TOM: What does music mean to you?

Tim: I think music for me is the avenue in which I best communicate what I’m feeling inside. I don’t always do that so well with words, but music is how I can really do that. So I guess in a sense music is my form of communication, it’s also a cathartic thing for me. It’s become a large part of my life.

TOM: Before Boy & Bear, was music always a big part of your life?

Tim: Yes! I started playing the piano when I was about 5 years old.  My mum and my dad got me into that, and also my brother Jon; he’s the keyboard player in the band. We were playing from a young age, I played in church growing up and cover bands with mates. I was always tinkering with some form of music. It was always what I wanted to end up doing in life, but I didn’t always know it would happen.

TOM: So your brother plays keys in the band, it must run in the family, is your whole family musical?

Tim: My dad isn’t at all, he’s horrible at music!

TOM: Well we’re lucky you’re not! Tell me, how did Boy & Bear become a band?

Tim: It was originally a solo project for Dave Hosking and then Killian the lead guitarist started playing for him and then I started playing the drums. Oh no, actually, I just came and filled in for a show. We started writing music together and once we all started writing together, that’s when it worked. Dave decided we needed to be a band rather than a solo project- a band is more reflective of what we are and how we do things.

TOM: Talk me through the songwriting process for Boy and bear, how does it work? Who does what?

Tim: Dave brings the bare bones of the songs; he has to because he’s singing them. I’m a songwriter too but in the way we write songs in Boy & Bear, Jon, Killian and our new bass player Dave, they’re just as involved. We sort of all go into the rehearsal room with two or three new songs and we’ll really try and nut out parts and structures and lyrics. We’ll change a lot of things and shift things until we get to the end point where we feel the song is ready to record. The great part about Boy & Bear, there is no big ego in the band so everyone is open to ideas. We have to give credit to Dave though because he wants input from the band and feels that five minds are better than one, which works for us.

TOM: Well whatever you’re doing it works, so keep doing it! Now, word on the street is that the new album was born in Dave Hosking’s living room…

Tim: You know, that’s funny; I heard him say that maybe on Triple J. We were laughing about that because a lot of these songs we started writing on the road. I think maybe the living room part of it was the fact that when Dave was at home he was listening to a lot of old music, that’s something we’ve all been doing. We’re listening to a whole lot of 70’s sort of you know, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac… and I think in a sense that was probably the genesis for the album. It’s funny; I kind of don’t like the image being conjured up of Dave’s living room.

TOM: Where was the inspiration drawn from for this album, in your eyes what is it all about?

Tim: They’re all seventies pop tunes really, I mean obviously not because they were all made this year, but I mean for us that was the genesis of it.  The inspiration was we wanted to write old pop tunes, it was something we wanted to understand; it was easy to get into but at the same time there was depth to it. We wanted to go as far as we could in the studio in terms of creatively with sound, layering songs to make them sound interesting but keep the pop structure to them. When I say pop, I don’t mean your Rhianna’s and your Lady Gaga’s. I hope we achieved that, that’s what we set out to do.

TOM: I can definitely hear the Fleetwood Mac influences in there, there’s unquestionably a huge seventies inspiration. “Harlequin Dream” has more of a pop styling as opposed to your previous folk styling, was that more of an intentional shift?

Tim: Yep, I agree. Yes definitely. It wasn’t that we were trying to move away from folk, we all still really love folk music. I just don’t think music can stay in the same place, you’d know as a musician yourself, you can’t stay in the same place creatively, you have to move on, you have to move forward and this is the direction we wanted to take.

TOM: The first album was written and recorded in Nashville, how was it different this time around with the whole process in Sydney?

It was a lot more comfortable; we were at home and we were able to take our time with it. We were able to still see our families and our friends and be able take our time in the rehearsal studios and get things right and not have to rush anything. It’s a great thing because it allowed us to get to the point where we were like, okay the albums now done… I wondered if that day would ever come a while through it because we were going deeper and further into it. We’re really thankful for having that time and being able to do it Sydney. You can often romanticize the notion of recording overseas, I think that’s fine, but practically this is the way we needed to do it and I’m glad we did.

TOM: You spent 8 months recording with Wayne Connelly at Albert Studios for “Harlequin Dream” how was that experience for you?

