Tim Allen

Tim Allen

In this interview, Tim Allen shares how covid effect him and his band for negative and a little bit of positive.

Detroit Historical Society

Detroit Historical Society

en-US

Tim Allen

Kevin Hawthorne

21:39

Kevin Hawthorne: Hello, this is Kevin Hawthorne with the Detroit Historical Museum for the oral history on Covid 19. And today I'm joined with may you introduce yourself.

Tim Allen: Hi, everybody. My name is Tim Allen. I'm a Michigan native and local musician.

Kevin Hawthorne: Could you please spell your name for the record?

Tim Allen: Tim. T i m. Timothy T i m o t h y if necessary. And, Allen A double l e n.

Kevin Hawthorne: All right. And, just starting up, first of all, what area of the metro Detroit area do you live in?

Tim Allen: I currently reside in Saint Clair Shores. So kind of kind of over on the east side, just outside the city.

Kevin Hawthorne: And how long have you lived in that area?

Tim Allen: Oh, goodness. Eight years now. 8 or 9.

Kevin Hawthorne: What other areas of Detroit or metro Detroit have you lived in?

Tim Allen: Depending on how generous you are about metro Detroit. I was born in Port Huron, Michigan, and I lived there until my early ish, mid 20s, whereupon I got a job out of town. And then, just for convenience sake, I moved in with a ex of mine down river. So I went straight from being kind of northeast to right down in Taylor. And when that kind of fell apart, I wound up in the shore's after that. So I've been kind of both sides of the map at that point.

Kevin Hawthorne: And what is your career in.

Tim Allen: Marketing?

Kevin Hawthorne: And, where is your. You don't have to obviously give the exact location, but where is the company you work for based out of?

Tim Allen: Well, so funny enough, I kind of can't because it's in Campus Martius. It's the large green building right behind the, park, that restaurant there. So it's like, right in the middle of Detroit.

Kevin Hawthorne: So how often are you in the city?

Tim Allen: In the City? Pretty often my wife and I. Honest to goodness, it's a few times a month at the least, right? Like, my wife is an avid visitor to Eastern Market. There's a lot of, like, breweries in the in the city we like. There's a lot of arcades. I try to make regular appearances at, the vast majority of the concerts I go to anymore are within Detroit city limits to some degree. So I'm there, honestly, at least every weekend if we're really pushing it. But several times a month at least.

Kevin Hawthorne: All right. And so switching into the Covid, questions, do you remember where you were first? Well, you're kind of first thought is when you were, told about Covid.

Tim Allen: So I think, like a lot of people, it definitely sounded like, wow, that sucks for Italy kind of thing, right? Like, it seemed like it seemed like one of those. And I don't mean to sound heartless, but, you know, growing up because I was old enough that I was around for, like, bird flu scares, mad cow disease, stuff like that. And it always just kind of sounded like one of those things that happened to someone else, quote unquote. So I started hearing about I was like, wow, that's a real shame. I sure hope somebody finds a cure for that soon. This is the most I have to think about it. And then I tried to live the next two months of my life as though I hadn't received that information.

Kevin Hawthorne: But what was the biggest difference from like, when Covid started the pandemic? Truly first start with like lockdown. What was your experience like with that, with your job and with your general life?

Tim Allen: So, so I kind of realized stuff was getting real when I started seeing a lot of like concerts getting shut down. And then suddenly my job tells me we're working from home. I missed the phone call. I was on my way to it. I was working, I was working for a different place at the time. That's technically still my same. Still my same job, because we got acquired the other places in a much smaller office in Clawson. That was about halfway there when I realized that most of my phone calls from my boss. Turns out they were just handing out a bunch of, like, desktops and monitors to people to take back home because we were going to have to work remote for, you know, an indeterminate length of time at that point. So that's kind of when I started noticing and I was like, hey, cool. Working from home is kind of sick. I'm not really having a bad time. I sure hope, you know, nobody catches the disease. I'm sure this will all blow over in a few months. And then, funny enough, my wife girlfriend at the time, and I actually had plans to move in together that year because her lease was up in April. So, you know, as things kind of progressed fairly quickly, as I remember, suddenly we found ourselves in the position of having to, like, pack up two apartments and move them into one place together during like the pretty much the first like full month of the lockdown as it was in the early days. So I think my biggest memory is yeah, just like drastically shifting my earliest memories, I should say, or like a drastically shifting work situation and then suddenly, oh yeah, cool. I still have to like, buy boxes and move. That's fun.

