ARTISTS

ZDJ

Timothy Hawks

Genre: Ambient / Drone / Instrumental
Home: Richmond, Virginia, USA
Associated Acts: Horse Culture, Go Tigers!, Consulter, Anteo
For Fans Of: William Basinski, Abul Mogard, Kali Malone, Rafael Anton Isisarri
Favorite B-Ball Player: Damon Stoudamire

Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Youtube

Press Photos at bottom of page

Biography

Richmond, Virginia’s Timothy Hawks performs as ambient instrumentalist ZDJ. Hawks originally began making music in various punk and metal bands, and continues to do so in the gothic-punk band Horse Culture (also on Furious Hooves). His lifelong interest in meditative drone and ambient music led him to experiment with the creation of guitar-based soundscapes early in his writing processes. Hawks began seeking solo shows and releasing drone-sketches to his personal SoundCloud in 2015.

In mid-2018, limited run tape label, Furious Hooves, approached Hawks about releasing an album of solo material. Recording sessions from March to August 2019 in the mountains of Southwest Virginia led to the release his first release as ZDJ, 'Heliopause.' It explores sounds and textures ideal for grounded contemplation. The album is as much influenced by stories of and experiments with occult rituals as it is by ambient and experimental artists Dedekind Cut, Chihei Hatakeyama, Kelly Moran, and William Basinski – as impacted by space exploration as it is by meditation and internal knowledge – 'Heliopause' is a fractal representing the magnificently grandiose infinity of the tangible and the spiritual. It was released on November 11th 2019 digitally worldwide, as well as on limited edition cassette via Furious Hooves.

Since the 2019 release of 'Heliopause,' Timothy Hawks as ZDJ has considered writing music inspired by the length and simplicity of Terry Riley’s ‘In C,’ the unique healing time warp that is Basinski’s 'Disintegration Loops,’ as well as his appreciation of doom and stoner metal albums from bands like Bell Witch and Sleep. Those inspirations found Hawks' desire to release a magickal pamphlet that would share an original and astrologically sound ritual for manifesting intentions that uses his own sobriety as its example. Released on December 6th 2020, his sober-anniversary, 'Sigil Meditation' is, in scope and content, a majestic and impressive composition that, when paired with the ritual, will prove itself life changing. Furious Hooves released ‘Sigil Meditation’ digitally worldwide, as well as on an extremely limited edition cassette handmade-per-order by ZDJ. Upon ordering – with the listener’s consent and a heartfelt promise that ZDJ will deliver good — provide their birthdate, birth time, and birth location (or the date, time, and location of a significant event to them) and ZDJ handmade a sigil on the cassette’s artwork. ‘Sigil Meditation’ is a gorgeous seventy-three minute composition on guitar, Korg synth, midi, and tape loops.