Tim Leitch | |
---|---|
Also known as | Spit Stix |
Born | Los Angeles |
Genres | Rock, punk rock, drum n bass, world |
Occupation(s) | Producer, musician, composer, actor |
Instrument(s) | Drums, computer |
Tim Leitch (a.k.a. Spit Stix, born December 29, 1955) is an American drummer, producer and songwriter. He gained prominence as drummer for the punk rock band Fear and producer of the first Red Hot Chili Peppers demo tape. [1]
Tim Leitch was born in Los Angeles into a musical family. Both his parents and all his siblings played or performed. At the age of eight, Tim chose drums and began to play Bossa and Jazz. At 12, he began tutoring with Marine drum and bugle corps instructor Don Clark, and speed drummer Deane Hagen (son of film/TV composer Earle Hagen). By 17 he had studied with Joe Pass and Art Pepper, and performed with Ralph Humphries and Don Ellis. [2]
Later he joined seminal hardcore LA punk band Fear, performed with avant-garde singer Nina Hagen, Lydia Lunch, John Belushi, LA African Beat Kwashi and Dick Dale. He performed on Saturday Night Live on Halloween 1981. [1]
Leitch learned production, engineering, and songwriting skills from Richie Podler, Bill Cooper, and Bob Clearmountain. He also had some minor roles in movies like American Pop and The Ratings Game In 1983, Tim produced the first Red Hot Chili Peppers demo recording that led the band to its first recording contract. [1] Those sessions were later released in 1994 as “Out in LA”, EMI. Tim had his first top 40 hit with “Paraiso” (WEA Latina artist Chantelle). His credits also include scoring the feature film, Night Eyes II and the film short, “In the Meantime”, as well as ghost-composing many other feature films under Steve “Don’t You Forget About Me” Shift.
After his move to New York City in 1992, Leitch came off the road with FEAR in 1993 and began learning Sonic Solutions and Pro Tools. By 2000, Tim was writing jingles for Bang Music, engineering, producing, licensing, teaching Logic Pro software privately, and demonstrating for software and digital audio hardware manufacturers at trade shows. [2]
In 2003, Tim partnered with Emmy award winning composer Patty Stotter, scoring HBO documentaries and music and sound design for children's books online. Sol-I, Tim's solo projects' debut album, Leap Before You Look, won 1st place at the 2004 Just Plain Folks Independent Music Awards in the category Electronica Album of the Year. Docs Without Borders Film Festival awarded his piece (Is Anybody Listening?) for its 2016 Official Selection in the Human Spirit category. [2] His 13 years of teaching drums was accumulated into his book "Diffusion of Useful Beats" which was released in March of 2019. A collection of beats, fills, and exercises for drum kit. Tim now lives in the Pacific Northwest. Some of his current performing projects include Fear, Nasalrod, and NW Sugar Shakers. [2]
The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk, punk rock, hard rock, hip hop, and psychedelic rock. Their eclectic range has influenced genres such as funk metal, rap metal, rap rock, and nu metal. With over 120 million records sold worldwide, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are one of the top-selling bands of all time. They hold the records for most number-one singles (15), most cumulative weeks at number one (91) and most top-ten songs (28) on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. They have won three Grammy Awards, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, and in 2022 received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The Germs were an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, originally active from 1976 to 1980. The band's "classic" lineup consisted of singer Darby Crash, guitarist Pat Smear, bassist Lorna Doom and drummer Don Bolles. They released only one album, 1979's (GI), produced by Joan Jett, and were featured in Penelope Spheeris' seminal documentary film The Decline of Western Civilization, which chronicled the Los Angeles punk movement. The Germs disbanded following Crash's suicide in 1980. Their music was influential to many later rock acts, and Smear went on to achieve greater fame performing with Nirvana and Foo Fighters.
Hillel Slovak was an Israeli-American musician, best known as the founding guitarist of the Los Angeles rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he recorded two albums. His guitar work was rooted in funk and hard rock, and he often experimented with other genres, including reggae and speed metal. He is considered to have been a major influence on Red Hot Chili Peppers' early sound.
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Fear, stylized as FEAR, is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1977. The band is credited for helping to shape the sound and style of Californian hardcore punk. The group gained national prominence after an infamous 1981 performance on Saturday Night Live.
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Cliff Robert Martinez is an American musician and composer. Early in his career, Martinez was known as a drummer notably with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Captain Beefheart. Since the 1990s, he has worked primarily as a film score composer, writing music for Spring Breakers, The Foreigner, and multiple films by Steven Soderbergh and Nicolas Winding Refn.
Big Boys were an American pioneering punk rock band who are credited with having helped to create and introduce skate punk as a new style of music, which became popular in the 1980s. They also were famous for bringing elements of funk into their hardcore punk style.
Nickey Alexander is an American drummer.
Blake Fleming is an American drummer known for his involvement with several influential experimental bands.
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