Have you ever just wanted to quit your job and travel the world? Or perhaps forget about all your assessments and that boring compulsory lecture (which you still really have no idea what the professor is blabbing on about) and backpack around some exotic location? Well Ryan Nebauer from Neighbour has actually done so, and we’re thankful he did because it was that trip that inspired his new EP Good Company.
Have you ever chased your passions to the point of finding yourself alone in a strange land? Neighbour knows how you feel, with Time & Money.
Brisbane based, Nebauer started out as the front man for the indie rock band Fushia, before they came to a close at the end of 2013. Last year he decided to pack up his things and travel to Europe, which is where most of Good Company was written. “I had months to sit in cozy cafes in Berlin or stare at the Mediterranean Sea from the Italian coastline which was all very inspiring”, he says of the experience.
For Nebauer, he feels most comfortable when performing live and it’s his ability to perform and put on a show that he most enjoys. “I’m okay at writing songs. I write a decent one every now and then, but so do a million other musical kids around the country every year. Not everyone can perform though, so I try to make the most of that. I really enjoy it too!”
The first track to be featured on the EP is Time & Money. This track is packed full of different components, however there is no sense of clutter. Staring with light and airy vocals it has an echo element to it. As the song builds with the aid of fast percussion this is quickly evened out by mellow piano, which continues the light and airy element. However as much as the drum and piano counteract in their weight, it’s this contradiction that binds the song together so beautifully.
The song follows the story of a musician who is completely invested in creating music, as it is their passion and what they want to do with their life. The people around them, however, are causing tension and ultimately holding them back. As the lyric goes “Because I love it, I know that it only makes it harder to openly admit, its time to finish what I started”. There is the unfortunate realization that its time to break away in order to continue, “I was the one pushing from inside, you all had your fun, while I spent all my time and money chasing a passion.”
What’s really interesting is the inner conflicts of the musician – whilst there is the desire and want to chase their passion, there is also the struggle to let go of what had been in order to do it. Nebauer commented on the story behind the track stating “I wrote it about the years of work I put into Fushia and then for it to all fall apart on a single day. I still feel it holds some relevance to me now.”
Kicking off 2016, Neighbour will be playing some shows in January with the Pierce Brothers. Apart from this, there are also plans to play more gigs, with a focus around regional towns as well as capital cities. There is a lot of new material in the works for Neighbour with Nebauer stating that “We’re actually well into the recording process for a bunch of new songs which I’m thrilled by”.
