Tim Nelson (American musician)


Tim Nelson (American musician)


Timothy Lawrence Nelson, known professionally as Karma Fields and TimFromTheHouse, is an American musician, DJ, and record producer from Santa Barbara, California, currently based in Los Angeles.

Having started off producing music as Betatraxx, Nelson signed to Monstercat in 2015 as Karma Fields and released his debut album, New Age | Dark Age, one year later. His second album, BODY RUSH, was self-released in 2019.

Nelson is also a member of electronic supergroup Associanu.

Origins

Nelson began uploading remixes of popular songs to YouTube in 2009, under the name TheRedlightRemixes. His first upload was a remix of Beyoncé's Control.

2010-2014: Betatraxx

Having started uploading music to his YouTube channel, Nelson began using the name "Redlight aka Betatraxx", before eventually deciding to exclusively use Betatraxx (occasionally stylized as BetaTraxx or BetatraXx) as his name in 2010.

Nelson uploaded his first original track as Betatraxx, LA Bass, on March 21, 2010. On July 8 of the same year, his self-titled first EP was released. His second EP, Drug Abuse/Mafiosa EP, was released on January 30, 2011. Shortly after, Nelson released The X EP on February 15.

Nearly a year later on February 27, 2012, Nelson returned with the single Shuffling and Looking Dumb, with vocals from Krystal. On May 1, Nelson released his remix of fun. & Janelle Monáe's We Are Young, his first official remix as Betatraxx. Two weeks later, his remix of Christina Perri's Arms was released, his second official remix. On September 25, Nelson released the Mercury EP. Nelson's final release of 2012 was a remix of The Joy Formidable's Cholla.

On June 5, 2013, Nelson released a remix of Wiz Khalifa's No Sleep. On August 8, Nelson's collaboration with Welsh singer MARINA (then known as Marina and the Diamonds), Electra Heart, was uploaded onto Diamandis' channel. Nearly a month later, Nelson released the "V" EP on September 3.

On May 5, 2014, a more fleshed-out version of Electra Heart was released. On May 14, Nelson uploaded a remixed version of Electra Heart, stating, "This instrumental was the original track that Electra Heart was recorded over. So while it is a 'remix' it actually existed before Electra Heart did. Although it has been totally done up to make this final version." A classical version of the song was released on June 9. Nelson released the Shapes and Sizes EP on September 30. His final release as Betatraxx was a remix of Pr0files' Forgive, released on November 12 of that year.

2015-2016: Karma Fields debut, first album, and The HEX

On February 3, 2015, Nelson uploaded a teaser video for a new project, Karma Fields, to the project's YouTube channel. The teaser contained visuals by Chinese visual artist and programmer Raven Kwok (郭銳文), as well as a demo of a then-unreleased song from Karma Fields' upcoming debut album.

Later that month, on February 24, during the 47th episode of the Monstercat Podcast, the livestream appeared to be hacked, with a trailer for the music video of Karma Fields' debut song, Build The Cities, featuring Estonian singer Kerli, interrupting the stream. However, this has been omitted in the official reupload of the episode, with only fan reuploads capturing it. On March 2, the music video for Build The Cities was officially released. In an interview with Billboard, Kwok explained, "Every time I run the system, it will produce a different visual outcome due to randomness of the initial parameters, so the music video itself is an organized yet unpredicted outcome."

On April 9, Nelson announced that "reconstructions" of Build The Cities were in the works. Later that month, a series of remixes were released by various artists, including fellow labelmates Tristam, Grabbitz, and Project 46, among others. The full remix compilation, titled Build The Cities (Reconstructions), was released on May 27.

On September 14, the second Karma Fields single, Skyline, was announced. Three days later, Nelson posted a preview of the "beta" version of Skyline. Skyline was officially released on September 21. Like Build The Cities, Skyline's music video was also created by Kwok. It was widely noted by fans that the beta version and the official version were almost completely different from each other.

The official Karma Fields website was launched on September 28.

