Quick Facts
Biography
Tim Bowness (born 29 November 1963) is an English singer and songwriter primarily known for his work as part of the band No-Man, a long-term project formed in 1987 with Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson.
Music career
In addition to recording albums with No-Man (for record labels such as One Little Indian, Sony/Epic, Inside Out Music and Kscope), Bowness has appeared on albums by US artists OSI and David Torn, Italian artists Alice, Fjieri, Nosound and Stefano Panunzi, Norwegian groups White Willow and The Opium Cartel, and others.
In 1994, he recorded an album with Porcupine Tree/Japan/Rain Tree Crow keyboard player Richard Barbieri, called Flame.
Bowness has been a core or occasional member of several other bands. He has sung for German band Centrozoon and British electro-improvisers Darkroom on the more vocal-orientated projects performed and released by each group. He is the lead singer and guitarist for Henry Fool and also sings for Memories of Machines. He was singer (and occasional second guitarist) for Samuel Smiles between 1992 and 2000. Bowness also has a longstanding duo collaboration with Peter Chilvers (with whom he has worked in Samuel Smiles and Henry Fool). This project has so far produced one album, 2002's California, Norfolk.
Bowness's debut solo album, My Hotel Year was released on One Little Indian in 2004. The album made use of Bowness collaborators both old and new, and featured Roger Eno and Hugh Hopper amongst others.
In 2009, Bowness co-wrote and co-produced Talking with Strangers, an album by former Fairport Convention singer, Judy Dyble.
Warm Winter, the debut album by Memories of Machines (a collaboration with Nosound's Giancarlo Erra), was issued on Mascot in April 2011, and the self-titled debut release by Anglo Estonian project Slow Electric was released on Panegyric in October 2011.
Bowness's second solo album Abandoned Dancehall Dreams was released on 23 June 2014 on Inside Out Music. Produced by Bowness and mixed by Steven Wilson, collaborators included Pat Mastelotto, Colin Edwin and Classical composer Andrew Keeling. Richard Barbieri and Grasscut provided mixes for the bonus disc. Abandoned Dancehall Dreams came out to some of the best reviews of Bowness' career. Receiving positive endorsements from Prog and Classic Rock, the album reached No. 18 in the official UK Rock charts and No. 1 in Prog magazine's July 2014 and August 2014 charts.
A follow-up to Abandoned Dancehall Dreams, Stupid Things That Mean The World, was released on 17 July 2015 on Inside Out Music. Bowness admitted similarities between the two albums, in both the musical approach and artwork, calling it the second part of a new chapter that began with Abandoned Dancehall Dreams. Produced by Bowness and mixed by Bruce Soord, collaborators included Peter Hammill, Colin Edwin, Phil Manzanera and David Rhodes. The album reached No. 10 in both the official UK Rock and UK Vinyl charts, and No. 1 in Prog magazine's July 2015 and August 2015 charts. In September 2015, Stupid Things That Mean The World was No. 9 in the first ever official UK Progressive chart.
Business
In 2001, Bowness co-established the online record label and store Burning Shed with Peter Chilvers and Pete Morgan.
Charting songs and albums
| Album / Song | Chart | Position | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taking It Like a Man (with No-Man) | US Billboard Dance/Club Play chart | 34 | 1994 |
| Viaggio in Italia (with Alice) | Italian Albums chart | 16 | 2003 |
| Abandoned Dancehall Dreams | UK Rock Albums chart | 18 | 2014 |
| Stupid Things That Mean The World | UK Rock Albums chart | 10 | 2015 |
| Stupid Things That Mean The World | UK Top 100 Physical Albums chart | 75 | 2015 |
| Stupid Things That Mean The World | UK Vinyl Albums chart | 10 | 2015 |
| Stupid Things That Mean The World | UK Progressive Albums chart | 9 | 2015 |
| Heaven Taste (with No-Man) | UK Vinyl Singles chart | 5 | 2016 |
| Heaven Taste (with No-Man) | UK Top 100 Physical Singles chart | 8 | 2016 |
Select discography (Outside No-Man)
Solo albums
- Stupid Things That Mean The World (Inside Out Music), 2015) - Third solo album
- Abandoned Dancehall Dreams (Inside Out Music, 2014) – Second solo album
- My Hotel Year (One Little Indian, 2004) – Debut solo album
Other albums
- "Fjieri: "Words Are All We Have", (Emerald Recordings, ER-CD 02/15, 2015) - with Stefano Panunzi, Jakko Jakszyk, Gavin Harrison, Nicola Lori
- Warm Winter (Mascot, 2011) – with Giancarlo Erra (as Memories of Machines)
- "A Rose (Stefano Panunzi album)" (Emerald Recordings, ER-CD 01/09, 2009) - with Mick Karn, Thomas Leer, Giancarlo Erra, Theo Travis, Robby Aceto, Fabio Fraschini, Markus Reuter, Andrea Chimenti
- "Fjieri: "Endless"", (Forward Music Italy, 2009) - with Stefano Panunzi, Nicola Lori, Mick Karn, Richard Barbieri, Gavin Harrison, Nicola Alesini, Andrea Chimenti
- Talking with Strangers (FixIt, 2009) with Judy Dyble (guest vocals throughout album, co-written & co-produced by Bowness)
- Blood (Inside Out, 2009) – with OSI (guest vocals on one track)
- Lightdark (Kscope, 2008) – with Nosound (guest vocals on one track)
- Duality (Holy Records, 2008) – with Rajna (guests on three tracks)
- The Scent of Crash and Burn EP (Burning Shed, 2003) – with centrozoon
- Never Trust the Way You Are (Resonancer, 2004) – with centrozoon
- Viaggio in Italia (NuN Entertainment, 2003) – with Alice (guest vocals on two tracks)
- California, Norfolk (Burning Shed, 2002) – with Peter Chilvers
- Ones And Zeros (Voiceprint, 1997) – with Rosario "Saro" Cosentino (guest vocals on one track)
- Flame (One Little Indian, 1994) – with Richard Barbieri
- Another Beauty Blooms (Stranger Records, 1986) – with Ian Simpson, Mike Bearpark
- "Warm Winter " Speak". Timbowness.wordpress.com. 4 May 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2012.