Timothy J Allen was born and raised in Buffalo, NY where he fell for the guitar at an early age. Raised on a traditional rock-guitar diet of Hendrix, Zeppelin, and the Dead, the doors really blew open for him when he was exposed to the Fela Kuti album "Open and Close" at about 15.  In his teens he also found Miles Davis, Hector Lavoe, Tortoise, The Velvet Underground, and many others that convinced him music was the only way to go.  He moved to New York City in early 2005 and still lives in Brooklyn with his cat Simon. Aside from playing guitar with Antibalas, he can be heard playing with other bands like Thought, Beyondo, Nikhil Yerawadekar & Low Mentality, The Sway Machinery, Miwi La Lupa and El Imperio .