Rogers Interview - 6th Feb 2010

[league_guru]

http://www.thescene.com.au/Music/Featur ... Interview/

[Gedhead]

Just incase the link goes down one day, here's the text for posterity sake!

Tim Rogers is one of the most unique and creative Australian musicians ever. No two of his album's either solo or with 'You Am I' sound alike, as he constantly pushes barriers to release original and innovative records. Matt Dawson sat down with the artist at The Blueprint festival to cover his career and found out that Tim Rogers is working hard to be a better person...

What made you decide to tour and play the whole 'What Rhymes With Cars and Girls'? Would you do this with You Am I?
We get asked a lot to do that with You Am I, obviously Hourly Daily, and Hi-Fi Way and I think if we do it we won’t tell anybody, we’ll just do it at a normal show. I’m not that interested in it, maybe just as something different to do maybe. But I wouldn’t like us to advertise it. I don’t think the records we always get asked to do, that’s period in my life, but I’m not that guy anymore. Some of those songs are good, I remember playing a bunch of songs off Hourly Daily by myself in Sydney the other week and it was like playing covers.

Who did you look up to as a kid & who did you try to emulate when you were first starting as a songwriter?
I guess musician wise it was pretty typical stuff, The Stones definitely, they were the first band I ever fell in love with. When I started touring there were a couple of bands in the States like The Replacements, Soul Asylum, Huskadoo, Minor Threat little bit of Black Flag through my brother anyone just kinda hairy and looked like a bit of trouble really.
I guess when I started writing songs, I didn’t have any desire to write songs just happened that no one else in the band wrote songs and we weren’t skilled enough to do covers so we had to write. Truthfully, we had to just write songs we could play. Then over time I started listening a little deeper to people like Kris Kristofferson I love, some Joni Mitchell songs I really loved.
Now it’s more painters and writers, I don’t listen to so much music anymore, I listen for enjoyment these days rather than to try and get ideas. It’s a nice point to get to, actually, because you know the writing comes from things like your own cognitive thought and imagination rather than copying other people.

You got into an argument with your label when you were overseas, about using Berlin Chair in a Budweiser commercial, why were you so against it?
It wasn’t a big fight, they desperately wanted us to do it and we were unsure. We weren’t strictly opposed to it, I’m sure at some stage we said yes, but by then that was gone. We had three days locked up in a hotel room, did a lot of speed and drinking trying to make a decision. It was interesting because now people wouldn’t think twice about it, but then I guess because of the way we grew up as a band I guess doing something like that was just a sin. I’d still think twice about it if they wanted to use our music for something I’d want it to be…

A better beer?
Well a better beer, I do love bud, but maybe something educational.

You were involved in one of the funniest interviews ever on the Micallef Programme, and appeared on Tony Martin's Get This several times, what is your relationship with the comedy scene?
They just asked it wasn’t something I went looking for. Shaun Micalleff and Tony Martin are two of my favourite people in the world, Tony has become s friend and someone I just will call and talk about movies or writers, and Shaun I luckily bump into on airplanes. The greatest thing apart from their comic ability for me is they are sort of like role models in the way they are deeply intelligent men who really do treat people well; they are very generous with their time and advice. It’s given me hope that maybe one day I’ll be able to be that generous of spirit; I’m still a bit egotistical, selfish, nasty and, misanthropic.

Convicts has a bonus disk like most You Am I albums, but this one had other artists singing your songs, that had to be pretty flattering?
We just asked some friends to come down. Adalita (Magic Dirt) is a very dear friend of mine, Kev’s (Kevin Mitchell, Jebediah) become a great mate, Kram’s (Spiderbait) just a wonder. It was just an excuse to catch up really. I didn’t look at it as flattering, I guess it is that they knew the songs; I just like playing with those people. Bernie (Bernard Fanning, Powderfinger) and I see each other once a year these days. I was an excuse to get together with friends really.

Do you think you have learnt anything from Tex Perkins as a performer? Any plans to work together in the future?
He is a front man and I’m not. Tex I love more as a friend than anything else, he is a very dear friend of mine who I love as a dad and a good friend, so I don’t want to put that ever at risk again. I’m a pretty moody person I think he can be a bit moody. There’s talk about doing a TV show together either that or I’d love to play guitar in his band. We’ll do some writing but I really thought that recording (TnT) we were just recording on cassette to sell at shows, I didn’t even know it was coming out.

Any new solo stuff on its way?
I wrote all the music for a play. And I’ve been getting the new You Am I record together, there are some songs around that could be solo but I’d rather give them to other people. It’s financially difficult to make records and release them, because I couldn’t imagine being picked up by a record company. I’d like to do something. I’m really not sure; it’s been such a busy year of doing other projects, definitely with the theatre stuff I’ve written fifteen songs in a very different style. I’d love to make a record with these people but pretty much the concentration is going into the next You Am I record now.

The Luxury of Hysteria really pushed out of your comfort zone, was it a conscious effort to write a really different album?
Yeah it was, and the You Am I record, the new one that we are about to start making is another step on from that. It’s using that spirit in the band context, I really love Dilettantes but I think we got really loaded while making it and made up songs on the spot and some of them aren’t that great. I think we are very clear headed these days and it’s now or never as far as being like the acts we love, particularly the great psychedelic bands and that tends to be the music the four of us make best together. As a three chord pop band we’re all right, as a rock and roll band we’re alright but I think we’re interested in stretching ourselves as players this time, maybe get involved in it a bit more.

Pretty recently you finished performing in Woyzeck, why did you decide to do that play in particular? Are you going to be acting more often?
I’ve got a couple of things in 2010, a couple of film things and a theatre thing with my partner. I like getting involved, but I don’t think I’m a very good actor at all; physically I’m a certain shape that works for some things. I don’t actively pursue it at all; if I get asked to do things I’ll do them.

The newest You Am I album, Dilettantes, has two songs ‘Erasmus’ and ‘Frightfully Moderne’ The first having the lyric "I'm going to be a more, more than I was, yeah just because" and the latter having the line "You ain't seen the best of us yet' I was wondering if that was something you were trying to put out there?
I think it’s important to strive to better yourself and I desperately want to, just by educating myself and emotionally being a better person especially as an example for my daughter. So yeah, the one thing that has kept me from slicing my throat has been the hope that I can be a better person and a more skillful person. It’s my main inspiration in life, just to be better, and so it’s just coincidence that they come out in the lyrics because its character songs, but I think it’s inspiring when I see people try to better themselves. My partner is someone who is so ambitious at the way she wants to be better at her craft so I just want to do the same.

[Gedhead]

I think we are very clear headed these days and it’s now or never as far as being like the acts we love, particularly the great psychedelic bands and that tends to be the music the four of us make best together. As a three chord pop band we’re all right, as a rock and roll band we’re alright but I think we’re interested in stretching ourselves as players this time, maybe get involved in it a bit more.

YOU AM I ARE GOING PROG ROCK!!! WOOT!!