#past
Tim was born in Ashburton, New Zealand on the 24th August, 1965. Number three of four chiuldren, his parents Derek and Jeanette Prebble owned a crop and sheep farm near the mouth of the Rangitata River, 30 minutes drive from Ashburton. Along with a brother and two sisters, Tim attended primary school at Lowcliffe School and started weekly piano lessons with Joan Perkins (& her twin sausage dogs) in Ashburton, which also coincided with visits to the Ashburton public library – a source of much inspiration. Youthful hobbies included teaching his dog Crash to be an anarchist, and exploring the braided Rangitata riverbed on his motorbike.
Growing up on a farm directly contributed to his love of nature, peaceful quiet ambiences and sparked his imagination and creativity. Childhood sonic memories include creating thunder by playing in empty grain silos, the sound of blue gum nuts dropping onto the roof of the shed and rolling down… and waking in the early morning and waiting to hear the dawn birds begin.
Tim attended secondary school at St Andrews College in Christchurch. Somehow he ended up in the top class and was forced to study Latin amongst other things. Thankfully about this time computers were introduced and he started learning to use TRS80 and Apple II computers. After secondary school, Tim started a degree in Electrical Engineering at Canterbury University, but by the third year realised that it was not a career or life that held any interest to him. This was reinforced by hanging out with art school friends, playing bass guitar in indie band The Unknown and sneaking into university film studies screenings…
The result was a slow motion process of dropping out of university, playing in bands and starting to learn music & sound recording. Thanks to the Christchurch Arts Council via Hamish Kilgour, a $500 grant was secured to record & release a cassette, and instead of blowing it in a studio, the bands Cashel Street flat was converted into a studio for a weekend, renting in a mixing desk, mics & a Teaac A3340 4 track reel to reel (thankfully none of those recordings have survived)
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990 Film School
1991 Moved to Auckland
1991 Started work as Trainee Sound FX Editor
with John McKay, Soundworks Studios
1995 Wellington for The Frighteners at NFU
1997 Wellington for Saving Grace at Pacific Sound
1998 Auckland at Inside Track with Chris Burt
1998 Released album Solid State as SHORT FUSE on incoming label
1990
1995
2000.01.01 2am Break leg
2000.01 Move Auckland to Wellington
2000.01 Substation at Jessie Street, Wellington
Stickmen, Toy Love
2004 first trip to Japan
2005 second trip to Japan
2006.02 Berlinale Talent Campus
2006.02 Starts MUSIC OF SOUND blog
2007 30 Days of Night
2007 third trip to Japan
2008.10 my first eurorack modules
2008 Warriors Way
2008 Japan
2008 Bali – Nyepi, gamelan lesson
2008.11 Bought apartment in Kilbernie, Wellington
Substation studio at Park Road
2009 Under the Mountain, Home by Christmas and Boy
2000
2005
2010 Substation to Ropa Lane, Miramar
2010.04 HISSandaROAR launches VEGE VIOLENCE
2011 The Orator, field trip to Samoa x2, first film score
2011 Vietnam
2012 Papa New Guinea
2012 Japan x2
2012 second film score: Everything We Loved
2013.09 Artist Residency – Shodoshima Japan
2013.11 Artist Residency – Little Huia, New Zealand
2013.12 Move to Plimmerton
2014.11 Japan
2015.09 Japan
2015.10 Standing in the Stream
2016 Third film score: One Thousand Ropes
2016.09 Japan – XPAN II
2017 APRA Award for Best Film Score:
One Thousand Ropes
2018.10 Hokkaido, Japan
2020.03.25 COVID Lockdown
2010
2015
#present
Tim now lives & works in Karehana Bay, Plimmerton, New Zealand.
now
