up call when over 60.000 people attended his concert at Tivoli Gardens on 30 May 2003; the only time a greater number of visitors attended one of the amusement park's live shows was when Sting performed there.
Christensen learnt his fame as a solo artist was different from the time he headed Dizzy Mizz Lizzy: "There is obviously much more attention being directed towards me than before. It is not something I have worked towards. I had not experienced it before, not even with Dizzy Mizz Lizzy; we were just a band — we were three long-haired guys who looked like all the others, and it was actually pretty anonymous. Now, 10 years later, there is a face to me, while I am also the face that people associate with the band that was big once, and no longer exists." To the artist who appreciates his privacy, it also came with the downside of receiving more direct criticism: "Most people that come over say sweet things, and then there is someone who just can't keep his mischief to himself. (...) Annoyingly, after a while it is the negative things that hit the hardest. I don't get why I didn't just push that aside and think of the good, but that one negative thing tends to overshadow everything else." Especially some fans of Dizzy Mizz Lizzy could not appreciate the change in musical style: "[they] do not understand that I sit down with an acoustic guitar and a hat on and sing love songs; then I am suddenly a fagot and so on." Christensen thinks this can be explained to some extent: "Now I sing more ballads, more girls are starting to like it, so the boys get extremely envious. Now I'm gay rock or whatever."
The second single, "Whispering At the Top of My Lungs", received heavy airplay on DR P3
DR P3
DR P3 is the third of the four national radio networks operated by the Danish public broadcaster DR...
in the summer of 2003. Honeyburst was released on 1 September 2003 and sold over 130,000 copies. It is quieter and more mature, with sometimes an explosion of rock, but it is more folkish and has a little twinge of country. It contains more ballads, as Christensen believes these are more timeless. On this album he almost recorded every instrument himself; only several songs feature Nicolai Munch-Hansen on bass, and Olaf Olsen or Laust Sonne on drums. He went on tour through Denmark and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. The Honeyburst tour's finale was on 3 September 2004 at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London. The concert was released on DVD/2CD and 2LP under the name Live at Abbey Road Studios 2004
Live at Abbey Road Studios 2004
Live at Abbey Road Studios 2004 is a live 2CD and limited edition DVD/2CD and vinyl record by Danish singer-songwriter Tim Christensen, released in 2004. To date, it is the only officially released live solo recording of Christensen...
, and includes the documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
"Tim Christensen: From Roskilde to Abbey Road".
In 2003, news about a possible departure of several key figures at EMI-Medley surfaced. They were rumored to be starting Copenhagen Records
Copenhagen Records
Copenhagen Records is a mainstream Danish independent record label formed on 5 January 2004 by former EMI Recorded Music Denmark staff members to give artists more artistic autonomy. It houses artists spread over a wide range of genres, from goth rock to rap, and from pop artists to comedians.-...
to give artists more artistic freedom
Artistic freedom
Artistic freedom is the extent of freedom of an artist to produce art to his/her own insight. The extent can deviate to customs in a certain school of art, directives of the assigner, etc....
. These rumors turned out to be true, and when Christensen's contract expired, he departed from EMI in 2005 to join them because the people he worked most closely with at EMI had been replaced by new people he did not know. When his long-time friend and producer Nick Foss started Mermaid Records
Mermaid Records
Mermaid Records is a Copenhagen, Denmark based record label. The company was started as an independent record label by Mik Christensen and Nick Foss in 2005. The label publishes distinguished Danish artists.- History :...
together with former EMI-colleague Mik Christensen, Christensen switched to their label prior to the release of Superior. The label is party owned by Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
Denmark.
In 2004, Christensen used the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Charlie Dinsdale when he co-wrote the song "Haunted Honeymoon" with the Danish musician Gunnar Mikkelsen. Although it has never officially been confirmed that this is a pseudonym of Christensen, he was explicitly named as the songwriter when the Dutch rock band Di-rect
Di-rect
Di-rect is a rock band from The Hague, The Netherlands, which was formed in 1999. The current line-up consists of Jamie Westland , Frans "Spike" van Zoest , Bas van Wageningen , Vince van Reeken and Marcel Veenendaal .-1999-2000: Formation:Di-rect began in October 1999 when 15 year old Jamie...
covered the song under the title "I Forget Your Name" on the live-cd Live & Acoustic (2008) and released it as a single, which failed to catch on. The song has so far not been brought out by Christensen. Charlie Dinsdale is also credited as co-author of the song "Lille Søster" on the album Søs (2000) by the Danish singer-songwriter and guitarist Søs Fenger. Christensen was officially asked to write the people's gift to the wedding of Crown Prince Frederik
Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, Count of Monpezat, is the heir apparent to the throne of Denmark. Frederik is the elder son of Queen Margrethe II and Henrik, the Prince Consort.-Name and christening:...
and Mary Elizabeth Donaldson
Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark
Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat, is the wife of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark...
, but he turned it down: "It was flattering, but I thought it sounded a little too corny. The task was much better placed in the hands of Erann DD." Crown Prince Frederik has attended many shows by Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, and Crown Princess Mary is known to love Christensen's solo work.
On 16 August 2006, Christensen briefly reunited with his Dizzy Mizz Lizzy band mates for a 5-song performance at the charity event Brandalarm (Fire Alarm).