Tim: He’s a fantastic man. We’d worked with him before on one track when we did the “Fall at Your Feet” cover and we knew he was great. Initially, we went to work on two tracks with him which were “Stranger” and “Harlequin Dream.” We wanted to see if the combination would work with Wayne again and it really did. I guess we were really comfortable; it was like he was the 6^th member of the band. We never had any massive issues, he’s a very respectful and a very lovely man. That’s a massive key when it comes to doing albums.

TOM: It comes across through the music that it’s very comfortable, everything on the album all gels together really nicely. Is there a song on there that you’re particularly fond of?

Tim: Ah, thank you Charlotte! Look, I really love “Southern Sun,” the first single. When we started getting “Southern Sun” together we were playing Falls Festival in Tasmania and it was one of the first shows we played with our new bass player Dave. I remember we were sitting in the backstage area and playing this song, singing along, writing it as we went. It just has great memories. I’m really proud of this whole album, I can listen to it which is a new thing for me. I suppose with “Southern Sun” it holds really good memories for me, and that’s a really special thing.

TOM: It’s been the first song you’ve released since 2011; you must be feeling great about sharing some new music with people again?

Tim: Wow, yes it is! It’d been a long time coming hadn’t it?! It feels great. We’ve worked so hard on the touring and then on the album and then all of a sudden, it’s like we’re releasing a single today… and I all of a sudden get a bit nervous! It’s an exhilarating feeling. It’s a really nice thing to hear your song on the radio, it’s something you’ve worked hard on and so many bands don’t get that privilege. I feel fortunate for it.

TOM: The first album “Moonfire” was successful both nationally and internationally, what are your hopes for “Harlequin Dream?”

Tim: Look, I just hope people enjoy it because we really enjoyed making it. I hope it can reach people and they can enjoy it, because that’s what music is about. I love it when I get helped through a difficult time with songs or when a song becomes a soundtrack to a moment in life. I love the way music can interact with your life- I hope this album gets the chance to do that with people.

TOM: What’s been the funniest moment so far with the process of this album?

Tim: I can actually answer that funnily enough. We bought a table tennis table part way through the last block of recording and Dave Symes our bass player rates himself as a bit of a gun when it comes to table tennis. Dave Hosking was beating him in one particular match and it came to the last point which dropped over the net, as Symes reached for it he released he was beaten and dove onto the table and turned over mid-air as if he was doing a massive back slam on the table… and broke our brand new table! His eyes were like “Oh, shit! What have I done? I’m the new guy in the band… this is awkward!” We could not stop laughing; it was just so good- priceless! I managed to snap of a photo of it actually. The funny thing about all of this though, it ends up coming down to the people, if you’re having a good time with the people you’re spending all that time with, then you end up having great results you can be proud of.

TOM: That’s hilarious! It sounds like you guys have a lot of fun together. Talking about the boys in the band, how do you think you would describe each of them using one word?

Tim: Dave Hosking I would describe as vague. Killian Gavin- intense. Jon Hart- late. Dave Symes- smiley!  He’s always smiling!

TOM: Smiling is never a bad thing! If you had to describe the album in a few words, how would you describe it?

Tim: I can actually honestly say this, and I know this is going to sound like a cliché… I think the album is a journey. On first listen there are song you can understand straight away, but you can go deeper with the album and continue to go deeper. There are little parts hidden in there that might take you ten to twenty listens to find, I hope people want to listen to it that many times. I think that it is really a journey, that is how I’d describe it!

TOM: You’re taking it all on your “16 Days Under A Southern Sun” tour very soon, what are you most looking forward to about that?

Tim: I tell you what, I’m most excited about photo-shopping a picture of Dave Hosking sixteen times into a photo and then making it “16 Dave’s Under a Southern Sun.” I thought about it last night and man I’ve got to do that, I think Jon has photo-shop on his computer. Really though, we’re looking forward to playing in front of Australian audiences again, Australia is my favourite place to play. We’re playing the Tivoli in Brisbane, we love playing there! It’s going to be great; we’re just looking forward to getting back out there with some new music.

TOM: I’ve got one last question for you; it’s a bit of a thinker so brace yourself. If you had to personally sell your album to anyone on the street, what would you say or how would you do it?

Tim: I’m really not a salesman. I’ll get in trouble for this later, but I’d probably just burn them a copy. No, but if I really had to, I’d say to them, “Man, look at me! I’m a red head, I’m already behind the eight ball. I could really use the help. I’d feel really cool and really privileged if you would buy this album.” Then I’d sell it to them cheaper.