Tim O’Keefe is a composer and sound designer with almost two decades of experience creating sound. He is a musician equally at home in a studio before a bank of gear, or in front of a crazed audience performing mostly improvised music. His affinity for people and openness to diverse sounds and attitudes make him a natural at collaborating and composing, as well as organizing events and bringing diverse people together.
Tim's interest in audio began with programming sounds into his now-antique Casio 1000 at the age of 14. A passion for the flourishing world of house music and electronica soon developed, and in the early 90's Tim organized some of the first raves in the Northeast, booking international talent for his Rave Called Quest warehouse events. In 1994, Tim became a touring keyboardist for the electronic/pop band the Waterlillies (Kinetic/Sire), which in turn led to a stint in New York city working for Kinetic Records and absorbing the vibrant music scene, as well as the culture of business and the business of culture. In 1996 he returned to the relative quiet of Providence Rhode Island, to develop his artistic and production skills away from the hubbub.
Taking up residence at the internationally recognized arts space
AS220, Tim quickly became, and has remained, someone who makes things happen in and outside of Providence. At
AS220, he was the curator of Frequency Lounge, a monthly multi-media showcase that hosted renowned performers such as Kid Clayton, the Silver Apples, Sonic Boom, and Austrian electronic music pioneer
Joachim Roedelius. Tim's musical collaborators have been many and varied, including the aforementioned
Joachim Roedelius (Cluster and Eno),
Oliver Chesler (Things to Come Records),
Aaron Spectre (Moonbunny Records), and Denard Henry (Cypher Productions).
He has created audio content for
Harmonix’s Playstation2 game "Frequency", The 2001 MTV Music Awards, The Providence Tourism Council,
The Arts & Business Council of RI,
A&M Productions, and for a variety of film and theatre productions, including puppeteer Heather Henson's "Migrations". He oversaw all sound design for “GMTS”, a serious game developed by
Whatif Productions. More technical credits include remixing material for Network recording artist,
Erin McKeown, and creating drum tracks for famed house producer/DJ,
Johnny Vicious. Tim's music has been written up in
Wire Magazine (UK),
Future Music Magazine (UK),
The Village Voice, and
The Boston Phoenix. It has appeared in various independent films and documentaries, including Miguel Coyula's "The Plastic Fork", winner of Best Soundtrack at the Cinplaza Film Festival in Havana, Cuba, 2001. Outside of his audio design work, Tim also runs a digital record label,
Cozy Music.
