Brisbane natives Cub Sport are making their mark in the world of music and in politics with last week’s release of new record BATS, accompanied by a colourful array of Aussie tour dates and a recent marriage proposal.
Tim and Sam are the pair who have acted as a voice for many same-sex couples within Australia, attracting nothing but positive feedback and gratitude (with the exception of a few trolls) following the announcement of their engagement in July.
With both boys coming from religious upbringings where attending church was routine, BATS is both a powerful record and an act of bravery, exploring musical concepts that were once limited to the pair.
With their recent video for track O Lord featuring Tim and Sam openly expressing an intimate relationship between two people of the same gender, we can’t help but commend the boys for proving that love doesn’t have to be a battlefield. We chatted to Tim discover a bit more about the new record, the upcoming tour and how his vision surrounding freedom of expression manifested in to something much more tangible.
The 16-track BATS is a narrative of the relationship between band members Tim and Sam, life-long best friends and hopefully, soon to be newly weds.
HAPPY: Hey, what have you guys been up to?
TIM: We’ve been getting everything ready to put out our album BATS and we got engaged a couple of months ago!
HAPPY: What can fans expect? Does it follow on from the soulful vibe expressed throughout O Lord or catchy verses in Chasin?
TIM: The album is pretty varied as a whole, there aren’t really two songs that fit into the same vibe exactly but I feel like the whole writing process and intimacy of it all ties it all together even though it’s stylistically varied throughout.
HAPPY: So the songs on BATS tell a story?
TIM: Yeah, I wrote it over the last couple of years and in that time Sam and I both came out and got together so there’s been a lot to write about, so it follows that journey with other things you navigate through in your 20s.
HAPPY: Congrats on the engagement!
TIM: Thank you!
HAPPY: If all goes to plan with the vote to legalise gay marriage in Australia, do you have any plans for the wedding?
TIM: We’re definitely going to have a wedding next year and we’re still figuring out when we’ll do it. We’re focusing all our energy into the album at this point, but our wedding will be the next big thing to tackle.
HAPPY: How did the proposal happen?
TIM: We were just in bed and Sam asked me and I said yes. He said he had a full plan of how he was going to do it, it was going to be down at the park near where we lived when I recorded, and it’s where the art was shot, and he was going to get all his friends out there but he said the moment just felt right when it did and so he popped the question and we went and got a ring for me the next day. He already had a ring but it was on his other hand, so he just popped it over to his left hand.
HAPPY: Lovely! How old are you both?
TIM: I’m 26 and Sam’s 27. I was actually single when I was 25, you never really know what’s around the corner.
HAPPY: Your new video for O Lord is a statement of the intimate relationship between two people of the same gender. Have you found that since you’ve come out, your fan base has grown?
TIM: Yeah, I think it definitely has. I think the fact we’re being that much more open and really putting ourselves out there emotionally seems to be connecting in a lot of ways and there are a bunch of people that can relate to it, which is really lovely for us to see.
HAPPY: What has the feedback been like from social media in general since coming out?
TIM: It’s been really positive, it’s actually been overwhelming the amount of love we’ve received. There’s obviously always going to be a couple of trolls that want to say something negative but really there’s been not much hate at all which is awesome.
HAPPY: I actually read that 54% of ‘Yes’ voters were over 50. Despite both having religious upbringings, have your parents been supportive of your decision?
TIM: Yeah, its really great. Mum’s still very religious but it’s really great to have her as a voice within that community. I have nothing to do with that anymore and still see people from school that are deep into it and make points about voting ‘No’, but I try to distance myself form that because it doesn’t make me feel good. It’s awesome to have people like mum in there. I think religious people are more receptive to other religious people on the topic, so it’s really effective.
HAPPY: Now that you’re free to express yourselves and inspire others who may have been struggling with similar situations, what does this now mean for Cub Sport as a band? Does this open you up to creative avenues you once felt were limited?
TIM: Yeah, for sure. I think I’ve always had this vision and dreamed about making super pretty music videos and getting to do this but there are so many steps in my personal life and developing as a musician to really get there and be able to make the vision happen. It’s extremely exciting to finally have that confidence and creative freedom to really be able to do whatever we want and it feels awesome.
HAPPY: Aside from the tour that kicks off in Feb, do you have any festivals planned over summer, or coming up in 2018?
TIM: We’re playing at the Great Vine Gathering just outside of Melbourne on November 25 and that one is going to be really nice. We’re also going to be playing at Beyond The Valley on New Years which is also in Victoria and the line up is incredible, so I’m very excited for that.
HAPPY: Where are you most keen to play on tour?
TIM: We love playing everywhere. The Melbourne show is selling shockingly quickly, it always seems to sell out first so I’m really excited to get down there for that show.
You can catch a glimpse of Cub Sport at Beyond The Valley over New Years Eve, or at any of the 2018 tour dates listed below:
Friday, 23rd February
Jack Rabbit Slims, Perth (18+)
Saturday, 24th February
Fat Controller, Adelaide (18+)
Saturday, 3rd March
The Corner, Melbourne (18+)
Sunday, 4th March
The Corner, Melbourne (Under 18s Matinee)
Saturday, 10th March
The Triffid, Brisbane (AA)
Saturday, 17th March
The Metro Theatre, Sydney (AA)
