Tim Hecker

Biography

Hecker was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to two art teachers. During high school he played in rock bands with friends, then acquired a sampler and began working on solo material. In 1998 he moved to Montreal, Quebec, to study at Concordia University and pursue his artistic interests. He initially performed as a techno producer under the name Jetone, debuting in 1996, but became disenchanted with that project's direction by 2001.

That year he released his first album under his own name, Haunt Me, Haunt Me Do It Again, on the label Alien8, followed by Radio Amor (2003) and Mirages (2004). In 2006 he moved to Kranky and released Harmony in Ultraviolet, which incorporated digitally processed and distorted pipe organ sounds; Pitchfork named it the 9th best ambient album of all time. In November 2010, Alien8 re-released his debut on vinyl. His live performances involve improvisations processing organ sounds with great volume fluctuations.

In 2012 he collaborated with Daniel Lopatin on Instrumental Tourist. In February 2016 he signed with 4AD, and Love Streams was released that April.

He has toured with Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Sigur Rós, recorded with Fly Pan Am, and collaborated with Arca and Aidan Baker. He has contributed remixes to Ellen Allien, John Cale, Isis, and Interpol.

Film

Hecker provided the music for The Free World, a 2016 film that was featured in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at that year's Sundance Film Festival. He also scored the BBC Two drama The North Water, a series directed by Andrew Haigh adapted from Ian McGuire's novel. His work on the Austrian horror-drama Luzifer earned Franz Rogowski the Best Actor award at Fantastic Fest in 2021, and both Rogowski and Susanne Jensen won Best Actor and Best Actress respectively at the 2021 Sitges Film Festival. Additionally, Hecker composed the score for Infinity Pool, a 2023 film by Brandon Cronenberg starring Alexander Skarsgård and Mia Goth, which debuted at Sundance.

Personal life

Before his music career took over, Tim Hecker spent the early 2000s as a policy analyst for the Canadian government. He left that job in 2006 to pursue a PhD at McGill University, completing a dissertation on urban noise in 2014.

He has since taught sound culture there as a lecturer. A former Catholic, Hecker is now a Buddhist. He began studying Buddhism and meditating in his studio at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.