TIM HANAUER BLOG

Recent News

2011-11-24T07:01:00.000-08:00

"Next to you" on 90210, Yes, Seriously - November 8th, 2011

I'm growing incredulous. Five songs in one season? Maybe I could pop in and do a quick acoustic set... if only they'd resurrect the old Peach Pit. The man behind the bar, the ab man, they call him, well, I'm starting to think he likes my records. I can't tell you exactly where you'll find my song "Next to you" in this week's episode, "Vegas, Maybe," but, maybe, just maybe, it'll be playing in the background in the bar. It's pretty chill like that.

Keep your ears peeled. Catch the episode on the WB Tuesday, November 8th.

"Go" to air on 90210 - November 1st, 2011

I'm getting hooked. I can't help it. The new 90210 continues to feature my songs and so I have to watch, and watch... and watch. This marks three weeks that the WB hit show has included me in their production. It's probably about time I send a bottle of wine as a thank you. Red or white?

Watch 90210 this Tuesday, November 1st, to catch my song "Go" in the new episode, "Naomi Throws a Party." I'll be throwing one too.

"Dream a better way" and "Just the way" air on 90210 - October 4, 2011

Watch 90210 on the WB tonight, October 4, and catch my songs "Dream a better way" and "Just the way." Both songs will be featured tonight on the episode "Let the Games Begin."

This is a double first. Not only will there be two of my songs in one episode for the first time, but this will mark two episodes in a row. I'm psyched!

"This is" airs on 90210 - September 27, 2011

The last time I watched 90210, Shannen Doherty was dating Jason Priestly. Someone, maybe Luke Perry's character, was kicked off the football team for smoking crack. The kids still "studied" at West Beverly High. And, I'm pretty sure Kurt Cobain was still alive. That was the last time I watched 90210, that is, until my song "This is" aired on the 90210 episode "Greek Tragedy" on Tuesday night. Things have changed. If you missed it, you can check out the iconic American drama at cwtv.com. And, you can download the song for free right here by joining the email list.

"Metal Boy" on The Lying Game on ABC Family - August 29, 2011

ABC Family's The Lying Game will air my song "Metal Boy" on August 29th. "Metal Boy" was the inspiration behind the title and the artwork for most recent EP, WIND UP TOY. Happy watching!

"Making it better" on Necessary Roughness on USA - July 6, 2011

Check out my song "Making it better" on the USA network TV show Necessary Roughness tonight on the episode "Anchor Management." It airs at the beginning and again at the end of the episode.

Wind-Up Toy Prepared for Launch - January 30, 2011

I'm excited. It's the perfect contradiction of mellow and upbeat, a true paradox, if you will. It's a hopeful, optimistic set of songs. If you've downloaded the sneak peek of "This is" then you already know what I mean. If you haven't downloaded the first track yet, you can do so freely when you join the email list. Digital release on February 1, 2011!

New Dream a Better Way Single

2010-07-27T15:47:00.000-07:00

This is the original 2" tape version of the track. I went with a simpler acoustic version on the Time for Change record instead of going with the original recording. So, this is it. This is the one that didn't make the record. This is the one from the ABC show, Castle, the GMC Terrain commercial, and the Adrianna Papell designer clothing ad. Needless to say, it seemed time I send it out there into the interwebs so that it might crawl among your playlists. Cheers!

"Dream a better way" in GMC Commercial

2010-07-18T16:43:00.000-07:00

"Dream a Better Way" in very cool GMC Commercial

2010-06-24T13:48:00.000-07:00

Check out the new GMC Terrain commercial. It's the one with the miniature people moving around a city in fast motion. Pretty sweet!! I'm the one flying the helicopter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35bg-Y-5GJU

The Way Back Sessions

2010-03-04T16:43:00.001-08:00

I have been tracking the next record: The Way Back. It's been a somewhat secretive venture. Most of the tracking happened back in December and I've been making small headway ever since. If you have liked my previous recordings, I think you'll like this one. Perhaps you will like it even more than the others. It is simpler to say the least. The album title was inspired by the back seat of my dad's Buick Stationwagon from the 1980's: the way back. (If you know where I might still find an old Buick Stationwagon, let me know. I still need album photos.) There isn't a release date or anything yet. There are a few lyrics that still need adjusting. But, all the bones are there, recorded. It's exciting to have new material to listen to when I am driving across town. I will get it out to you as soon as I can so you too may listen while driving to the supermarket, or to the gym, or to your own home on the way back from dinner.

New Material

2009-11-22T16:04:00.000-08:00

The pieces are slowly coming together. Here a piece, there a piece, everywhere a piece... piece.

I've got a few songs stocked up from the last year--since Time for Change went into production. There are a few songs still coming together a little at a time.

The overarching concept this time is simplicity. It's so easy for me to get carried away with over-complicating the sound. I keep remind myself it's the song that matters most. Capturing some piece of truth... writing something beautiful and simple. It sounds easy. But, I swear, the moment I try to write something like that I get in my own way. Too much intention can be a bad thing. Sometimes you just have to... let it go.

I remember a day a few years ago. I had been working and trying all day to write a song. Nothing was coming to me. I got so frustrated about the process. I became infuriated at the writing block. I gave up. And then... bam. I wrote "Go" in a matter of about 10 minutes ... once I quit trying.