Kevin Hawthorne: How was moving during Covid?

Tim Allen: Not not great. I mean, like, moving is never fun, right? So I will say the actual effort put into the move not nearly as bad. I have a very vivid memory of being outside a Home Depot for half an hour. Easy. Just waiting, you know, in line for people to kind of filter in and out of the store for us to go in there and buy a whole ton of boxes and like at that point, kind of being gripped with the twin feelings of like having anxiety about accidentally getting exposed to to Covid and then being deeply irritated that I'd been in line that long because I was in Detroit moving in the first place. Right? So I and I admit that is kind of a privilege take on it, right? It hadn't particularly affected me that much to that point, other than being a. Inconvenience might not be the word, but like it was just sort of an impediment to stuff I would have had to have done anyway, right? Like we would have had to move in together whether or not it was, you know, Covid times or had that already blown over or something.

Kevin Hawthorne: Right. And you mentioned being a musician. How was the pandemic affected your musical numbers?

Tim Allen: So honestly, that's probably the thing. It's sort of like. If not ruined again, seems kind of strong, because I do want to make clear that I'm aware that I was incredibly lucky and had a much easier time of go of the pandemic than a lot of people, especially a lot of people I know and felt bad about. But like. The thing about my life that's probably the most affected by the pandemic was trying to be a musician because, like, shows were getting canceled left and right. We'd already, you know, we're a band that tries to plan ahead. I don't wanna make a sound like we're some huge deal or something, but, you know, at kind of our stage and especially at the ages, we all are as old men with day jobs, we do have to kind of plan pretty far ahead. So we'd already had some really cool stuff scheduled for like that spring and that summer. And then there was the initial sort of certainty of being like, all right, so the numbers aren't really going down. I'm assuming nothing we had lined up this year is going to wind up happening, didn't wind up happening. We saw a bunch of our friends get like stranded in the middle of tours because suddenly a bunch of stuff got canceled. They just had to, you know, drive across the country with no shows for gas money or anything. A bunch of our friends were like, absolutely convinced, like live music was never coming back. But we were absolutely convinced, like the service industry was never coming back, so on and so forth. But. I think just sort of learning how to like, deal with those sort of changes and accept the fact that this year wasn't going to go, wasn't going to go like anybody wanted it to, clearly. But just considering we already had like shows lined up and plans to write and record and stuff, we had to come to grips with the fact that it was all going to look a lot different. Very early on, we were lucky enough to have played three pretty cool shows right before the lockdown. I can't remember what order they happened in, but we had a really cool show somewhere in Detroit that January that we played the Hamtramck Music Festival that year, back when that still happened, kind of like quarter one. And then I think the last one was a show at the Pike Room up in Pontiac. And then I'm pretty sure like. Within a week of that show. I'm pretty sure that's when the order came down to just like, stop doing stuff, you know?

Kevin Hawthorne: And, what was the first show you played? After, like, the vaccine rollout and, like, it was starting to be like, okay, we can if we're careful, we can have live events. Are you. If you don't remember the exact one, that's okay.

Tim Allen: I have there's a couple, so I, it's funny enough. So the pandemic kind of had a few weird kind of fringe benefits for the band, one of which being we actually, adopted a fourth member, a gentleman named Brendan, who we known for some time. We used to help us with a bunch of recordings and stuff that we love very dearly. We were very slowly working on some new stuff with keyboard in it, and he he played keyboard and he offered his services for a live stream we were actually doing from his studio. So depending on how you wanted to find concert, I know we did a live stream from Brendan's House venue that he joined us in on keyboard on, and that kind of led to him kind of being more involved in the band and attending practice and kind of writing keyboard parts, both for the new songs and for stuff we'd already written and recorded. And then I believe our first encounters in person show. And I could have this wrong, but I believe our first in-person show wouldn't have been until November of 2021, when our friends in a band called the Cybertron Express came back to kind of make up a date. They were going to play in Michigan, in 2020, like they had a tour laid out. Obviously that didn't happen. They kind of rescheduled some stuff for like really late 2021. Kind of is like a I've joked about it. I've talked about it with, them after the fact. They refer to themselves as a guinea pig band because they were one of the first bands to try doing, like, something outside their home state at the time. And I believe that was our first show back. So it would have been. Yeah, like end of the year, 2021, kind of early November sometime.

