INTERVIEW: Tim Hart (Boy & Bear)

TIM HART is one fantastic musician. Not only is he the drummer for local rock-folk outfit BOY & BEAR, he has now released his first solo album Milling the Wind and has taken the album on a national tour that is visiting every nook and cranny of Australia.

Drawing inspiration from classic artists such as Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan and Neil Young, Milling the Wind comes from TIM HART’s core and we talked to him about the album, and a few other bits and bobs.

How’s the tour been so far?

“The tour’s been amazing! It’s the funnest thing that has happened this year, thus far”

That’s great!

“In my opinion”

You’ve toured with like Ben Howard and Angus Stone, what do you reckon has been your best touring experience?

“Actually, last night was really up there. We were playing in Canberra and it was in this little bar called Front Gallery & Cafe, and it was amazing! It was a place that just, you know, fits 40 people and we had about 75 in there. It was just pin drop silent and they were great for me and it’s really important for me that people be respectful for the whole show and they were great so it was really lovely. I’d never played in Canberra before and it was really surprising and lovely and maybe, might be the pinnacle you know talking the next day. It’s crazy”

So were you a muso in school?

“Yeah I was yeah. I grew up playing drums in church and playing guitar with my mates, like Nirvana and stuff and I wouldn’t say I was ever really good but I always loved it and I always thought it would be really good to do for a living. So these days there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t thank my lucky stars that I’ve been fortunate enough to do that”

What was the first album you ever bought?

“I had this question recently, and I think Pearl Jam Ten but now that I’m thinking back on it, it’s probably not true. My mum bought me a Savage Garden cassette tape, and that may have been the first thing I ever owned. I didn’t buy it; maybe it was Pearl Jam Ten (whispers) let’s just go with that its cooler”

What would be your favorite instrument between drums and guitar since you’re fantastic at both?

“I get this one again all the time. It’s like asking a kid if he likes ice cream or chocolate better I mean he likes them both. Hope fully he likes them both! And if he doesn’t like them both, maybe he’s crazier than I was when I was a kid. But the point is, it’s great being able to do both, when I’m playing guitar I’m used to a lot of drums and when I play drums I’m used to a lot of guitar so again, I think I’m just in a very fortunate situation.”

So, how would you describe your solo album?

“It’s a folk album really and I spose you know, everything comes along with it I mean, it’s quite raw and hopefully it’s quite honest and it’s maybe a little bit dark, but it’s me being selfish really and me worrying about myself in those 12 songs really.(laughs)”

Well I think everyone gets the chance to be selfish every now and again so it’s good

“If I wanted to I could listen to it over and over again and I get to be selfish”

Yeah, I listened to it and it’s amazing, I love it

“aww thank you”

How did you feel recording it up in Cairns with Mark Myers?

“It was great. Like it was truly, I thought Mark was really good and I love the acoustic sound he gets and the feeling he creates in each recording, and that’s why I wanted to work with him but um,we really got to know each other well up there and he’s a real straight shooter so we didn’t have to wait a lot. He’s just a hard worker and a nice guy to be around. I was staying in his house with him, we ate together and all of his friends would come over and it was just a really nice community and I can’t wait to do it again”

You said how you were being very selfish with your album did that come out in your writing? Were you thinking I’m just gonna write about me?

“No, no it’s definitely not intentional. I heard James Taylor talking about it  early on in his career I read an interview and I remember he was saying’ I feel selfish because I write about things that are going on in my life’ and I spose that’s me too. I didn’t initially write my songs with the future of releasing an album I did it because it was more of a cathartic thing and something I need to do and those songs ended up on the record I think because people can identify with them maybe the most and there’s the most emotion in them or whatever it is, they seem to be the ones that end up on the record. And I spose that’s how it is for me some people don’t have to write from personal experience because that’s the only way I really know how “

It’s really good though I mean the lyrics are amazing and I really enjoyed that.

“I appreciate you saying that. I’m a really big self-editor and it’s a cliché but like fine tuning lyrics and be brutally honest”

With Boy and Bear like, how do you feel playing with a band especially with your brother in it?

“It’s great! John is such a good friend of mine too which is always a bonus of a brother and you know when we’re on tour we don’t see each other that much you know, but we’re in the same place but you know, go and do different things and up until recently we’ve been living together and you we’d crack up a bottle of red and watch James Bond and you know, we’ll be hanging out. He’s great you know he looks after me and a couple of times during the three years I’ve been sick on tour and my brother’s looked after me, he’s just a good man to have around”

And all of your band members have helped you out on the album have they been really supportive about everything?