Superior and Dizzy Mizz Lizzy reunion (2008–2011)
During work on his third solo album, entitled SuperiorSuperior (album)
Superior is the third studio album by Danish singer-songwriter Tim Christensen, released on 24 November 2008 on CD, limited edition CD/DVD box set which includes a 30-minute documentary, and a double vinyl box set which also includes the CD and DVD, as well as an outsize poster.- Overview :The...
, the success of its predecessor Honeyburst and the expectations that followed laid a burden on his shoulders. It was released on 24 November 2008. He again had played almost all instruments himself and experimented with several uncommon instruments such as a baritone guitar
Baritone guitar
The baritone guitar is a variation on the standard guitar, with a longer scale length that allows it to be tuned to a lower range. It first appeared in the classical music realm...
and a dulcimer
Appalachian dulcimer
The Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. It is native to the Appalachian region of the United States...
. Olaf Olsen and Laust Sonne played drums on selected songs. Around this time, he also co-wrote the song "Say No More" with Mads Langer
Mads Langer
Mads Langer is a Danish singer and singer-songwriter, who became internationally known for his cover of "You're Not Alone" by the British band Olive. While that song is cheerful, his own songs are frequently typified as emotional guitar ballads, because many of them are in a minor scale and have a...
, and on 28 February 2009, he performed with Danish indie rock band Figurines
Figurines
Figurines is an indie rock band from Denmark, formed in the mid-1990s. The band released their first EP, The Detour, in 2001 and their first full-length album, Shake a Mountain, in 2004. The band began to receive national attention in Denmark around the time of the full-length release, and began...
on the TV show DR2 Backstage. Besides solo shows in Denmark and the Netherlands, he also performed in the German city of Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
on 25 March 2009 for Rockpalast
Rockpalast
Rockpalast is a German music television show that broadcasts live on German television station Westdeutscher Rundfunk . Rockpalast started in 1974 and continues to this day. Hundreds of rock and jazz bands have performed on Rockpalast...
.
Between 18 March and 29 September 2010, Christensen went on a reunion tour through Denmark and Japan with Dizzy Mizz Lizzy. During the final two concerts in Japan on 29–29 September, Christensen played the solo songs "Love is a Matter Of..." and "Surfing the Surface" acoustically, which may be a precursor to future solo shows in Japan. After the tour, he was the closing act at the annual Ken Gudman Prisen award ceremony on 10 October 2010, where his guitarist Lars Skjærbæk got that year's award. He played the songs "Surfing the Surface", "Tell Me What You Really Want", "Jump The Gun", "Isolation Here I Come", "Superior", and "Whispering At the Top of My Lungs. The only solo performances with a full set Christensen played in 2010 were held in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
on 4–7 November, for which he received the Inner Ear Media Award for Best Live Show 2010. On 8 November he attended the official premiere of a documentary about his former band Dizzy Mizz Lizzy entitled Lost Inside a Dream at CPH:DOX, which received the Politiken Publikumspris (people's choice award).
On 12 November 2010, EMI released the compilation albums Big-5: Tim Christensen and Big-5: Dizzy Mizz Lizzy as part of their Big-5 series, containing their artists' five best tracks. Christensen played guitars for Heidi Svelmøe Herløw's second album Talisman (2011, Playground Music
Playground Music Scandinavia
Playground Music Scandinavia AB is a Scandinavian based record label and is currently owned by Jonas Sjöström....
), among others on the single "Angerholic" which was released on 29 November 2010, and the song "Shame on Us" on which Christensen features with vocals and guitars. As a contestant for X Factor
X Factor (Denmark)
X Factor is the Danish version of The X Factor, a show originating in the United Kingdom and is created by talent show judge and record and TV producer Simon Cowell.-Series summary: "Under 25 boys" or "Under 25s" category "Under 25 girls" category...
in 2008, she sang Christensen's song "Whispering At the Top of My Lungs" in the first live show.
On 14–24 July 2011, Christensen was in the line-up of the Grøn Koncert
Grøn Koncert
Grøn Koncert is an annually recurring series of Danish one-day music festivals. Taking place in July, the concerts are performed by a selection of bands who tour around Denmark for about ten days...
, as he previously did in 2002, 2005 and 2009. A recent highlight is the show Christensen played with Gemma Hayes
Gemma Hayes
Gemma Claire Hayes is an Irish singer-songwriter and member of The Cake Sale.-Early life:...
on 25 August 2011. In the fall of 2011, In October 2011, Christensen participated as a mentor in the DR project Dr.dk/Sangskriver, which aims to get children and teenagers to sing more. Each week, he would provide feedback to three of the songs that were uploaded to the project's website.
Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals (2011–current)
Christensen's fourth studio album, entitled Tim Christensen and The Damn CrystalsTim Christensen and The Damn Crystals
Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals is the fourth studio album by Danish singer-songwriter Tim Christensen, and the eponymous first album of the formation Christensen and The Damn Crystals...
, was released on 25 November 2011. The album is a collaborative effort between Christensen and his backing band The Damn Crystals. About the relation of this album to the reunion tour of Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, Christensen says: "I have not tried to suck juice from the Dizzy-reunion and use it on my next solo project. To me, Dizzy has been extremely separated from my ongoing development as an artist, musician, or whatever you call it. The reunion was a pit stop to celebrate music. But already one week after the last concert - and I am not lying here - Dizzy was already completely out of my system again. Weird huh?"
The album's first single "Surprise Me" was previewed to the fans for 48 hours on October 21, 2011 and officially released on October 24, 2011. During its first week, DR P3 chose it as "Single of the Week". According to Christensen, "the single might be the most classic rock-track of the bunch."