Kevin Hawthorne: And what was that like playing a show where, like, you know, vaccines had happened, but also there were still people were still on pretty high alert. Yeah. It was it was kind of a mixed bag.

Tim Allen: Right. Because I think and I can only kind of speak for myself and some other people I kind of talked to at the time, but I think there was sort of a feeling that like, hey, cool, the vaccines are we're all set, right? But then you start to hear about like the delta variant and stuff like that. We kind of started learning more how Covid behaves. So the band and the venue still both enforced mask wearing. I believe the venue was checking vaccination cards at that point, so there was still a lot of anxiety about like, hey, we kind of don't know what Covid looks like. I don't know if like, I don't want to expose the touring band to anything. I know that we want to expose me to anything. I am up there. I'm the singer. I have to be singing with my mask off. Unfortunately, I would have loved to have been able to do it with a mask on, but like, I was like testing, like a fiend leading up to it because I didn't want to get anybody sick. But but I guess all that is to say that that first show back, it was a real mixed bag of emotions because it's like it's a pretty big band that we've been friends with for a while. We were really looking forward to playing with them. It was really cool that this worked out, that this was kind of our big kind of comeback party after everything, because we'd already like, recorded and released some material earlier that year that we hadn't been able to, like, play on stage in front of anybody. So it was kind of that, that joy of like a lot of our friends were there, right? A lot of people we hadn't seen in a long time, even before the pandemic or like, we're really good friends with that band. So we were happy to hang out with them again. And, a lot of it was that. But then a lot of it was still the fear in the back of our heads. We're like, all right, so we know everyone in here has their shots because they couldn't have gotten in here otherwise. But like, I don't know what the Delta variant is. I don't know what it's going to look like in January. We're really close to the holidays. I don't want to get anyone too sick for like family Thanksgivings or whatever. So it's a real I'm not saying I regret doing it by any means, like maybe had I been a little more aware of what the rest of 2021 and some of 2022 would have looked like, I might have been slightly more hesitant to have started playing, but at the time, I think a lot of it was just kind of relief that it was still happening, right? Like, hey, it's a venue we really like. It didn't closed. A band we like is still together, we're still together. In fact, we're so together. We hired a new guy. So I it was kind of that for a lot of it, at least.

Kevin Hawthorne: And you said you did a live stream. How was that experience like when you're not able to play live, but you were able to, like, kind of have a kind of by proxy experience?

Tim Allen: Yeah, no. And it was it was super interesting. It was less awkward than I assumed. Like you're correct in that it's drastically different from playing to a live audience because we couldn't even have, like, you know, a few friends behind the camera just clapping to be polite, right? Like, it was literally honest to goodness. It was almost just like we were inviting a bunch of strangers on Twitch to watch us practice. And now that I've said that out loud, that's a nightmare scenario for me. But like, we had fun. People in the chat seemed to respond well to the new songs, like I forget exactly what it was. But according to again, Brandon, because he was running the stream as well, he's he broadcasts everything for that house venue. Honest Twitch channel. Seemed like we had pretty good metrics. A lot of people tuned in, were happy to see us and hear the new stuff. So like. As soon as we kind of got past that initial weird sort of camera shyness in a way, right? Like it was pretty funny and it almost sounded like kind of the horror stories you heard about, like people filming stuff for MTV back in the day. Like, I was just reading a story about how I don't know if for some live MTV special, some where Radiohead was forced to, like, filmed themselves performing creep like seven times and even just doing like a set of different songs in front of a camera was nerve wracking enough for me. I couldn't imagine what that's like, so it was fun. I admit it's not something I'd be in a huge hurry to do again, just because I'd have to reactivate myself to do it. But I'm glad we did it at the time. And I don't know, it just felt kind of nice. It was the closest thing we'd had to a show in a while.

