Meet Tim Gysin

Did you know that before the band was known as Journey, Steve Perry called his band Golden Gate Rhythm Section.  Emerson Lake and Palmer had 63 roadies on their 1977 tour.  They also had their own band doctor and a karate instructor for drummer Carl Palmer.  A 70 piece orchestra also traveled with them.  A song that gets stuck in your head on repeat is called an ear worm.

Today's interview will feature Tim Gysin - keyboards and singer.

Tim, how many years have you been playing?
I've been playing the piano for 19 years and I have been singing for nine.

What was your first keyboard?
It was a Yamaha Clavinova that I still use today.  I believe I got it when I was five years old and it was like a furniture piece because it wasn't portable.  My first gigging keyboard was a Yamaha s90 es 88 key.

What musicians influenced you?
Well, there's Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, Ben Folds and Coldplay.

How many bands have you been in?
I have been a member of five professional bands in my performing career.  I still perform frequently with two of them.

What's it like to gig?
Being a gigging musician is not as easy as a lot of people think it is.  There are a lot of parts to the job such as booking the gigs, setting prices, promoting on various social media platforms, driving to and from the gigs, taking care and repairing equipment, setting up and breaking down and of course playing the gig.

How often do you practice?
I try to practice as often as I can.  There are shows where I will play so hard that my hands will hurt a lot the next day and I just want to rest my hands.  I don't really have a routine schedule for my practicing so I just try to do it whenever I can.

What is one of your accomplishments as a musician?
One of the biggest accomplishments as a musician is probably releasing my own solo album of original music.  That took a lot of work and I was very proud of it when it was done.