At the 2011 Danish Music Awards
Danish Music Awards
The Danish Music Awards is a Danish award show. The show has been arranged by IFPI since 1989, and was originally called IFPI-prisen until 1991, when it changed its name to Dansk Grammy . The current name was given in 2001, after the American Grammy Awards took copyright on the name Grammy....
, they performed "Surprise Me" and "Get the Fuck out of My Mind". From 26 January through to 7 April 2012, they will hold 27 performances throughout Denmark.
Amplifiers
Christensen uses two Vox AC30Vox AC30
The Vox AC30 is a guitar amplifier manufactured by Vox and known for its "jangly" high-end sound. First introduced in 1958 due to the growing demand for higher-wattage amplifiers, it became an iconic amplifier for British musicians and soon for others....
amplifiers from the 1960s on top of Marshall
Marshall Amplification
Marshall Amplification is a British company, founded by drummer Jim Marshall, that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, brands personal headphones/earphones , and, after acquiring Natal Drums, drums and bongos. Marshall amplifiers, and specifically their guitar amplifiers, are among the most...
4x12 G1275 cabinet
Loudspeaker
A loudspeaker is an electroacoustic transducer that produces sound in response to an electrical audio signal input. Non-electrical loudspeakers were developed as accessories to telephone systems, but electronic amplification by vacuum tube made loudspeakers more generally useful...
s which he got from his parents for his 18th birthday.
Guitars
Christensen Christensen plays among others on a 1974 Gibson HummingbirdGibson Hummingbird
The Gibson Hummingbird is an acoustic guitar model/series produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation.Unlike the other flat-top Gibson acoustics, the Hummingbird was Gibson's first square-shoulder dreadnought, similar to the dreadnoughts produced by C.F. Martin & Company...
, an old sunburst Fender Telecaster
Fender Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender.Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music...
, a white Fender Stratocaster
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
, a red Gibson ES-330
Gibson ES-330
The Gibson ES-330 is a thinline hollowbody electric guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation.Though similar in appearance to the popular Gibson ES-335 semi-hollow guitar, the ES-330 was a fairly different guitar in construction and sound...
and a deep red Gibson ES-125
Gibson ES-125
The Gibson ES-125 is an archtop, hollow body electric guitar model that was produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation.-Model history:Introduced in 1941 as the successor to the ES-100, the ES-125 was an entry-level archtop electric guitar. It had one P-90 single-coil pickup in the neck position,...
, and three Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...
480 guitars from 1973 and 1974 in white or black. He also uses Henning Hansen guitars, and had a worn red Fender Telecaster
Fender Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender.Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music...
body revised by them in 2008. In his living room, he keeps a Höfner
Höfner
Karl Höfner GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, with one division that manufactures guitars and basses, and another that manufactures other string instruments....
bass guitar.
On 28 January 2010, Christensen put his customized white Fender Stratocaster
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
up for auction for the fundraiser Danmarks Indsamling 2010, where it was sold for 26,000 kr
Danish krone
The krone is the official currency of the Kingdom of Denmark consisting of Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. It is subdivided into 100 øre...
(about €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
3.500, or US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
4.700). The guitar was used during the 2010 Dizzy Mizz Lizzy reunion tour before it was handed over to the buyer.
On 18 January 2011, Christensen announced on his Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
fan page that he will be selling 4 of his acoustic and 4 of his electric guitars in a sort of garage sale
Garage sale
A garage sale, also known as a yard sale, rummage sale, tag sale, lawn sale, attic sale, moving sale, or junk sale, is an informal, irregularly scheduled event for the sale of used goods by private individuals, in which "block sales" are allowed, so that sellers are not required to obtain business...
held on 30 April 2011. The reason is that he has many guitars in his collection that he does not get to play as much he would like to, and he would like people to have them who will care for them the way they deserve. The guitars on sale were:
- 1950s Gibson L-30, long searched for by Christensen until he finally found it in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Although he loves the sound of the guitar, he never got used to it as much as he wanted to. - 1963 Fender Stratocaster, built before the 1965 takeover by CBS. It has the original finish in Olympic White, without a refinish which is usually the case. He had long wanted to have such a guitar and in 2003 was still looking for one.
- 1940s Martin 0017, bought in Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in 2006 when Christensen immediately fell in love with it. It was mainly kept on the couch in his living room and is only being sold because of a lack of space. It was featured on the front cover of GAFFAGaffa (magazine)Gaffa is a free Danish music magazine, published on a monthly basis since 1983. The magazine is distributed to places such as educational institutions, record shops, libraries and cafés, as well as a small number to paying subscribers...
during the time Superior was released. - 1994 Gibson J-30, bought in 1994 and considered by Christensen as his first decent acoustic guitar, many songs on RotatorRotator (album)Rotator is the second and final studio album released by the Danish rock band Dizzy Mizz Lizzy.- Overview :EMI-Medley head of A&R and producer Nick Foss had made an agreement with lead singer and guitarist Tim Christensen that if their debut album Dizzy Mizz Lizzy won gold , the next would be...
and Secrets on Parade were written on it, and it was used during subsequent tours in 1996 and 2000–2002. - 1974 Fender Stratocaster, bought in 1996 and used during the Rotator tour, this was Christensen's first real vintage guitar. Some of the pickups were replaced by Christensen. It was used on some studio recordings and has been used in press photos, especially for Secrets on Parade.
