Time Fraud is the bedroom project of Oakland based illustrator Nick Wortham. Wortham is best known as the singer and organist of Oakland post-punk band Healers. His solo-project Time Fraud blends droning synthesizers and sampled organs into somber ballads. The result is an oddly organic mix of noise and melody best described by Los Angeles' Underground Tape Review as "synth folk." Humming synthesizers fill the space generally occupied by rhythm guitars while samples of seventies console organs and ringing bells keep time. His first release tackles the loss of friends in the ghost ship fire, the bay area housing crisis and his own bi-racial identity.

His latest release “Cry me a Highway” is slated to be released in the spring of 2020 on Oakland based experimental tape label F R E A K S. “Cry me a Highway” is a collection of lo-fi synthesizer heavy tracks reflecting on humanity’s shift towards social media and away from face to face interaction. It speaks to the parallel of appearing hyper-social and yet barely leaving one's home, exploring the disconnect between seeing your loved ones daily through a screen yet going through your days alone.

"Cry me a Highway" was recorded with a makeshift portable recording studio powered by a spare car battery. Most of the vocals were sung in the cab of Wortham's pickup truck tucked away in the industrial part of West Oakland and alongside the Bay Bridge at Radio Beach. The microphone hung from the rear view mirror and the compressor sat on the dash. The mixer and laptop rested on the passenger seat while the car battery sat on the floor pan. The result gives it an eerily warm sound. You can't hear the cars passing by in background but you can feel the close proximity of singing in the front seat of a 1980s two seater Toyota truck.