Kevin Hawthorne: And did you only do one live stream during the pandemic?

Tim Allen: We did I don't remember exactly when it happened, but kind of what happened was. We did one. We were going to do another one that we were going to do, like kind of like a crappy, ironic, like Christmas special kind of thing for I think we were all going to. Someone was going to have a lot of ugly sweaters on. We might have had like a tree or a fireplace in the background. Right. But around the holidays. I want to say this probably was late 2021. I'm not sure now though, but like around whatever it was going to happen, there was kind of a spike in whatever the current variant was that was kind of hitting certain people above and beyond whatever the vaccine was covering, and I won't name names, but somebody in the band had very, very, prior to the pandemic actually had like a pretty major health issue, right? Like health scare, health issue. And we were like, all right. So. One of the four of us is immunocompromised. We're all still vaccinated, but like, there's a new thing going around. I don't know if it's even safe for, like, the four of us to be in a room right now at this exact moment, kind of outside, you know, because we're all kind of Covid bubble friends, right? Like, you know, to hang out in backyards or practice in, like, a huge basement with masks on far apart or whatever, but like, it didn't seem worth it to do a second one. So I'm pretty sure the only one we did was that prior one, just due to, you know, again, kind of re rising numbers at the time, I guess.

Kevin Hawthorne: And with your experience with Covid? You said you got the vaccine, but despite that. Was there a time in the past 40 years that you, contracted Covid or anyone, you know, contracted Covid and had any serious ramifications?

Tim Allen: So serious ramifications? No. Again, I won't name names. I feel like I feel like I'm spreading a lot of accidental gossip. There was a very, very big, music festival that we got the chance to play the main stage of back in 2022. And it was kind of funny because not all of us who went there got it, but a number of us who went there got it. And that was that would have been the last time of knock on wood. Of course, that's the last time I've had it to this date. I had it very early 2020, I'm going to say March, maybe February had a very early 2020. And then I caught it again at that convention because, you know, this was like Labor Day weekend. So it's right in that kind of bad spot when like variants would start cropping up. But the vaccines were released to kind of combat them, you know, because I know that's sort of like an October or November sort of thing. So I got that the second time and unfortunately my wife got it from me. Neither of us had any like long term repercussions, right? Like neither of us have had long Covid or anything. She kind of had the symptoms a little worse and a little longer than me, just because her obviously she would have gotten it after me. So by the time I was kind of like over it and awful antibodies, she would still be sort of in the thick of it. But then also, unfortunately, just due to her kind of constitution, she tends to get sick a little harder and a little easier than I do. So. I haven't had any lasting ramifications. Luckily, the member of our band who is immunocompromised hasn't had any lasting ramifications. I've kept up on the vaccines. We've all kept up on the vaccines, despite one of us having a real, hilarious and unfortunate thing about needles. But but no, I'm pretty lucky, and that's the worst of it. I've had it all of twice. And I suppose it was. That's kind of on me for being in, like, a huge crowd of people, even if the majority of them are masked up. There's only so much you can kind of do with a crowd that size. I was just too excited to not take that opportunity, and I, I had a lot of coughing to do as a result.

Kevin Hawthorne: And just in general, with the rollout of Covid and the lockdown and such, how did you feel? It was handled on a national level. And how did you feel it was handled and the more like state, local level.