To commemorate Build The Cities' music video reaching one million views, stems for the song were released on October 24. The following day, an acoustic version of Skyline was announced, which was released six days later. Many were quick to notice that the acoustic version was the same as the beta version that was previewed before Skyline's official release.

The third Karma Fields single, Stickup, a collaboration between Nelson, Danish producer MORTEN (who Nelson had previously collaborated with while still releasing music as Betatraxx), and American actress and singer Juliette Lewis was announced on November 25. Stickup was released five days later, along with another music video animated by Kwok. The song was notable in its departure from the previous singles, with its sound being much more intense and aggressive. A drum and bass remix by English electronic music act Modestep was released on December 1.

Karma Fields' debut album, New Age | Dark Age, was announced on January 5, 2016. Between January 11 and January 26, the tracklist was gradually revealed, totaling at twelve tracks. The album's fourth and final single, Greatness, a collaboration with American rapper Talib Kweli, was announced on February 2, and officially released alongside yet another video by Kwok on February 17. Nelson announced that the release date for New Age | Dark Age would be March 2, exactly one year after the release of Build The Cities. On April 5, an album-long video was uploaded, which contained all prior music videos, as well as additional visuals, all created by Kwok.

On April 7, Nelson released his first remix as Karma Fields, a rework of Janet Jackson's No Sleeep.

On April 13, UKF released an article on Karma Fields, speculating on who or what Karma Fields was. The article declared that Karma Fields was the "world's first AI artist" and that a machine had been behind all the music (excluding vocalists). The article also included an interview with Kwok, who gave further insight into how the visuals were made, explaining how all of the visuals are coded instead of traditionally animated.

After posting various gifs of visuals throughout July, a trailer for Karma Fields' live debut was uploaded on August 2. On September 7, sheet music was provided for classical versions of Stickup and Build The Cities. The following day, a deluxe version of New Age | Dark Age was announced, alongside the release of the aforementioned classical version of Build The Cities. A competition was announced September 9, where people could submit videos of themselves playing either classical versions of Stickup or Build The Cities. The winner would receive a signed vinyl of New Age | Dark Age, as well as have their entry shared with the Monstercat community. The deluxe version of New Age | Dark Age was released on September 15, containing five classical versions of various songs from the album.

On September 27, a thirteen minute preview of Karma Fields' live show, The HEX, was uploaded to YouTube. The preview shows Nelson performing inside of a hexagonal structure, with synchronized visuals projected onto all six sides. The debut show's date was also announced to be November 10 in Los Angeles. On the same day, Nelson's first official interview as Karma Fields was posted to Billboard's website. Nelson stated that the plan for Karma Fields was to "blur the line between human and computer" and have the project gradually evolve from a computer side to a more human side.

Karma Fields' first material since the deluxe version of New Age | Dark Age was announced on October 25. Between October 28 and November 3, the song Sweat, as well as two remixes by Soulji and Bixel Boys, was released. This would end up being Nelson's last release with Monstercat.

2017: Post-Monstercat

On April 11, 2017, Nelson announced a second HEX show for April 29, this time at New York City's Webster Hall. Three days later, as a way of promoting the upcoming show, a recording of the live version of Scandal (a collaboration with American actress and singer C.C. Sheffield) from New Age | Dark Age was released.

On June 15, Nelson announced his first song since leaving Monstercat. Shapes, with Australian producer L D R U, was released on July 14.

The third HEX show was scheduled to be in Vancouver on November 24, with Soulji as the opening act.

2018-2019: BODY RUSH

After 5 months of silence on all social media, Karma Fields reappeared on March 19, 2018. Over the span of a minute, eight tweets were sent out from the Karma Fields twitter account, with all tweets directly mentioning Swedish singer Tove Lo, as well as including a phone number. Calling the number would reveal snippets of an unreleased song, presumed to be a collaboration between the two. One week later, the song, whose title was revealed as Colorblind, was released. Tove Lo stated, "This song is about losing someone you love[...]after a big breakup, the pain in your heart is similar to the pain you feel when someone dies — they’re not in your life anymore. There’s an anger and also a numbness that sets in when you feel left behind, abandoned." The visuals for Colorblind were by Polish artist Patryk Kizny.

