Q & A: Cub Sport
We here at AAA Backstage are big, BIG fans of Cub Sport. They’re latest single, O Lord, is a true gem–and you already know our feelings towards it. The Brisbane band are fresh off the road with Big Scary, now they’re focussing on Queensland Music Festival where some of the band’s members will be performing tracks from The Go-Betweens’ masterpiece, ’16 Lovers Lane’.
You’ve just released the first taste of your sophomore record this week, in the form of O Lord. Tell me how the song came about; the writing and the recording.
O Lord is about the feelings of fragility that come with getting exactly what you want and then suddenly feeling like you have everything to lose. Coming out, being with the love of my life and having the full support of my family and friends was so perfect I was almost scared by it–this song was my way of processing those feelings. As far as the writing/recording process, it all sort of came to me at once. I was at home and I opened a new Logic session, put Ambient Male Vocal reverb on a vocal track, pressed record and started singing. It just flowed. I layered up the harmonies and felt my way through it. It all came together when we developed the drum loop and bass parts in the studio with our long-time collaborator and friend John Castle.
The song itself is laden with delightful harmonies and is a little bit gospel in the vocals. Why was this the first single you chose to release from the album?
It was just a feeling we had–following our gut is really important to us as a group, so we went with it. Having O Lord out in the world now and hearing directly from people how much they’re connecting with the sentiment of the song, we’re really happy with the decision we made.
Did you change your approach when writing the second Cub Sport album? Why or why not?
I don’t think I necessarily changed my approach but I’m more connected to how music makes me feel now. The writing process was more about taking the song where it feels right rather than trying to tick boxes. It was often more of an emotional process rather than technical.
Two Cub Sport members are will soon be making an appearance during Queensland Music Festival events in July; tell us about the performance Tim and Zoe are going to be involved
in.
Original members of The Go Betweens will be joined by a whole bunch of Australian musicians performing songs from ’16 Lovers Lane’ and a couple of selections from their back catalogue. Zo and I will be performing Dive For Your Memory together.
How does it feel to be involved with a project with such an iconic band and album like The
Go-Betweens ‘16 Lovers Lane’?
It’s an honour! It’s a beautiful album. There’s something magical about the lyrics–they’re so descriptive but not obvious, it takes you to another place.
The music industry in Brisbane, and throughout Queensland, continues to thrive thanks to the support of events like QMF and BIGSOUND. What do you think makes the Queensland music industry so unique?
There’s a real sense of community within the Queensland music industry and I feel like these kinds of events allow us to build and welcome musicians, music-lovers and people working in the industry Australia-wide.
Over the years, Cub Sport have toured with some pretty big bands and artists, and you’re currently touring with Big Scary. What’s the significant thing you’ve learnt in all these experiences?
I think something really important we’ve learned is the importance of respect. We’ve been so lucky to tour with bands like Big Scary, Saskwatch and The 1975–kind people who surround themselves with a team who share the same values. They’ve been great examples of how to treat everyone involved in putting on a tour–from the artists and sound engineers to venue managers and the bar staff.
What can we expect from Cub Sport for the rest of 2017?
More new music, the release of our second album and hopefully a lot of good times!
Tim and Zoe, from Cub Sport, will be performing live at the Queensland Music Festival on Friday 14 July. For more details on the event, see HERE.
