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All Music Guide:
A member of both Gong and Hawkwind, Tim Blake's slow-moving keyboard style has also featured prominently in his own work. His Crystal Machine project of the mid- to late '70s was among the first tour acts to feature major laser light shows. Often compared to Tangerine Dream, Blake has continued to record into the 2000s, with his latest work, Tide of the Century, continuing to build on his experimental keyboard style.
Tim Blake was born on February 6, 1952, in Hammersmith, West London. At drama school, he became interested in studying sound. He became involved with the experimental psychedelic group Gong in 1971. At first he was supposed to be the group's sound man, but the job was taken from him. He then briefly served as keyboardist for the group, but his work did not please Gong drummer Pip Pyle, and Blake was let go. Far from discouraged, Blake founded the Crystal Machine studio in the south of France. There, he made a demo cassette of his work on the EMS synthesizer. He then rejoined Gong in 1972 as the band's keyboardist under the name Hi T. Moonweed. He remained with the band until they broke up in 1976. Meanwhile, with Patrice Warrener, he formed Crystal Machine, which toured behind stellar light shows throughout the late '70s. Crystal Machine (1977) is an assortment of tracks from various live shows. 1978's Blake's New Jerusalem was the keyboardist's first studio solo record.
After a collaboration with Hawkwind's Nik Turner, Blake joined Hawkwind in 1979. However, he was dropped unceremoniously by the group in 1980 and Blake would perform very little throughout the next decade. He returned with Magick (1991), but outside of various reunion concerts with Gong, remained quiet until 2000's Tide of the Century.
Wikipedia:
Timothy 'Tim' Blake (born 6 February 1952, at Queen Charlotte's Hospital, Shepherd's Bush, west London), is a keyboardist, synthesist, vocalist, and composer with both Gong, and Hawkwind. Blake is best known for his Synthesizer and Light performances as Crystal Machine, with the French Light Artist Patrice Warrener. They were sometimes joined on keyboards by the young prodigy Jean-Philippe Rykiel.
Blake first worked as the engineer at Marquee Studios, where Daevid Allen was recording his first solo album Bananamoon in 1971. At the end of the sessions Allen had invited Blake to come back to France to be Gong's sound mixer, but he refused. He eventually joined Gong full-time in 1973 as the band's keyboard/synthesizer player, being among the first to bring the synthesizer out of the studio and on to the stage. He appears on all 3 albums of the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy; Flying Teapot, Angel's Egg, and You. He left Gong in early 1975, prompting the eventual departures of almost all of the other members of the 'classic era' (with the exception of Pierre Moerlen, who continued the band under the name of Pierre Moerlen's Gong).
Blake began a solo career under the name of Crystal Machine, which is noted for being the first live act to introduce the use of Laser lighting in the entertainment world. After 2 solo albums 1977's Crystal Machine and 1978's Blake's New Jerusalem, Blake joined another noted "space rock" outfit, Hawkwind, for a short stint between 1979 and 1980, and has sporadically rejoined them on several occasions, and since December 2007, is still with Hawkwind.
He reunited with the 'classic-era' line-up of Gong (minus Pierre Moerlen, who died in May 2005) for a one-off concert in November 2006 at the 3rd Gong Family Unconvention (Uncon) at the Melkweg in Amsterdam.
Blake's discography contains more than 25 titles, including six solo albums as Tim Blake - Crystal Machine. Since 2006, Blake removed all his solo albums from the disk market, prefering to make them available as mp3s from his own web site. Blake continues to work with Patrice Warrener on his Chromolithe Illumination System, and doing concerts with Jean-Philippe Rykiel. Since 2007, Blake has rejoined Hawkwind, performing on what he chooses to call "Virtual Lead Guitar" and Theremin.
Blake currently lives in the Poitou region of France.