On May 8, two remixes of Colorblind by Motez and Left/Right were released.

On May 23, the single Body Rush was announced. It was written in collaboration with Millennial Serial Killer, the solo project of Lauren Pardini of Pr0files, who Nelson had remixed as Betatraxx nearly four years prior. Two days later, Body Rush was released. The video for it included footage sourced from a real world space, multiple references to past Karma Fields music videos, and the inclusion of "DENOUNCE YOUR HUMANITY" written on a wall.

Between July 9 and July 11, Nelson posted one video on each day, teasing another new song. On July 12, the song, titled CODE 10-31, was released, with the title referencing the police code that roughly (police codes vary by county and state) means "crime in progress".

On July 25, Nelson teased a collaboration with English musician Little Boots, whom he had also remixed as Betatraxx. The song (released as part of an EP), You and Me, was released on July 27. The additional song, Midnight Drive, contains uncredited vocals from Pardini. A remix EP with remixes from Soulji and Louis La Roche was released on August 10, with Soulji's being his second remix for Nelson so far.

A small tour of The HEX was announced on August 9. The HEX was to make stops at San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. on September 15, September 21, and September 28/29 respectively. A remix of Colorblind by OddKidOut was released on August 24. On September 5, Nelson uploaded a video detailing how The HEX was constructed, with a then-unknown song playing in the background.

Nelson revealed on November 15 that he had contributed a Karma Fields remix of WTF Love Is to the deluxe vinyl edition of Tove Lo's Lady Wood, and that it would be exclusive to the vinyl release.

Five days later, another single, An Underground System of Forgotten Machines, was announced. In the accompanying trailer, it was revealed that this was the song playing in the background of the HEX construction video. It was released on November 23.

On February 19, 2019, Nelson uploaded a trailer for the second Karma Fields album, BODY RUSH, with a release date of March 15 being given. The trailer contained real-world footage of social unrest, robots, and numerous clips from news stations such as FOX, CNN, and MSNBC, depicting the rise of the "Body Rush procedure" and the ensuing societal polarization.

A day after the announcement, Nelson uploaded a video in collaboration with Control Forever, where he explains how The HEX works and further elaborates on the meaning behind Karma Fields.

Between February 27 and March 1, links to a (now defunct) site were posted. The site, a recreation of CNN, hosted several articles on the Body Rush procedure and some of its backstory. From March 4 to March 8, the tracklist was revealed in a similar manner to that of New Age | Dark Age, totaling at fourteen songs and including additional collaborators such as Los Angeles singer and producer Shey Baba and Canadian singer Rosette. Pardini's vocals are present on six total songs.

BODY RUSH was released on March 15. A departure from the more electronic and experimental sound of New Age | Dark Age, BODY RUSH embraced a more pop sound, while still retaining heavier elements on select songs.

On April 24, Nelson announced a Karma Fields performance at Overwatch esports team Dallas Fuel's first home game for April 27 and 28.

A Kastle remix of Feel Real was teased on May 6. This would mark Kastle's second remix for Nelson, as he had contributed a remix to Build The Cities (Reconstructions) back in 2015. Nelson's second interview as Karma Fields as posted on May 24, providing insight into the home game performance, as well as detailing the meaning behind BODY RUSH, stating, "The goal of Body Rush was to show how electronic music can be human in nature. The exploration of a computer learning what it is to be human". Nelson also further elaborated that his goal with Karma Fields was to "...find the perfect balance of digital and analogue. The median between digital perfection and human imperfection". Kastle's Feel Real remix was released on July 1.

The deluxe version of BODY RUSH was announced on July 22, with the tracklist revealed a day later, including three live edits, a classical version, and an acoustic version of various songs from the album. It was released three days later on July 26.