- 2003 Fender Power Tele, bought for the Honeyburst tour to be able to switch from electric to acoustic (sounding) in a split second with a factory-default pickup system, but which was replaced by an L.R. Baggs X-Bridge by Christensen. It was also used at the Live at Abbey Road Studios 2004 concert.
- 2007 Fender Custom Shop Strat 2007 Closet Classic, bought via eBayEBayeBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
for the Dizzy Mizz Lizzy reunion tour in 2010. - 1974 Gibson Hummingbird, a guitar that has been in Christensen's possession for 10 years and belongs to his favorite guitars. It has mainly been used live between 2002 and 2007, and most of the songs on Honeyburst have been written on it, including "Right Next to the Right One".
In addition, to the guitars, Christensen offers a 1965 Fender Bassman (Blackface), which belongs to the classic amps. He used it a lot in the studio but because he favors Vox
Vox (musical equipment)
Vox is a musical equipment manufacturer which is most famous for making the Vox AC30 guitar amplifier, the Vox Continental electric organ, and a series of innovative but commercially unsuccessful electric guitars and bass guitars...
, he could not give it the attention it deserves. He is also selling off his T-Rex Bigfoot Remote System 2000, used 2000–2006, complete with all pedals and cables he used in combination with the system, complete with flight case. It includes among others a Vox wah, the BOSS TU-2 Chromatic Tuner, a T-Rex Mudhoney (fuzzy distortion) and a T-Rex Replica (delay).
Effect pedals
From 2008 until 2011, Christensen has been using a pedal board which he designed with Peter Dorvil of the Danish manufacturer Carl Martin (see photo, left to right, back to front):- Carl Martin EchoTone
- Carl Martin Two Faze
- Carl Martin Hot Drive'n Boost (Mk. I)
- Carl Martin DC Drive (drive switch slightly open)
- BossBoss CorporationBoss is a manufacturer of effects pedals for electric guitar and bass guitar. It is a division of the Roland Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer that specializes in musical equipment and accessories...
TU-2 Chromatic Tuner - Carl Martin DC Drive (drive switch set to 0)
- Mad ProfessorMad ProfessorMad Professor is a dub music producer and engineer known for his original productions and remix work. He is considered one of the leading producers of dub music’s second generation and was instrumental in transitioning dub into the digital age. He is a prolific producer, contributing to or...
Snow White AutoWah - Carl Martin Combinator 2
- Vox Joe SatrianiJoe SatrianiJoseph "Joe" Satriani is an American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, with multiple Grammy Award nominations...
Big Bad Wah
His pedal board in use until 2008 sported the following pedals:
- Boss RV-5 Digital Reverb
- TC ElectronicTC ElectronicTC Electronic is a Danish audio equipment manufacturer.Its current product ranges include guitar effects, bass amplification, computer audio interfaces, audio plug-in software, live sound equalisers, studio and post production equipment, studio effect processors and broadcast loudness processors...
Vintage Distortion - Boss BD-2 Blues Driver
- Boss OD-2 Turbo OverDrive
- Electro-HarmonixElectro-HarmonixElectro-Harmonix is a New York-based company that makes high-end electronic audio processors. The company was founded by Mike Matthews in 1968. They are most famous for a series of popular guitar effects pedals introduced in the 1970s and 1990s....
Small Stone phase shifterPhaser (effect)A phaser is an audio signal processing technique used to filter a signal by creating a series of peaks and troughs in the frequency spectrum. The position of the peaks and troughs is typically modulated so that they vary over time, creating a sweeping effect... - Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner
- TC Electronic G-System (floor-based guitar effects management system)
- VoxVox (musical equipment)Vox is a musical equipment manufacturer which is most famous for making the Vox AC30 guitar amplifier, the Vox Continental electric organ, and a series of innovative but commercially unsuccessful electric guitars and bass guitars...
wah
In February 2009 he ordered a custom-made line driver
Line driver
In electronics, a line driver is an amplifier used to improve the strength of an analog or digital signal at its source by driving the input to the transmission line with a higher than normal signal level. This increases the quality of a transmission over a long run of cable...
from Skrydstrup, and together with Rasmus Meyer of Carl Martin, Christensen designed his signature Dizzy Drive with knobs for level, tone, drive and edge. It was limited to 250 pedals, and went on sale on 16 May 2010. Christensen used this pedal for the Dizzy Mizz Lizzy reunion tour, with his setup being:
- Boss DD-20 Giga Delay
- Boss RC-2 Loop Station
- Carl Martin Dizzy Drive
- Vox Joe Satriani Big Bad Wah
- Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner
Guitarist Lars Skjærbæk uses Matchless
Matchless Amplifiers
Matchless Amplifiers is a Los Angeles based company which designs and makes electric guitar amplifiers, specializing in class A tube circuitry.- History :...
amplifiers, most notably the Matchless Chieftain. His current pedal board is composed of:
- Boss DD-20 Giga Delay
- Electro Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man (loop pedal)
- Carl Martin Two Faze
- Mad Professor Little Green Wonder (overdrive)
- Carl Martin Combinator 2
- Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner
- KeeleyRobert Keeley (instrument maker)Robert Keeley is a British creator of effects pedals. He modifies pre-existing pedals made by companies such as Boss Corporation and as well as creating his own stomp boxes.-Pedals:...