So much about art is trying, giving up, trying again... over and over. I suppose if artists never got past the blocks you could consider them mentally insane. But, eventually, we do move beyond the blockages, books are published, songs are written. Are there artists out there who are not for the most part, most of the time, obsessed with success, expression, creation?

Willow Tree Festival

2009-09-14T16:14:00.000-07:00

Just got back from the Willow Tree Festival up in Nebraska. Good times. Nice folks. Chilly weather. Very small town. Played with Dave Nezat on drums and Wes Heilman on bass. Got to know the guys on the way up and back. There was plenty of time to think.

How many tiny towns there are in the world. How many people grow up, work, and grow old all across this giant country. Old houses. Generations of families sprouting and withering. How each tiny community has its churches, schools, restaurants, streets. How the culture can be so completely different just a few hours' drive away. Metropolis to dusty wooden barn. Skyscraper to corn field. How narrow my view becomes when I'm stuck in my home town.

Humanity is impressive. I walked into an antique store in the town of Gordon. The store was an old house so stuffed with old things that the air smelled old. Dusty. I could hardly navigate around all the old stuff in the place: things of metal and glass and old wood and leather. Humanity's old possessions: old watches that no longer ticked, ice cream churns from the time before ice. The place redefined eclecticism. It reminded me, in a way, of the Catacombs beneath Paris where human bones are stacked to the ceiling and run back and across as far as you can see into the darkness. The antique store is that epitome of human remains.

Steamboat Wine Festival

2009-08-06T09:48:00.001-07:00

Had a blast at the Steamboat Wine Festival. If you made it up, I'm sure you did too. Beautiful day playing my songs on the lawn. You don't get to play enough gigs with your shoes off. Went camping afterward. The nice people at the wine festival left me with a couple of good bottles. Roasted a few hot dogs over the fire. Went to Strawberry Park Hot Springs the following day. I highly recommend this experience to everyone. Seriously.

I Hate Valentine's Day... now in theaters

2009-07-06T15:34:00.000-07:00

It's pretty exciting. I watched the I Hate Valentine's Day flick with my song "Dream a Better Way." The song comes in during the last scene and plays into the credits. It was fun to watch. It felt a bit different than a tv feature, more permanent, more important. It's the first time I've had a song in a film so I'm pretty excited about it. IHVD is available in some indie theaters in the US. I watched it off Comcast On Demand. Happy viewing.

Writing

2009-05-12T12:56:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a new song the past couple of days, a wedding song. I mentioned a couple of days ago that I'd started writing again, now that I have some free time. Well, the first song I wrote took three days and I'm pretty sure it's terrible. This newer one is better, I think. It has meaning--always good to put that in a song. Really, it means something to me. Sometimes I'll start writing a song that isn't very meaningful to me or my life and I'll either run into a dead end or finish it and then never play it. But, I find when I write something that means something to me personally, then I tend to have a much easier time with it and that I end up liking the song much more. My fiance is always reminding me of this. This new song may become my wedding song. I'm getting married in a couple of weeks. I'm thinking about singing it instead of writing vows since it has become sort of an amalgam of adventures that my fiance and I have been through. This new song doesn't have a name yet, but I'll let you know when it does, and maybe I'll post an acoustic rough for you. I still have to work out a verse and the bridge lyrics.

Awkward Beginnings

2009-05-07T23:43:00.001-07:00

I've been writing songs since the day I received my first guitar. I was always fascinated with music, always wanted to be able to play music. Since the moment I got my first guitar I couldn't put it down. It was May of 1995, the month I graduated from high school. I wrote constantly. I spent most of my life at that point in the basement. I would record into this old RCA boom box through its built-in microphone. I must have fifty cassette tapes in a box in the garage. A couple of years later, I moved to the four track. I've probably got 100 hours of old songs and song ideas on tape. I blush to admit some part of me always wondered whether those tapes would one day become valuable, like the love letters that Keats wrote to Fanny Brawne. Moreover, I recorded to hear myself. Perhaps that's narcissistic, too--like looking in the mirror, or better yet, like looking in the mirror so that others will look and see you. The writer writes for others to read; the performer performs for others to witness. We all seek a measure of approval and want notice to be taken. I intend to share some of these old tapes with you in the coming days, to post an audio timeline of sorts. It is as much for me as it is for you. How can I argue otherwise?

Anatomy of a Song

2009-05-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

For those of you interested in the writing and production process of one songwriter, namely this one, proceed to the bottom half of the page and check out the newest addition to the blog, Anatomy of a Song. The course I take from writing to mixing is all there in rough mix audio for your listening curiosity.

Turning the Crank

2009-05-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

I have been writing some lately. Finished a song a couple of days ago. Feeling a bit rusty. Getting back into writing is like turning the crank on some enormous machine. Bloop, there's a song. It's a machine that makes pancakes. The first one is always just a test. Too buttery. Like a late night metaphor--one so mixed it has to lose sense just to find it.

Needless to say, and I say it anyway, this is the first post of this new blog. I have been pushing my new record, Time for Change, day in and day out. The record was named for its title track, a song about my high school days, about the Baker house, days of romantic poetry and tree drawings, the days after my dad died, the trampoline, the fireplace. I thought I'd post the first draft of lyrics for you. There was only the one draft, scribbled over, noted with production ideas and melodies.