Favorite Shit: Polyphia's Tim Henson on Guitars, Sneakers … – Revolver Magazine

Polyphia mastermind and lead guitarist Tim Henson is all about vibes. I mean, look at him. He’s crafted a meticulous post-modern personal aesthetic: full-blast black-and-gray neck, arm and hand tattoos, killer retro-future mullet, and a streetwear-meets-loungewear-meets-cult leader wardrobe. Henson is equally slick at creating eclectic, out-of-this world musical moments and building riff-heavy tracks that have as much in common with hip-hop production as they do with heavy metal.
Those apex-level skills are on full display throughout Polyphia’s new album, Remember That You Will Die, which finds the virtuosic band upping their already mind-blowing instrumental game to exciting new levels as they run the gamut of moods and genres, from the funk-filled “Reverie” to the trippy “Neurotica.” Mindfulness is at the core of all of Henson’s expressions. He is clearly able to rip an insane, face-melting solo at a moment’s notice, but conscientious enough to never allow his technical proficiency to get in the way of a track’s overall needs.
Take the new song “Bloodbath,” which boasts a guest shot by Deftones’ Chino Moreno. Instead of boxing him in, Henson and the band custom made a sensual, moody composition to accentuate the featured artist’s signature vocals.
Not surprisingly, the same creative flexibility and awareness that permeates Henson’s musical approach also manifests in the space he inhabits. To that end, his Dallas-area home stands as a monument to Henson’s unique vibes — feeling like equal parts modern art museum, well-curated clothing boutique and den of cozy living.
“I think a lot about the philosophical approach of feng shui and always asking: ‘Does a room or space flow energy-wise?'” says Henson. Spend any amount of time checking out his home, which Revolver recently had the pleasure of doing, and you will undeniably feel the positive energy flow of his gorgeous, functional and comfortable space. Below, Henson pulls back the curtain and shares the stories behind some of the key ingredients that create his home’s special vibe.
FAVORITE SPA MOMENT
Jacuzzi Bathtub 
I was living in L.A. for about five years, and … right when the pandemic hit, my girlfriend Gigi and I kind of got lucky and slipped in [to buy] when the interest rates were hella low. … This house was built from nothing. Last year, it was just dirt. It took them about six months to build. Me and Gigi have very similar tastes and almost complementing styles, where they’re like opposites. The common areas, we just decided to go like super neutral. It just makes for a very peaceful, clean feeling.
When I’m on tour … I end up using public bathrooms or venue showers and it’s all disgusting. I wanted home to be kind of a sanctuary in that regard: extremely clean and easy to maintain. So, it was important having a clean peaceful space in here and to have a Jacuzzi bathtub. On the ledge I normally put my weed tray, get the Jacuzzi going and I get high as fuck — then tell Alexa to play peaceful piano music. There’s definitely a spa vibe to everything.
FAVORITE GUITAR
Ibanez TOD10N Tim Henson Signature
I was in Europe, in 2019, in a pawn shop and saw an Ibanez nylon electric guitar and I picked it up. I thought, What the fuck is this thing? I texted Ibanez … and they told me it was a discontinued, commercially unsuccessful model from 1998. I bought it from the pawn shop and took it home. And the inspiration was … a lot of times in rap, they’ll sample old classical guitar. This way I can make my own samples and use them in beats or send them to producers. I started making loops with it and was just like, “This is insane.”
So, I called Ibanez and said, “Hey, I want a signature of this.” And they’re like, “Well, you know, it really didn’t do well in 1998…” I was just like, “What the fuck!” So, we made “Playing God” and I sent it to them, and told them, “If you don’t make this guitar, some other brand will — and you’re going to lose out on a lot of fucking money.”  Then they were like, “Oh shit, yeah let’s do it.”
FAVORITE SPOT TO CHILL
Egg Chair
I watched [fashion designer] Rick Owens’ Vogue documentary, and it really opened my eyes to having a lot of intention with the things that you keep in your home — because everything in his house he just absolutely loves. It’s sort of a minimalistic approach, you know, only keeping items that mean something to you. The outdoor space was important. We have three dogs: a golden retriever, a pug and a miniature dachshund. And they’re all insane. They need space to run around. So having the backyard is nice. I let them out every few hours, and depending on how stressful the day is, I go out and get fucking high. It’s chill to just light up a joint and sink back into that egg chair.
FAVORITE PLACE TO PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER
Recording Studio
Pretty much the entire upstairs is all studio spaces. Before we renovated it was all one giant room, now we have a live room and a main room. It’s completely soundproofed. The nice thing is that we’re in a residential area and can record drums at any time of night. Which is really good for me because I rarely work normal business hours. I’m recording pretty much every day. Somebody always needs some-thing. Whether that’s me working on my own stuff, me working on Polyphia stuff, or me working on other artists or producers’ stuff. Somebody always needs something.
FAVORITE PSYCHOTIC DACHSHUND
Mila
That’s Mila, the dachshund. She’s three years old and psychotic. … She’s just got the most personality, like ever, in a tiny little dog. She’s got tiny legs, if you can’t tell … and her body is really long. She’s a great dog. She blinks with one eye often. I like to think of her eyes and nose as blue-berries. She’s just this big bunch of blueberries looking at you.
FAVORITE SHOES
Adidas Y-3
I’m a huge fan of [designer] Yohji Yamamoto and his Y-3 stuff. The dude is always mad tasteful with it. His silhouettes are so insane, like I’ve been rocking the Kaiwa since 2017. I’ve got them in every color. He’s crazy with it and even just the basics are very functional and comfortable. I want to work with him in the future. I just signed a modeling contract with Mazza Models, so I’m hoping that one day I can be doing campaigns and shit for Y-3.
FAVORITE CAREER KICK-STARTER
Marijuana
The idea was to have a smoking station in every room with a tray you could pick up and move. But I got tired of doing that. So, I just got more trays … I started smoking weed in eighth grade. It became a huge thing in my life. I started selling it in ninth grade. I also got my first possession [arrest then] because I fucking live in Texas. That kind of sparked my career: I was on probation and extremely grounded. I pretty much just went to school and came home … for an entire year. I wasn’t allowed to have people over or go to friends’ houses. So I pretty much decided I was going to get really, really, really good at guitar.
FAVORITE SATANIC KNIT SWEATER
El Diablo
I’ve always felt like there’s nothing in this world that is for me, and that’s where a lot of the inspiration to create comes from. I design a lot of our merch from the perspective of what I would wear. A lot of the pieces in my closet are my favorite Polyphia pieces. Others were gifted from various brands, and then others are statement pieces I’ll wear in music videos. I think this shirt is called El Diablo and it’s just fucking Satan on a goddamn knit jumper. It is extremely uncomfortable to wear but it looks really fucking cool.
With the rise of fast fashion it became easy to have a ton of clothes that you don’t give a shit about. That’s something I’ve been trying to be mindful of: How many pieces do I actively like and cherish in my wardrobe.
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