Katana (booster) - Frantone Brooklyn (overdrive)
- Vox wah
Personal life
There are two sides to Christensen. On one hand, as he puts it, "as a person I am reasonably anonymous, but there must be something about what I do that speaks very directly and clearly to other people." The five words he would use to describe himself are humble, confident, shy, private and caring, and with a tendency to flee when things get piled up, but he is also someone who maintains a very accessible and friendly attitude towards his fans, especially via the Internet. He wrote "Don't Leave Me but Leave Me Alone" about how people are increasingly more inhibited to come over to talk to him as he gets more established as an artist. He names OasisOasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
as an example of a band that draws their inspiration from the same source he does, but that "the reason I can't stand Oasis is that they are so condescending. They have a nasty attitude that I dislike. It irks me a little because I think it's great band, and they write insanely good songs." On the other hand, there is a side to Christensen which is focused and dedicated to the things he is passionate about, which primarily is his music. In that respect, he knows what he wants, is a control freak, a perfectionist, and a night owl
Night owl (person)
Night owl is a term used to describe a person who tends to stay up until late at night. Another name for a night owl is evening person.The opposite of a night owl is an early bird, a lark as opposed to owl, someone who tends to begin sleeping at a time that is considered early and also wakes early...
. who has difficulty getting enthusiastic about other people's causes if they do not interest him, and who admits that his ability to quickly switch from highly interested to completely uninterested is both a major talent and a bad habit. Where his modest and driven sides meet, he believes in his talent, but he would rather have his music be widely appreciated than to be a celebrity. When asked what he would still like to accomplish, he answered: "That my songs become world stars, preferably without me."
According to the press release to his fourth album, "Tim Christensen in many ways is a man of tradition, [but] he also knows that he needs to challenge himself in order to create the durable songs which in many ways have come to be his trademark." Christensen is a lover of vintage, especially in regard to the (late) 1960s and (early) 1970s. He drives a 1960s Ford Mustang
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was initially based on the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car. Introduced early on April 17, 1964, as a "1964½" model, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A...
, collects and plays on vintage guitars and other musical equipment, and is an avid collector of vinyl records, some of which are framed and hanging on his wall, and the reason why all of his own albums are also released on vinyl (albeit in limited quantities). He also takes a record player with him on the tour bus.
Christensen loves music, describing himself as "a true retro-rocker", who loves more modern music too, but most of all he is a massive Beatles fan and considers The Beatles' collection as a sort of bible to him that laid the foundations for his own music. When he was younger, Christensen often dreamt of being able to travel back in time to the 1950s Liverpool so he could persuade John Lennon and Paul McCartney he is a better guitarist than George Harrison. In 1996 he recorded Rotator
Rotator (album)
Rotator is the second and final studio album released by the Danish rock band Dizzy Mizz Lizzy.- Overview :EMI-Medley head of A&R and producer Nick Foss had made an agreement with lead singer and guitarist Tim Christensen that if their debut album Dizzy Mizz Lizzy won gold , the next would be...
with Dizzy Mizz Lizzy at the Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
because of Christensen's love for The Beatles. That album also includes the song "11:07 PM", which is about the murder and legacy of John Lennon. On 3 September 2004, the final show of the Honeyburst tour was held at the studios as well. The concert was released as Live at Abbey Road Studios 2004 on DVD and 2-CD. Backstage, he said he would definitely want to return there for studio recordings: "I can really imagine myself recording an entire record over here. There is a very special vibe here which is really inspiring. Additionally there are a whole buch of interesting old instruments standing in the corners, that I can really see me playing around with." The song "Wonder of Wonders" on the Superior album tells about how Christensen was starstruck when he met Paul McCartney. In terms of more recent music, the Seattle (grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
wave, especially Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, has for example been Dizzy Mizz Lizzy's primary inspiration. According to Christensen, "in twenty years, they [Nirvana] will be in the top five of most significant bands. I have no problem when a lot of bands follow suit after one band has opened a door to something new - please let us go in through the door. I can not see why people are constantly so busy with renewing." He considers Claus Hempler
Claus Hempler
Claus Hempler is a Danish singer/songwriter who was the front man in the Danish band Fielfraz from 1990 to 1996.Fielfraz split up in 1996, but Claus Hempler continued to make music, releasing the solo album Charm School for Pop Singers in 1999...
the best singer and songwriter in Denmark.
When it comes to relationships, Christensen says: "I'm not the type who just going to bed with anyone; I favor a permanent relationship and a woman I can also talk with." His best-known relationship was with singer Pernille Rosendahl (1995–1999), to whom he has also been engaged according to a 1996 interview. After a hiatus of at least five years he has also been with Danish top model and actress Cecilie Thomsen
Cecilie Thomsen
Cecilie Thomsen is a Danish actress and model.She is internationally best known for playing professor Inga Bergstrom opposite Pierce Brosnan in the 1997 James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies....
and singer and hairdresser Michelle Djarling. He currently is single, but as he explains,"I just have not been 'Right Next To the Right One', haha. But I set high standards. I sat the other day wondering about the story of a songwriter who writes about love, and who can not get his own love life to work like that of a family therapist, with his family life going to hell. I do not believe it is the same thing; I choose to think it is sheer coincidence." Since both Christensen and Rosendahl enjoy a proficient career in music, they sometimes cross each other's paths, but have been seen talking and laughing together. Thomsen has featured in the music video for the 2003 single "Jump the Gun" and even after breaking up in the 2008 single "Superior". "Song for Shelly" on the album Superior was written for Djarling, after which the couple briefly got together again.
