We recently had the chance to chat with Tim Nelson from one of our favorites bands “Cub Sport” for our On The Rise series! Also check them out on tour and festival dates coming up soon! Click here to purchase!!
For readers who aren’t familiar with you and your music, can you share with us how you began your musical journey?
I started writing music on the piano when I was 7 or 8, in high school I started singing and writing full songs with lyrics/melodies. Dan, Zo, Sam and I started playing music together just out of high school and put out our first EP in 2012 under our original name Cub Scouts. We’ve been playing shows and releasing music ever since! We’re constantly evolving as a band. The last 4 years I’ve seen myself and Sam come out as queer, get together, get married, among many other life-changing moments – there have been huge shifts for all of us and that personal evolution has definitely impacted the evolution of Cub Sport.
Your rise to success happened so quick, did you ever expect you’d end up in the position you are today? having thousands of people listen to your music and admire you.
I feel like everybody’s rise to success seems like it happens quickly but we’ve been playing together for ten years now so it’s felt slow and steady for us! We’d always dreamed that we’d have what we have now and we’re incredibly grateful for our audience and amazing fans. In saying that, we still feel like we’re just getting started though, we’ve got these huge dreams and we’re chasing them.
How long did it take for you as a band to develop your sound and figure out who you wanted to be a musician? Did it come naturally?
I’ve always written the songs for Cub Sport and I feel like the journey of figuring out who I am as a musician and who I am as a person is the same journey interwoven. Writing helps me figure out who I am, what my truth is. Then allowing myself to live that out inspires me to keep creating, digging deeper.
As a band, do you enjoy taking part in creative elements such as cover art, stage designs, merch, and more?
Yeah, we literally do all of it ourselves! Growing the vision beyond just the songs is really fun.
What advice would you give an up and coming musician (or anyone), who is struggling with accepting who they are and learning to love themselves?
Trust your gut, even if what feels right is risky or doesn’t necessarily seem like it makes the most sense, listen to your body and your heart. Self-acceptance and self-love is an ongoing journey. Be the artist/person that you wished you had to look up to.
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Now in 2020, what is your stance on female + Non-Binary & LGBTQ+ representation within the entertainment industries? Do you feel as if all groups are being properly represented and acknowledged for their talents? What change do you think needs to be brought up to offer inclusion?
I do feel like it’s getting better. I love seeing women, non-binary and LGBTQI people being recognized and celebrated more and more across all industries. We’ve got Billie running the world. I’m obsessed with her! Her music but even more so just her as a person. There’s still further to go to achieve true equality though. I’d love to see more cisgender males being loud allies for women/NB/LGBTQI+ people.
Can you share with us what your typical songwriting and recording process look like?
I write lyrics in notes on my phone whenever they come to me. As far as writing and recording music, I usually open up a session in Logic and vibe on some different synths and/or guitars until I play something that really inspires me then I’ll just let it flow from there. Sometimes I record a vocal idea first. The process is always following the feeling, taking the music wherever it feels like my soul wants it to go.
Credit: @brianstorm.jpg
What would your dream tour line up be?
Frank Ocean, Solange, Harry Styles, Rihanna, Billie Eilish, Mallrat, Britney Spears, Miguel, Flaming Lips, Cher, Clairo, The Blaze, Savage Garden, Lana Del Rey, Kanye West, Mura Masa, Ariana Grande, King Princess, Cub Sport.
What are you as a band currently listening to? Who are some of your favorite on the rise artists?
I’m loving the new Mura Masa album, Mallrat is an incredibly special artist who I adore, the new Mac Miller album is really beautiful.
Your most popular song on Spotify is “Come On Mess Me Up”, what is the story behind this track?
I LOVE Come On Mess Me Up. It’ll always be one of my favorite songs. I started writing this song in 2013 after getting into Leonard Cohen properly. I was listening to Chelsea Hotel #2 and I was disarmed by the extreme honesty in the lyrics. At the time I was closeted and most of my identity/my life was formed passively if that makes sense. I’d take the path of least resistance in the life and do what I thought I should be doing based on the version of myself that I had built from other people’s ideas. I didn’t really know who I was, I knew deep down that my true self was so far from who everyone thought I was and it was such a huge and scary thing to acknowledge, so I ‘fell in love with avoiding problems’ which is a lyric in the song. This song didn’t make sense to me at the time but it’s basically a cry to my true self (and to Sam who I was secretly in love with) to mess me up, ruin the person that I was pretending to be so that I could become everything I wanted to be. I spoke about it at length on triple j (and cried on national radio) if you want the full run down and how the song came together musically to check it out here
What is next for Cub Sport?! Can you share any upcoming projects with us??
Lots! I can’t really give specifics on projects but I can say we’ll be touring the US through May/June and we’re playing Firefly Festival! I’m so excited!!
As a band from Australia, how can our readers help with the fires? Do you have any organizations, in particular, you’d suggest donating to?
Taking time to consciously send love and good energy to the people, land, and animals that have been impacted help. I believe that we’re all connected energetically and that we can impact the world around us with our energetic output. If you’re in a position to donate, this is a fundraiser for First Nations communities that have been impacted, check it out here!
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