TIERGARTEN is the name that songwriter John Topley uses to send his topical electronic pop music out into the world. Inspired by a love of synthesised pop and dance music, his work melds commentary on contemporary events or character studies with classic songwriting values. Rounded out with guest singers and musicians, the TIERGARTEN project showcases his songs.
Topley chose the name TIERGARTEN after reading it in a novel and liking that it was a singular mysterious-sounding German word, like Kraftwerk. Raised in Lincolnshire, England, he was inspired by the Christmas gift of a Yamaha home keyboard whilst in his teens. After learning to play Pet Shop Boys, Beatles and Bee Gees songs amongst others, he graduated to writing his own synth-pop and dance music oriented material aged 16. There followed an intensely creative songwriting period of a few years and Topley used his savings from his first job to buy his first synthesiser. Then his life changed direction and he focused on a career as a computer programmer and making music was set aside.
In 2017 Topley rediscovered his passion for creating music and also that things had moved on considerably. Music-making equipment that had previously been out of financial reach was now affordable. The Internet and digital technology had changed the entire music industry and recording and releasing his material was now possible, so that’s exactly what Topley did.
TIERGARTEN’s debut album Breaking Point is released on 16th February 2024.