Although Christensen has no objections to musicians stating their political color, he finds that "music and politics are not always such a lucky combination," and he does not consider himself politically sharp. "It can be dangerous for musicians and idols to engage politically. Many fans are listening blindly, but you know there are also people in the opposition. If Lennon in his time announced he would attend a demonstration, the number of protestors could multiply by tenfold. Many believe it was because of his political involvement that he was shot."
In 2003 Christensen mentioned he was getting a tattoo, but he also admits "I am not a big tattoo fan myself." Whether and where he has one is not known. He does not do drugs and considers them to be used by weaker souls.
Since 2004, Christensen has lived in an apartment in Frederiksberg
Frederiksberg
Frederiksberg Kommune is a municipality on the island of Zealand in Denmark. It surrounded by the city of Copenhagen. The municipality, co-extensive with its seat, covers an area of and has a total population of 98,782 making it the smallest municipality in Denmark area-wise, the fifth most...
, consisting of two storeys and a loft. In his living room, he keeps a Yamaha grand piano, a Höfner bass guitar, and a 1966 Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
J-50.
His father Dan Christensen is an independent graphic designer. He designed the cover for the 2002 compilation album The Best of Dizzy Mizz Lizzy
The Best of Dizzy Mizz Lizzy
The Best of Dizzy Mizz Lizzy is a greatest hits album released by the Danish rock band Dizzy Mizz Lizzy in 2002. The first disc contains tracks from the band's two studio albums Dizzy Mizz Lizzy and Rotator, the second disc holds a live registration of a concert held in Aarhus on 11 May 1996...
and the bonus disc Live in Aarhus '96. He co-designed the front cover of Secrets on Parade; the front cover of Honeyburst is based on a 1966 collage he made which was modified by him and Christensen, and the front cover of Superior is based on a photo he made of Christensen in 1979. His father is an important figure in Christensen's life. They are alike in some ways, for example: "I can be on my own very well. I can easily entertain and immerse myself in my own company when I have my 'buddy' with me, which is my guitar. It is somethingI have inherited from my father, I think." When asked what the best advice was Christensen had gotten over the past 20 years, he answered: "I have received countless tips and pearls of wisdom from my dad."
The Damn Crystals
The Damn Crystals are Christensen's backing band, both in the studio and on tour.History
Christensen had put together a band in order to record his first solo album, Secrets on Parade. This was "decidedly a solo album" but the band would support Christensen during nearly every live performance. This is why around this time, Christensen did consider resuming in a band formation like with Dizzy Mizz Lizzy: "We actually spent a lot of time finding a band name, for a band that in reality does not even exist!" It is likely that Secrets on Parade established the name Tim Christensen sufficiently so that there was no longer a need for naming the band. As a result, the band remained nameless until 2011, although fans would sometimes refer to it as TeamC as a near-homophoneHomophone
A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning. The words may be spelled the same, such as rose and rose , or differently, such as carat, caret, and carrot, or to, two, and too. Homophones that are spelled the same are also both homographs and homonyms...
of TimC. The subsequent studio albums Honeyburst and Superior were not recorded in formation, although current and former band members would contribute on select songs. Because the recording sessions for the fourth solo album were done in a band setting and the band members contributed importantly to the album, the band received an official name: The Damn Crystals. This name was introduced on 21 October 2011 with the preview release of the single "Surprise Me".
Members
The band with whom Christensen recorded Secrets on Parade consisted of Lars Skjærbæk from Inside the Whale on guitar, keyboard and Mellotron; Fredrik Damsgård on bass and Laust Sonne on drums. After the completion of the album, Sonne was offered a position as drummer in the hard rock band D-A-DD-A-D
D-A-D is a Danish rock band previously known as "Disneyland After Dark", a name that had to be changed after a threatening lawsuit from The Walt Disney Company. Their style of music is often categorized as melodic heavy rock...
, after which Christensen thought it impossible to find a proper replacement, nor could he find one right away. As a result, his record company EMI-Medley placed an ad
Classified advertising
Classified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals which may be sold or distributed free of charge...
in the June issue of GAFFA
Gaffa (magazine)
Gaffa is a free Danish music magazine, published on a monthly basis since 1983. The magazine is distributed to places such as educational institutions, record shops, libraries and cafés, as well as a small number to paying subscribers...
requesting applications for "a drummer for an established Danish rock artist." Since the album had already been recorded, it asked for an experienced, energetic and technically good drummer between 20 and 30 years old that enjoys both hard and melancholic rock, and is available for a year ahead starting July 2000 for a domestic and international tour and related promotional activities. This call did not remain unanswered: "I spent endless difficult nights listening through the applications, but before I had to decide, one of my friends told me about a drummer who had just left his Norwegian band BigBang, which seemed a fantastic opportunity to me. And it went well during a tryout, so we went with him," Christensen explains. This was Olaf Olsen, who subsequently moved to Copenhagen for Christensen's cause and Christensen would later admit that "[Olsen] has saved the band" Nicolai Munch-Hansen replaced Damsgård on bass. This band contributed to Honeyburst, played in the ensuing tour, and and recorded the live album Live at Abbey Road Studios 2004 together. Johan Lei Gellet has stood in for Olsen during the summer of 2002.