That Emotion, a collaboration with Alex Hosking and Nelson's first song post-BODY RUSH, was announced on November 11 and released four days later. It contains a sample from the opening track of BODY RUSH, Ride Through.

2020: UPLOADED and edits series

On January 9, 2020, Nelson released a Karma Fields edit of French electronic duo Sabrina & Samantha's song Khéops. This would be the first of four edits that Nelson would release throughout the year. Later that month, an official remix for Swedish singer Winona Oak was announced. It was released on January 31.

A new HEX show, UPLOADED, was announced for March 14 at Wisdome LA, an "immersive art park" inside of a dome-shaped room. However, due to concerns over the rise in the spread of COVID-19, the show was indefinitely postponed. As compensation, a 10 minute preview of the show was uploaded to YouTube. Despite the show being postponed, Nelson would continue to preview various visuals and clips of the performance throughout the coming months. As of November 2023, a rescheduled date has not been announced.

On April 2, a second edit was released, this time of American folk band Bon Iver's 715 - CRΣΣKS. Two weeks later, the third entry in the series, an edit of Afro-funk artist Jo Tongo's Piani was released. The fourth, and currently final, edit in the series was released on May 21, being an edit of English musician Romare's All Night.

Several months later, on September 18, a cover of Culture Club's Do You Really Want To Hurt Me was announced, with frequent collaborator Shey Baba on vocals. It was released on September 23.

2021: Dreams

Nelson and Baba's third collaboration, Dreams, was announced on January 15, 2021, and released four days later. Apple would end up using it in an advertisement for the Apple Watch Series 6.

On February 26, a remix of Dreams by Associanu was released.

On April 21, Nelson released Minari Theme, a nine and a half minute song inspired by the film Minari.

The song its_OK was released on May 19, presumably the first single from Nelson's upcoming untitled third album as Karma Fields. its_OK first appeared in Nelson's UPLOADED preview. The visuals for the song hint at a return towards the more computer-based aspect of Karma Fields, with the artwork containing several lines of code, which one user in the comments of the YouTube upload had discovered to be a part of the Linux kernel. The visuals for its_OK, as well as subsequent singles, were created by French artist Etienne Jacob.

The second single, a sequel to 2018's CODE 10-31, CODE 10-32, was released on June 23. The most likely meaning of the aforementioned code is "person with gun", though as stated before, police codes vary by county and state.

The third single, a collaboration with Swedish singer Amanda Alexander, .me, was released on July 28, with Acid Stag referring to it as "...a true journey through a sonic odyssey with deepened instrumentation slowly bubbling away until we reach a lively climax".

On August 22, a snippet of an unreleased song, Give Me Some, was posted to Karma Fields' TikTok page. The video contains visuals in the style of Kwok, reminiscent of the visual style of New Age | Dark Age. No release date has been given.

The fourth single, KF:KONG, was released on September 10.

On October 16, Nelson's debut mix as Karma Fields was aired on Insomniac Radio. The mix contained multiple unreleased edits, remixes, and singles. A collaboration between Nelson and American singer Reva DeVito was debuted as the last song. The title was revealed to be Timebomb (initially stylized as TimeBomb).

Timebomb was officially released as the album's fifth and presumably final single on November 26. The presumed album was originally slated for a 2021 release, but was pushed back to 2022.

2022-2023: It Girl and continued activity

Nearly a full year later, Nelson returned as Karma Fields on November 16, 2022 with the announcement of It Girl, a collaboration with Nigerian singer Kah-Lo and supergroup Associanu. It was released on December 2 on Australian dance music label Sweat It Out. Nelson stated, "With 'It Girl' we all wanted to make a song that you can hear anytime and anywhere and it makes you feel confident. It’s really all about confidence for this one, confidence in who you are or who you feel like you are."

A Karma Fields remix of Australian singer and labelmate PRICIE's BIG GIRLS was released on December 16, 2022.

