Biography

"I would have paid with my life, whimsically,

for a warm and sturdy corner—

if the flying needle had not tugged me

like a thread across the universe."

—"Life Life" by Arseny Tarkovsky

Flying Needle is the work of Timothy M. Griffiths (he/him). Raised in rural Northern Michigan, Griffiths has spent most of his adult years in debt, chasing ever-elusive opportunities and wages up and down the East Coast. He began his songwriting career in the Boston lofi band ANTIQUES, releasing a prolific four albums between 2006 and 2011. After earning a PhD in English in 2017, Griffiths’s work as a literary studies academic took him to Brooklyn, Charlottesville, and State College, PA. After growing tired of moving around for jobs, he has now settled in the Mt. Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia with his partner of sixteen years, Garen. To pay the bills, he teaches freshman writing.

Flying Needle was born in July of 2023 when Griffiths received a free spinet piano from a neighbor, catalyzing a return to making music for the first time in over a decade. The songs that came out of the piano were sweet and personal, but also political, cynical, and offbeat. Inspired by the tender lite FM song-forms of Todd Rundgren and Fleetwood Mac, the cacophonous electronic production of Sonic Boom and Tim Hecker, and the films of Andrei Tarkovsky and Robert Altman, Flying Needle’s artistic objectives are to destroy apathy, reverse alienation, and awaken the body. “I childishly believe,” Griffiths admits, “That you can do this by writing love songs.” With Flying Needle, Griffiths looks to claim a place in the American songwriting heritage for gay burnouts, malcontents, and bronze-medal winners everywhere.

Inquiries: tim@flying-needle.com