Real name: Tim Grose

Birthday & Birthplace: April 2nd in Broken Hill, Australia

Instrument: Lead Vocals, Guitars and Keyboards.

Other instruments played: Bass and pretty ordinary (read: BAD!) drums these days!

Influences (playing): George Lynch (ex-Dokken, The Lynch Mob), Vito Bratta (White Lion), Gary Moore, KK Downing & Glenn Tipton (Judas Priest), Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden, Glen Drover (Megadeth).

Influences (singing): Geoff Tate (Queensryche), Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden), Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween), Tony Martin (Black Sabbath), Don Dokken (Dokken), John Farnham.

Influences (song-writing): Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Helloween, (old) Metallica, Slayer, Duran Duran, Pseudo Echo, Koo De Tah, Blind Guardian, Kreator, Gamma Ray, Dokken, Queensryche, Leatherwolf.

What bands were you in prior to LORD? Dungeon, obviously, and few bedroom bands that never did anything at all.

Have you been involved in any other projects whilst in LORD? Yeah - I played guitar on a techno album by Edrenalin (thanx for the royalties, guys! *grin*), guitars, bass, keyboards & programming for an excellent but weird-ass project called The Skinners, guest vocals for FROMBEYOND, guest vocals and bass for Fury, guitars and vocals for King Oath, guest vocals and programming for Ilium, guest lead guitars and vocals for Dark Order, various paid session vocals, guitars and production duties on projects around the place, and I'm planning to do an 80s inspired hard rock / AOR album sometime soon! Busy, busy, busy!

How long have you been playing? I've been singing (sort of) since about 1985 but didn't seriously take it up until Dungeon started in late 1989, playing guitar since 1987.

What gear do you currently use? Amp / effects: Warwick ProFet 3.2 rack mounted 300 watt bass amp, PODxt processor with the "Metal" amp pack (+ Roland FC50 foot controller), Shure UT Series UHF wireless guitar pack. Speakers: Messiah 300w slant quad (basically an Australian Marshall clone). Guitars: main - Fryer Hybrid IV custom guitar (based on my Hybrid III design) with Jackson J90c and Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pickups, Kahler 2600 bridge, custom art and fret inlays - every aspect of this guitar was custom built specifically for me... it's perfect! :), backup - DPI Hybrid III custom guitar (I built this with a friend, in fact) with Jackson J90c pickups, Kahler 2600 bridge, Strap: DSL Straps with Schaller strap locks, Strings: Dean Markley Blue Steels .009 - .046. Picks: Jim Dunlop .73mm Nylon.

Is your current instrument the one you started on? Oddly enough, guitar and vocals were the last things I took up! I started off wanting to be a singer but was too shy to actually do it until I was forced into the situation years later, then I took up keyboards, then drums, then bass, then guitar. Somehow, guitar ended up as my main instrument and then vocals.

What prompted you to start playing? Vocals - watching Simon Le Bon in Duran Duran's 'The Reflex' clip, believe it or not! I thought he looked so cool, I wanted to do that too! That got me into a lot of 80s pop bands and I just started singing along with them... then I discovered Queensryche! Wow! Guitar - interestingly enough, I just found out I could play one night when I borrowed a friend's guitar (same thing happened with drums and keyboards too) and I sort of figured out a few songs from one of the bedroom bands I was trying to form in lieu of having a guitarist who could actually play (*grin*)... It was probably really Brian Canham from Psuedo Echo that made me really want to play when I first heard the solo in 'Try' from their 'Love An Adventure' album. Once again, then I discovered Queensryche and Dokken and everything changed forever! :)

What is the best thing about being in LORD? Several things, but the fans are the number one thing! Seeing the look of enjoyment on everyone's face during a show has kept me doing this stuff since 1989. As was with Dungeon, we have some of the most genuine, loyal fans in the world and for that, I can't even start to thank them enough! The other big thing is that this feels like a band at last - there's no grudges, no one is here to further just their own agenda and everyone's fun to hang out with. Pretty cool!

What is the worst thing? Lack of money, time, life, etc., long periods of sitting in a tour bus / flights, dealing with assholes who want to screw you over at every opportunity, industry politics (especially record label politics), audio editing (especially drum tracks! ARGH!), losing a lot of freedoms of speech in a public arena and unfair criticism by people who don't know you, but think they do.

Favorites:

• Foods: Mexican (especially Fajitas), Indian, lamb loin chops, vintage cheese, mini spring rolls.
• Drinks: JD & cola, Jim Beam & cola (especially Beam's Rye and Beam's Gold - yum!), Diet Coke, water and extra, extra strong brewed black coffee!
• Movies / TV shows: Movies: All of the Star Wars movies, the later Star Trek movies, Lord Of The Rings, Toxic Avenger, Return Of The Killer Tomatoes, Spaceballs & any silly 'spoof' movie, The Naked Gun series, any good scary movie (The Exorcist, Poltergeist, etc.). TV: Southpark, Get Smart, The Simpsons, Family Guy, Scrubs, House, Medium, 24 (when I get time to watch TV!).
• Books: Anything from the Dragonlance series (especially the first 6 books, and The Legend Of Huma), The Death Gate Cycle (by Weis & Hickman) and all of Matthew Riley's books - that guy is amazing and an Aussie too!
• Bands: Everything I listed so far as influences, plus Sinergy, Kreator, John Williams & Danny Elfman (OK, so they're composers and not bands), Dio, WASP, Megadeth, King Diamond, Alice Cooper, Soilwork, Tania Moran, X Japan.
• Sports: V8 Supercars, Australian Pro-Wrestling
• Websites: Besides the LORD site and UltimateMetal.com forums, anything with the word 'nude' in it's gotta be a winner (*grin*), various other forums, various music websites, Cakewalk's user forums and anything to do with software, programming or recording - I like to get as much info as I possibly can...

What is something about yourself that would surprise people who don't really know you yet? Despite the fact that I can play a few different instruments and I'm a pretty damn good typist (I can type heaps faster than I can write, in fact!), I am a total, uncoordinated klutz! I can't drive or swim so if you want to kill me, get me to drive a car along the side of a swimming pool! HAHA! I'm also a pretty good Mexican cook - my Fajita's are excellent! (Believe me, that surprises ME more than anyone!)

Have you got any hobbies outside of LORD? Computers (building, programming, etc.), video games (Unreal Tournament, Duke Nukem 3D and classic arcade games), reading (when I can), teaching guitar to enthusiastic people (when I have time)... Um... is sleeping a hobby? ;)

Do you have a personal website? I guess the closest thing would be my MySpace page.

Any other information you wish to divulge? Well, I'm engaged to an awesome girl and loving life. :) I enjoy really politically incorrect jokes a lot, but sadly can't tell them too often because people don't seem to understand that that's all they are - jokes. I do kid around a lot but when it comes down to it, I'm deadly serious when it comes to my career and my future... if you hang crap on my band, stand in my way or slow me down in any way, you'd better be prepared for a fight! Believe it or not, I'm actually a very shy and private person in real life, regardless of how I may come across when I'm being 'Lord Tim'.

Final comments: Thanx for sitting through this novel of a personal profile! HAHA! Thanx to all of the Dungeon fans who are now supporting LORD, also to everyone that comes to our shows, our site, our forum, etc. - you guys (and girls, of course) are the reason I'm still doing this stuff after so long and for that, I'm eternally grateful! So, thanx - you rule!! Get out there and support Aussie metal - we have some of the best talent down here in the entire world, folks!