Nelson returned to Insomniac Radio with his second official mix as Karma Fields on December 31, 2022. New edits and remixes were played, including an It Girl remix by American musician Warner Case, as well as an It Girl "refix" by someone that Nelson states that he "[doesn't] know if [he's] allowed to say who made that one yet...or ever".45:43 - 45:49

At the start of 2023, on January 20, 27, and February 3, remixes by Warner Case, Jaded, and Doorly were released, respectively.

A shortened version of Nelson's BIG GIRLS remix was released on February 24.

On June 16, a Karma Fields cover of Me & U by American singer Cassie was released.

On August 11, Me & U (Remixes) was released, with remixes by Harry Hayes, Joel Cantone, Loosie Grind, and Flash.

Two weeks later, on August 25, Get It, a collaboration with Kito and Alida, was released.

On September 7, to mark the 6 year anniversary of frequent collaborator Tove Lo's song Disco Tits, a Karma Fields remix was released, with this being Nelson's second remix for her.

On October 27, after teasing three unreleased songs a week prior, one of them, Pure Happiness, a collaboration with American pop-rock band Transviolet, was released. The remaining two songs, a remix of Torren Foot's Candy, and the "original edit" of Icona Pop's Stick Your Tongue Out (which Nelson had helped write and produce) were both released on December 1. With the latter of the two, Nelson stated, "[...]this was actually the OG version I made for [Icona Pop]. It eventually turned into the final version that first came out in their album, but we always loved the weird simplicity of this one."

On December 7, Nelson announced that the third Karma Fields album would release the following year.

2024-present: Third album

On January 11, 2024, Nelson went live for the first time on the Karma Fields YouTube channel. He went over the project file for a then-upcoming song, a collaboration with Australian duo Kinder, titled Behaviour. He also answered questions from the audience regarding why he decided to show his face (having been a faceless artist as Karma Fields from 2015 to 2022), his time working with Monstercat, how he met Raven Kwok, and more. Nelson also confirmed that the album that was originally scheduled for release in 2021 (which was then pushed to 2022, but never released) and the album scheduled for sometime in 2024 are the same.12:53

Behaviour was released the following day.

Additional projects

Associanu

On July 18, 2020, Tove Lo previewed an unreleased song in an Animal Crossing DJ set, stating that it was "by a group called Associanu, it's not released yet; you're hearing unreleased stuff right now".12:38 - 12:44

They first officially appeared with a remix of Nelson and Baba's Dreams on February 26, 2021. Associanu's debut song, a slightly edited version of the unreleased song previewed the year prior, titled This Is A Song About Dancing, was released on November 5. Credits revealed that Associanu is a group containing five members:

  • Tim Nelson
  • Ebba Nilsson
  • Charlie Twaddle
  • Jesse Selchow
  • Samuel Luria

Their second song, Don't Forget To Breathe, was released on June 17, 2022.

Their third song, a collaboration with Nelson (as Karma Fields) and Kah-Lo, titled It Girl, was announced on November 16, and released on December 2. The group stated, "'It Girl' is meant to capture an attitude – fun, sassy, badass, effortless charm – the sensation of walking into a party, feeling good about yourself, like ‘you are IT…girl.’" Roughly around the time of the release of It Girl, extended versions of the previous two singles appeared on streaming services.

According to Nelson, the backstory behind Associanu is "[...]we just wanted to make music and visuals that are fun for us and that we would want to play for friends and hear at the parties we go to."

It Girl was included on Kah-Lo's debut album, Pain/Pleasure, which was released on September 8, 2023.

Their first song of 2024, a collaboration with Torren Foot titled Sleep When I'm Dead, was released on March 7. A remix by LO'99 was released on April 19.

TimFromTheHouse

Nelson also produces under his real name as TimFromTheHouse (occasionally stylized as Timfromthehouse), having produced for artists such as Tove Lo, Icona Pop, Pussy Riot, and 5 Seconds of Summer.

Discography

Albums

Compilations

Extended plays

Singles

Remixes & covers

Writing and production credits (as TimFromTheHouse)

Footnotes

References


Text submitted to CC-BY-SA license. Source: Tim Nelson (American musician) by Wikipedia (Historical)



 




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