Olsen left the band in 2005 to focus on BigBang, to which he had returned in 2001. He was replaced by Jesper Lind, who first performed with the band during the July 2005 Grøn Koncert
Grøn Koncert
Grøn Koncert is an annually recurring series of Danish one-day music festivals. Taking place in July, the concerts are performed by a selection of bands who tour around Denmark for about ten days...
series. At the time, Lind played on drums in the band Kira and the Kindred Spirits, led by singer Kira Skov
Kira Skov
Kira Skov is Danish singer. She is best known for being the lead singer of rock band Kira & The Kindred Spirits.-Early life:...
who is married to Munch-Hansen. Later in 2005, Munch-Hansen left the band so he and Skov could start a new band, named Kira and the Ghost Riders. He was replaced by Søren Koch, who was a band mate of Skjærbæk in the band Boat Man Love. Christoffer Møller joined the band on keys, allowing Skjærbæk to focus entirely on playing guitar. This formation has contributed to Superior and its tour, and they took on the name The Damn Crystals prior to the release of the forthcoming fourth studio album.
| 1999–2000 |
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| 2000–2005 |
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| 2005–current |
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Studio albums
Dizzy Mizz Lizzy- Dizzy Mizz LizzyDizzy Mizz Lizzy (album)Dizzy Mizz Lizzy is the eponymous debut album of the Danish rock band Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, released in on 4 March 1994.- Reception :Before the album was even recorded, the songs "Waterline" and "Silverflame" from the band's 1993 demo received heavy rotation on radio stations, including DR P3 and DR P4...
(1994), EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
-Medley - RotatorRotator (album)Rotator is the second and final studio album released by the Danish rock band Dizzy Mizz Lizzy.- Overview :EMI-Medley head of A&R and producer Nick Foss had made an agreement with lead singer and guitarist Tim Christensen that if their debut album Dizzy Mizz Lizzy won gold , the next would be...
(1996), EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
-Casadida
Tim Christensen solo
- Secrets on ParadeSecrets on ParadeSecrets on Parade is the debut solo album by Danish singer-songwriter Tim Christensen, released on 5 October 2000 on CD and vinyl. It is considered the transitional work between the music he made with Dizzy Mizz Lizzy and his solo music...
(2000), EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major... - HoneyburstHoneyburstHoneyburst is the second studio album by Danish singer-songwriter Tim Christensen, released on 1 September 2003 on CD and vinyl.- Overview :...
(2003), EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major... - SuperiorSuperior (album)Superior is the third studio album by Danish singer-songwriter Tim Christensen, released on 24 November 2008 on CD, limited edition CD/DVD box set which includes a 30-minute documentary, and a double vinyl box set which also includes the CD and DVD, as well as an outsize poster.- Overview :The...
(2008), Mermaid RecordsMermaid RecordsMermaid Records is a Copenhagen, Denmark based record label. The company was started as an independent record label by Mik Christensen and Nick Foss in 2005. The label publishes distinguished Danish artists.- History :...
, PIAS RecordingsPIAS Recordings[PIAS] Recordings is the recorded music division of the [PIAS] Entertainment Group, a European independent artist and label services company.The record labels that operate under the [PIAS] Recordings umbrella are: Play It Again Sam, Wall of Sound and Different Recordings.Aside from the three London...
(Netherlands)
Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals
- Tim Christensen and The Damn CrystalsTim Christensen and The Damn CrystalsTim Christensen and The Damn Crystals is the fourth studio album by Danish singer-songwriter Tim Christensen, and the eponymous first album of the formation Christensen and The Damn Crystals...
(25 November 2011), Mermaid RecordsMermaid RecordsMermaid Records is a Copenhagen, Denmark based record label. The company was started as an independent record label by Mik Christensen and Nick Foss in 2005. The label publishes distinguished Danish artists.- History :...
Live albums and compilations
Dizzy Mizz Lizzy- The Best of Dizzy Mizz LizzyThe Best of Dizzy Mizz LizzyThe Best of Dizzy Mizz Lizzy is a greatest hits album released by the Danish rock band Dizzy Mizz Lizzy in 2002. The first disc contains tracks from the band's two studio albums Dizzy Mizz Lizzy and Rotator, the second disc holds a live registration of a concert held in Aarhus on 11 May 1996...
(2002), EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
-Casadida - DizzcographyDizzcographyDizzcography is a box set released in 2010, containing all previously released material by the Danish rock band Dizzy Mizz Lizzy. The CD version is collected in a black printed cardboard box as four Digipak CDs and a 40-page booklet. The box set was also released in a limited press on 8...
(2010), EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major... - Live in Concert 2010Live in Concert 2010Live in Concert 2010 is a 19-song live recording of two concerts at the K.B. Hallen on 16–17 April 2010, by the Danish power rock band Dizzy Mizz Lizzy. It was released on 8 November 2010 as 2CD/DVD and 2CD/Blu-ray. In Japan, it was released on 27 April on King Records...
(2010), ArtPeopleArtPeopleArtPeople is a Danish arts and entertainment company specializing in book and music publishing and also acting as a booking agency.-Operations:*ArtPeople Musik & DVD department - Publishes and releases recordings through the ArtPeople Record label... - Big-5: Dizzy Mizz Lizzy (2010), EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
Tim Christensen solo
- Live at Abbey Road Studios 2004Live at Abbey Road Studios 2004Live at Abbey Road Studios 2004 is a live 2CD and limited edition DVD/2CD and vinyl record by Danish singer-songwriter Tim Christensen, released in 2004. To date, it is the only officially released live solo recording of Christensen...
(2004), EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major... - Big-5: Tim Christensen (2010), EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
Singles
Dizzy Mizz LizzyDizzy Mizz Lizzy singles
Tim Christensen solo
- "Get the Fuck Out of My Mind" (promoPromotional recordingA promotional recording, or promo, is an audio or video recording distributed for free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available...
