Tim Sommer is a journalist, musician, record producer, and former MTV and VH1 producer, news VJ, and specialty VJ. He has released records as a member of Hugo Largo, Hi-Fi Sky, Uncommon Folk, Even Worse, and the Glenn Branca Ensemble. He began his professional journalism career with Trouser Press magazine at age 16, when he cold-called his favorite alternative rock magazine and talked them into hiring him as an office boy. Within a few months he was a columnist for the magazine. Since then, he contributed regularly to the Village Voice, Sounds (UK), the Daily News, The Washington Post, Mojo, the LA Weekly, The Observer, Rolling Stone, Spin, and many others. In the early and mid-1980s he was a popular local New York City radio DJ specializing in Punk Rock and independently released music, and also very regularly spun at Manhattan clubs like the Mudd Club, Danceteria, Peppermint Lounge, Irving Plaza, and others. During the 1990s, Sommer was an A&R executive at Atlantic Records, and he signed Hootie & the Blowfish to that label. He was directly and closely involved with the recording of their debut album, cracked rear view, which has sold 21 million copies and is one of the top ten selling albums of all time. While at Atlantic, he also worked closely with Stone Temple Pilots, Duncan Sheik, and Michael Crawford. He has also been cited for his contributions to the early career and development of the Beastie Boys, Run-D.M.C., Maroon 5, and Sonic Youth, and has recently been cited extensively in popular books on the Beastie Boys and Run-D.MC. He cares deeply about Krautrock, Folk Music, Punk Rock, Post Punk Music, Hawkwind, the Beach Boys, and the interface between history, culture, and music. His favorite authors are Nik Cohn, Nick Tosches, Gunther Grass, Salman Rushdie, and Matthew Goodman. He is currently working on a biography of the band Hootie & the Blowfish, to be published by the University of South Carolina Press, and contributes regularly to The Rock and Roll Globe.