Who is Mistrust?
Download the Electronic Press Kit for MISTRUST
Tim Blackburn, who records under the name “Mistrust”, is based in the North West of England. He released his debut album “Sunlight” in early 2023 and headlined the Future Yard Showcase in the UK later that year. His latest single “New Chester Road Revisited” was released in May 2024.
Mistrust’s music has been described as “synth pop that will put a smile in your heart” (Neil March/Trust the Doc)
Similar Artists:
Kraftwerk, OMD, New Order, and early Human League.
The story:
In the 1980’s Mistrust wrote and recorded songs in his bedroom using an old synth and drum machine. He dreamed of performing his songs live on stage and having his music on sale in record stores. After several years away from making music, and in his late 50s, Mistrust started playing live in early 2023, and his CDs are now on sale in HMV stores in the UK.
Watch the recent Interview I did with Big Condo Records where I talked to them about my music!
Recent Releases:
Yellow and Grey / Gelb und Grau (2023) / Never Let You Go (2022) – Self-released / New Age Mistrust Remix (2021) – RV Music (Australia) / Everyday, Everyday, The Mistrust Remixes (2020) – Self-Released / Pitch Black – Rude Mechanicals mistrust remix (2008) – Dubmission Records / Animat – Deep Space Lament mistrust remix (2020) – Disco Gecko Records
Recent Live performances:
Big Condo Records Tour, Cable Festival (2024), Together Festival, Liscard Festival, Astonbury, Glaston-BURY Festival, Future Yard Showcase, HMV Liverpool (2023). Upcoming: ElectroFest2
Interesting Fact:
Mistrust has been raising money from sales of his Yellow and
Grey EP to help preserve an historic train!
I have previously produced official remixes of songs by a number of well-known bands and artists including Tom Bailey (Thompson Twins) and Pitch Black (New Zealand). My 15 minutes of fame came a few years ago when a remix I did for Pitch Black made the top 30 indie radio airplay charts in NZ.
Airplay and coverage:
Review of Yellow and Grey by Neil March aka Trust the Doc; Review of Yellow and Grey by Rob Benny;
Yellow and Grey has been played on Artefaktor Radio, Radio Hartlepool, Trust the Doc, Revival Radio Station, Radio Wigwam, Big Satsuma Radio
Review of Everyday, Everyday Mistrust Remixes on Niceup; airplay on ALL.FM radio (UK); Video for Never Let You Go featured on Trust the Doc TV;
Quotes and reviews:
Yellow and Grey: “Effortlessly melodic with a simple but great hook. Synth Pop that will put a smile in your heart.” (Neil March / Trust the Doc)
Yellow and Grey: “impressive work by Blackburn and his project Mistrust. I highly recommend checking it out if you’re a person who enjoys catchy music with a throwback feel.” Rob Benny
Deep Space Lament Mistrust remix – “operatic fashion worthy of an upcoming cinematic adventure” (Niceup). / Rude Mechanicals Mistrust Remix – “draws the listener in before teasing, then releasing, a nostalgic beat” (Niceup)
Contact information and website/social media links:
Website: mistrustmusic.co.uk / Twitter: @mstrstmsc / Instagram: @mistrustmusic / Facebook: @mistrustmusicuk / Youtube: @mistrustmusic / News/Blog/Contact: Mistrust.Wordpress.com
Bandcamp: https://mistrust.bandcamp.com
Biography (Part 1)
I first got interested in electronic music when I heard “Son of My Father” by Chicory Tip, and “Crazy Horses” by The Osmonds, when I was a kid.
I couldn’t believe the weird noises coming out of radio. I was hooked, even at a young age.
Fast forward a few years and I was making weird noises of my own with a Bontempi fan organ that I had at home. I didn’t follow the song books and chord buttons. I just made weird sounds.
Fast forward again to the late 1970s and 1980s, and the music of Gary Numan, OMD, Ultravox and Depeche Mode, got me into buying a Jen SX1000 synth, Casio MT31 keyboard, and a KAY Memory Rhythm drum machine, and later a Yamaha VSS-30 digital sampling keyboard. I wrote and recorded five or six C90 cassettes worth of synth pop songs, pretending to be Gary Numan, and hoping to get a record deal.
Somewhere along the line, I didn’t get a record deal, probably because I didn’t send the cassettes to anyone!
Years later, I bought a Casio CZ1000 keyboard, Roland SH101 synth, and a Yamaha drum machine, bought an Amiga 1200 computer, wrote some more songs, and then sold everything. I didn’t write another song until 2002!!!
I decided I wanted to get into writing and recording music on a computer, so I bought a PC and Cubasis 2 (the original version) and wrote a song called “Hello” for my future wife. This got me into writing and recording more music, culminating into a track called “Never Alone”. This was the track that changed everything!
Part 2 coming soon!