, 2000), EMI - "21st Century High" (radio version) / "21st Century High" (album version) (2000), EMI
- "Love Is a Matter of..." (promo, 2001), EMI
- "Love Is a Matter of..." / "Misty Mono" / "Get the Fuck Out of My Mind" (live) (2001), EMI
- "Watery Eyes" (promo, 2001), EMI
- "King's Garden" / "Prime Time" (2001), EMI
- "Right Next To the Right One" (promo, 2002), EMI
- "Whispering At the Top of My Lungs" (promo, 2003), EMI
- "How Far You Go" (promo, 2004), EMI
- "Jump the Gun" (promo, 2004), EMI
- "Surfing the Surface" (promo, 2004), EMI
- "Superior" (2008), Mermaid
- "Hard to Make You Mine" (2009), Mermaid
- "India" (2009), Mermaid
- "Tell Me What You Really Want" (2009), Mermaid
Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals
- "Surprise Me" (2011), Mermaid
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEN | NET | NOR VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
|||
| 2008 | "Superior" | 4 | 99 | 3 | Superior |
| 2009 | "Wonder Of Wonders" | 15 | — | 11 | |
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEN | NET | NOR VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
||
| 2001 | "Secrets on Parade" | 9 | — | 1 |
| 2003 | "Honeyburst" | 1 | — | 10 |
| 2008 | "Superior" | 2 | — | 1 |
Live albums
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEN | NET | NOR VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
||
| 2005 | "Live at Abbey Road Studios 2004" | 30 | — | 24 |
Cover versions by other artists
- "Love is a Matter of..." from Secrets on Parade was covered by Will YoungWill YoungWilliam Robert "Will" Young is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominenceafter winning the 2002 inaugural series of the British music contest Pop Idol, making him the first winner of the now-worldwide Idols-format franchise...
on his December 2003 album Friday's ChildFriday's Child (album)Friday's Child is the second album from original Pop Idol winner Will Young. The album was released on 1 December 2003 and reached #1 in the UK Album Chart...
as "Love is a Matter of Distance". - Mei Chi Chiang recorded "Right Next to The Right One" from Honeyburst in Chinese for her 2004 album Beautiful But Lonely. It is titled "Ni Bu Gong Ping" ("Unfair to You").
- An ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
version of "Right Next to The Right One" titled "Giorni d'estate" ("Summer days") was recorded for DolceneraDolceneraDolcenera is an Italian singer, songwriter and actress.Among other recognitions, Dolcenera was awarded to the Venice Music Award for Best Voice and served as a spokesperson for UNICEF's global campaign "Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS".- Early life :Emanuela Trane was born in Galatina and...
's fourth album, Dolcenera nel paese delle meraviglieDolcenera nel paese delle meraviglieDolcenera nel paese delle meraviglie is the fourth studio album by Italian singer Dolcenera, released on 18 February 2009. It is her first album released on Sony Music Italy...
("Dolcenera in Wonderland"). - Celine Dion covers "Right Next to The Right One" on her album Taking ChancesTaking ChancesTaking Chances is an English language studio album by Canadian singer Céline Dion, released on November 7, 2007 on CD and CD/DVD. It is her 13th English album and 36th in total. The album was released physically worldwide during the month of November 2007 in CD edition. The album was also released...
(2007). Producer Christopher NeilChristopher NeilChristopher Neil is a British record producer, songwriter, singer and actor.He has worked with Celine Dion, a-ha, Dollar, Paul Nicholas, Kim Criswell, Morten Harket, Mike + The Mechanics, Johnny Logan, Marillion, The Moody Blues, The Other Ones, Paul Carrack, Rod Stewart, Gerry Rafferty, Cher,...
requested the song to be played by Christensen to retain the original feel of the song, and Celine laid down the vocal track later on. Although not released as a single, it entered the Danish Singles Chart on 23 November 2007 at number 13, due to strong digital downloadsMusic downloadA music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
.
Awards
Dizzy Mizz Lizzy- 1995 Danish group of the year (Danish GrammyDanish Music AwardsThe Danish Music Awards is a Danish award show. The show has been arranged by IFPI since 1989, and was originally called IFPI-prisen until 1991, when it changed its name to Dansk Grammy . The current name was given in 2001, after the American Grammy Awards took copyright on the name Grammy....
) - 1995 Danish newcomer of the year (Danish Grammy)
- 1995 Danish rock album of the year (Danish Grammy for Dizzy Mizz Lizzy)
- 1995 People's choice award (Danish Grammy)
- 1997 Danish rock album of the year (Danish Grammy for Rotator)
Tim Christensen solo
- 2000 Singer of the year (GAFFA Award)
- 2000 Newcomer of the year (GAFFA Award)
- 2003 Singer of the year (GAFFA Award)
- 2004 Danish DVD of the year (GAFFA Award)
- 2004 Danish album of the year (Danish Music AwardDanish Music AwardsThe Danish Music Awards is a Danish award show. The show has been arranged by IFPI since 1989, and was originally called IFPI-prisen until 1991, when it changed its name to Dansk Grammy . The current name was given in 2001, after the American Grammy Awards took copyright on the name Grammy....
for Honeyburst) - 2004 Danish singer of the year (Danish Music Award)
- 2004 Danish producer of the year (Danish Music Award for Honeyburst, shared with Rune Nissen-Petersen)