THE QUADRANGLE It’s all about rhythm
Rhythm has always held a fascination for Old Boy Tim Sellars (13022). “Even when I was young, I was always into a sense of rhythm, always tapping my foot and trying to figure things out.”
One of the earliest photos of Tim is as a four-year-old striking a set of rubbish tins with sticks, so it’s no surprise that at 29-years-old he works as a professional musician and music teacher. “I wasn’t in the choir or school productions, and the jazz band then was something entirely different to what it is today. But I formed a rock band when I was at College and it was fun, learning cover songs, writing originals, and I think playing in a band for the first time triggered a real love for music. Greg Donaldson, who was a tutor at College, was very influential,” Tim recalls.
“By the start of Year 12 I definitely knew I wanted to go to the CPIT (now ARA) Jazz School and study for a Bachelor of Music majoring in jazz performance.” So he did – spending five years between there and the University of Canterbury and gaining an honours degree majoring in jazz performance. “While studying I was starting to do a variety of gigs around the city and then I landed a job with Holland America on their cruise ships.” For two years Tim took his cymbals and sticks and travelled the world on board various liners – to Alaska, Canada, the Caribbean, Northern
Europe and Australia, in four-and- a-half-month stints drumming in the showband, (which included backing the cast shows and guest entertainers) and in the jazz/ ballroom trio. “It was great fun, and an awesome way to travel, play music every night, make money, and pay off my student loan! The crew were all nationalities, including Europeans, Americans, Canadians, South Africans, and the odd Kiwi and Aussie. One of them happened to be an American dancer whom I have since married.” Coming back to Christchurch between cruise ship contracts meant
Christ’s College Canterbury
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