Exposed Vocals just did an interview with Tim from ‘3 Foot High’

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

Tim 3 Foot High:  We are all originally from the Chelmsford and Billericay area.  For me personally I was always surrounded by music at a young age with an older Brother and Mum who like a various array of stuff.  We had family friends who were musicians and I just connected with music on an emotional level early on.
Paul and Richard and I have played in bands together and separately for many years and James was a novice when we started 3 Foot High back in 2014 although he’s certainly not a novice anymore.

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

Tim 3 Foot High:  I think there’s a few tips really.  Firstly, make sure you can play your instruments and really work well as a group. If the music doesn’t sound connected and well-constructed, then people in the audience will switch off.  Second, I would say that you need to play music and gigs in a way that makes you happy, that will rub off on the crowd if they see you enjoying yourselves. Thirdly in terms of getting gigs and airplay a lot of it comes down to persistence and badgering of people who run venues or put on shows.  Keep going with self-promotions anyway you can, eventually people will notice and then you can use those shows as an advertisement for your band to get bigger shows and more exposure.  I’m not going to lie though; it can be a slog sometimes.

Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?

Tim 3 Foot High:  Occasionally it happens, usually a tuning issue more than a mistake but if it’s that bad then I say stop, correct it and start again.  If it’s not so bad or you slightly mess up a chord or something, then I wouldn’t stress about it too much.  Most mistakes will only be noticed by you and the band, the standard fan probably won’t even notice.   But it’s also a great way to learn and improve.  You will learn a lot more from when things don’t go so well against when they do.

Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?

We don’t tour as such although we normally get a host of gigs in a short period of time.  Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to tour but with family commitments it’s hard and since the COVID lockdowns I’ve noticed venues seem to be a lot more reserved on who they let play at their venues.  If you can’t guarantee a crowd which in turn guarantee’s them a financial return, then they’ll go elsewhere. I totally get that though, COVID times were hard especially for music venues. It does however make it difficult to get a string of gigs going.
We played a lot of shows over the course of the band’s history though with all kinds of other acts.  We played on the same bill as Scouting for Girls once and even had their backstage area to ourselves before they arrived.

Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?

Tim 3 Foot High:  If you’re talking equipment then I don’t know if there’s any plans for upgrades at the moment as I’ve just bought a new Sub-Zero guitar to go with my trusty Les Paul Epiphone and Marshall amp.  I’ve got a couple of others kicking around as well but it’s always great buying a new guitar. I use a variety of pedals which are mostly Behringer as they seem to produce the dirty distortion I need. I know Paul (drummer) is often upgrading his cymbals and the other guy shave back up guitars but at the moment what we’ve got works for us just fine, if it’s not broken and all that.

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

Tim 3 Foot High:  There’s a whole bunch of ways.  We pay a little to get our music played on local radio stations around the world, we pay a little to get our songs onto Spotify playlists and we also pay a little for Facebook promotions.  Like everything, the more money you throw at it the better the results.  In terms of free promotion then social media is a good way to start, but of course, without a following nobody will see you.  Gigs are a great way to get more followers if you remember to plug yourselves when and where you can.  Good artwork for social media is essential as well, look big and people will believe it. 
But in a similar way to getting gigs it’s mostly about persistence, keep pushing and plugging away and you’ll see results.

Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?

Tim 3 Foot High:  Ah now that’s a question! It would have to be Wembley stadium with all the amazing musical history it has.  In terms of who with, that list could be pretty massive.  I’d have to say Taylor Hawkins on drums, what an absolute legend he was.  Flea on bass, Slash on guitar and probably Dave Grohl somewhere in there as well.  But I’m now leaving out Angus Young and Corey Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Gary Clark Jr…man, there’s too many I could choose from.

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

Tim 3 Foot High:  Well, we released our latest album Blood, Sweat & Fears earlier this year so we’ve been busy promoting that, but we are already working on a new album.  A couple of the guys have recently had new additions to their families, so we’ve had to hold back on gigs and touring just now.  So, I’ve been writing a whole host of songs in the meantime, and we’ve had some really good writing sessions lately.  I think we already have seven or eight new or reworked tracks ready to go.  Hopefully we’ll have another album out in the spring of 2023. 

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

Tim 3 Foot High:  Well sadly we don’t make enough money from the band to go this full time, so I know exactly what we’d do!  Data Analyst work for and Insurance company, Quantity Surveying, IT hardware and software sales and…actually, I’m not sure what Richard does these days.  Something incredibly dull like the rest of us no doubt!
The fact that we all have families and responsibilities and still manage to crack on with the band is a testament to our dedication to music though.  It’s not easy fitting it all in around our busy lives but I honestly don’t know what we’d do without it.  I’d have to get another hobby, I guess.

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in the next year or so?

Tim 3 Foot High:  We are currently looking to organise a handful of gigs before 2022 is out so keep a look out for those!  We are as I mentioned looking to get back into the studio to record another album which is the part I enjoy the most.  Hearing your songs spring to life is superb.

Richard is pretty knew to the band having only joined us this year so we are still in the process of getting him up to speed and also rewriting how we play a lot of the existing tracks now that we have an extra guitarist.

Exposed Vocals: Any Shout-outs?

Tim 3 Foot High:  Talon at Gallow Wood Media of course, he recorded and produced our last album and also produced our music video for We’ve Come So Far.  He’s a great young chap with bags of talent and knowledge, we’ve worked with different studios and producers before but he’s a stand out by far.