Tim Allen: So, so on the state level, I guess. And this was something that kind of only became clear as time went on, or even kind of in hindsight. Right. But it's like. I don't I don't mean to perhaps make my political affiliations too obvious during this discussion, but I was incredibly grateful that we had Whitmer in charge because she handle it in exactly the way I sort of hope somebody would right, like you'd hear all these stories about, like, other states where suddenly it's like, oh, wow, it's really weird. You're all in this tight of a space, even despite it being like a bar patio, quote unquote. Right? Or like, wow, it is baffling that all these people are back in the office or going back to school or something, because unfortunately, so much of it was left up to the governor right now. They're going back to that idea about me betraying my political leanings. At the national level, I do not feel is particularly well handled for most, if not all, of 2020. And then as soon as 2021 rolled around and things seem to there seem to be people involved that had a little better understanding of the situation and a little better understanding of how to manage the logistics of getting the vaccine to people. Then what what kind of creating the vaccine would entail and what continue to update vaccine would entail. I do think the national response got better over time. But, at a state level, I do think Michigan was a lot better off than a lot of them could have been, or than we could have been. And a lot of states were, I should say. And. Although it was kind of a bummer to know my sole option for getting out of the house would have been to, like, drink outside at Atwater. If I get one of two tables spaced ten feet apart outside in the, you know, 40 degree weather on the patio. But, you know, once everything kind of got back to normal, I was sort of grateful for the restrictions, you know?

Kevin Hawthorne: All right. And is there anything, that we discussed that you would like to talk about, that we haven't brought up yet?

Tim Allen: No. You know what not specifically. I guess I'm just sort of grateful that, as I kind of mentioned up top, that my Covid experience was so comparatively uneventful, right? Because, like, I've definitely had friends don't like lost loved ones specifically because of Covid or, like, kind of related complications or core morbidities. Definitely a lot of friends, including a member of this band who still works in the service industry, who, had a real hard time kind of eking by livelihood even with, you know, like the unemployment insurance and stuff. So I did in kind of a strange way, I did feel incredibly fortunate and privileged that my life was in a position that like, all right, cool. I still have my job. My wife and I are living together, so I'm not, you know, kind of grappling with loneliness or disconnection in any way. And if the worst thing about it is my band kind of has to take some time off from practicing till we can get back together to write a bunch of stuff, and we did. I didn't have anything else going on, so we want to come out with a bunch of songs over the next year or two after that, just because I was at home and I owned a guitar and I wasn't like a whole lot else going on. So I think the fact we were able to kind of come out of it as productive as we have, I'm incredibly blessed for, and I guess I'm just I just wanted to express my gratitude just to the world at large. That. I could. I acknowledge I could have had a much worse time, and I have nothing but sympathy for people that did.

Kevin Hawthorne: All right. And one final question. With this, experience with Covid, many people have said like this is a once in a century type thing, but despite that, are you have any like, fears about or any concerns about something like this happening again in the future? In your lifetime?

Tim Allen: In my lifetime, I'm not going to say no because saying never is. You know what got us into this mess in the first place, right? So if one of these things does happen again while I'm still alive, I guess I'm going to be at least grateful that I sort of know how to handle it. Right? Because, hey, I did this once. Lockdown sucked, but by God, it's not my first rodeo. I don't I don't see it kind of getting to that point again, at least not with our current understanding of, you know, disease and, everything. But I will say, if anything else, I do think it's made me kind of a little more aware of, like a disease in general. Right? Like, I don't mean to make it sound like I'm some kind of, like, hypochondriac or something, but I've suddenly the whole thing made me a lot more aware of, like, oh crap, I really do need to keep up on my flu shots because even though I'm, you know, comparatively healthy for my age and it doesn't necessarily bother me too much when I have the flu, I don't want to start passing it around because the flu could be way more detrimental to somebody else. Right. So while I don't think something like that is going to happen, or at least I don't have personally like huge concerns that it will, I do think it's made me a lot more concerned about just illness in general, and kind of more conscious of the impact that one's health can have on their immediate surroundings. Because, you know, when you're a kid like, oh, my stomach hurts sick. I got a free day home from school. If dad catches my stomach bug and he can't work for a second, I'm like, that's going to be rough times for everybody because it's affecting him worse than it did me. So it's it's made me kind of grateful for that understanding. And I've been I've tried to keep that in mind. As you know, we enter cold season or whatever.

Kevin Hawthorne: All right. Well, thank you so much for your time today, Tim. Yeah.

Tim Allen: No, it's been great talking to you.