“They have you know, I don’t think we have biggest supporters than my closests friends and my band mates who are part of those close friends.  I get so much encouragement from all my close friends that care about my music and without that I probably wouldn’t have done a record, cause I didn’t wanna be that guy that sort of broke away to do something on his own, but they were like no, no, dude you’ve gotta record this song I’m so glad that I have that support you know, I just wouldn’t do it otherwise”

So what advice would you give other budding musicians going around?

“There’s so many great, even on this tour Stu Larsen is such an incredible singer/songwriter and he’s glad to just give up his time and tour and I think it’s his first tour around Australia it’s just incredible I’m really into the whole idea of having you know like, institution because song writing and with asking about Boy and Bear really been that way too because you want the best line-up you can possibly have on our tours. And now if you can get people who really believe it and on tour discovering new acts and being really special and its one of the best parts of the job to be honest”

If you weren’t playing music, where would you be right now?

“Honestly I think I’d probably be a chef. I don’t think I’d be very good at it, so I’d probably be asleep right now and just got home from work or just getting up and getting ready to go to work or something like that. I mean I love travelling and I don’t know if I’d be able to get to do that or maybe I’d be a park ranger in Canada.”

You’ve been described as a bit of an over sharer, do you think that would be a bad quality you’ve got or a good one?

“Yeah I dunno I mean I dunno if it’s bad or good it’s what I’ve got (laughs) It’s what I’ve got to work with and I probably think deep down that it’s not healthy to hide a lot of yourself and I spose there’s a fine line and you need to protect yourself and all that but I dunno I think it’s a little bit easier to share through my music and then explain what I’m sharing about but I don’t know if I do that really well  and sometimes that gets me into a little bit of trouble but like I said it’s what I’ve got”

I think it’s very good trust me it’s good to meet a fellow over-sharer

“It’s so funny aye. In your mind you have no problem with what your about to say but you tell people and there shocked and you’re like why are they shocked? What’s just happened? I kind of get used to it now “

Will there be a follow up album anytime soon?

“Yes definitely! I’m already writing the second record. I’m not sure when I’ll get a chance to record it that’s sort of up to the Boy and Bear scheduler and how this album goes and how much work I’ve got to do for it and how lazy I am but uh, yeah a second record is definitely in the pipeline already”

And you’re playing Falls Festival at the end of the year are you excited?

“I love Falls I mean, it’s the best festival in Australia. Especially Tassie it’s so beautiful, the water and stuff,we didn’t do it last year, did the year before, but didn’t do it last year as we were on Big Day Out this time is gonna be really great . We’re putting together something a bit different for it so I hope it happens”

Do like performing for your bigger crowds or your smaller, more intimate crowds?

“If I’m to be honest I like the smaller intimate ones. I really like connecting with people and I find it harder with a larger crowd. Having said that, I wouldn’t change any of it, it’s been amazing for us. It’s a really nice change to be on this tour and just be able to slow down and just be able to talk to people and that’s what I really love that’s why I got into music and why I like performing live because otherwise I’ll keep myself to myself”

Music sounds like it’s a really big part of you

“I talked to a guy earlier on and he’s doing music and he said ‘you don’t choose music as a career, you choose it as a lifestyle’ and I think it’s that really right, it’s just how it ends up being. And I’m in the car with Stu Marks  at the moment and he’s driving me around and he hasn’t had a fixed address for two and a half years and just he lives it he lives touring and playing to people and travelling and you know, creating his art and I think that’s just a really special way to live. It’s not a way everyone could live but we are very fortunate.’

Do you think if you’re passionate about something you should do it as a career?

“Yeah I do and having said that, I think it’s easier to be idealistic about things and yeah, just do it no matter what and there are a lot of people that have. Like I know my brother, my oldest brother, he’s just had his second kid, which is awesome, and then he would love to be a pilot but he has a family and he has a mortgage and I get that sort of stops you from doing the things your most passionate about and I guess it comes down to the fact that he’s most passionate about his family. I definitely think that to be able to do what we do all the stars have to align and you have to be a little one eyed about it and I look back and kind of regret that but it’s definitely been a nice ride to start off with.”

Milling the Wind is out now. Buy it now on iTUNES

Words by Lauren Payne