Truth, Beauty and a Picture of Tim

When I began at the Dwarf, I always said I could die happy if I got to interview at least one, if not all, of the following three artists, whose influence has been staggering in my life; Paul Dempsey. Josh Pyke. Tim Freedman. A chat with Paul is pending (okay, non-existent) and my interview with Josh Pyke was too nerve-racking on my part to be excitedly pleasant, but a chat with Tim Freedman of The Whitlams (in my Top Five favourite bands of all time) proves that, yes, artists display certain talents we as 9-to-5 schlubs will never possess and yes, they make us weep and laugh and clutch our hearts in knowing shock but, under it all, Tim Freedman is human like me. And he’s more scared of me than I am of him. Or is that bears?

“I just had a little two minute break; it’s a lovely sunny day here in Melbourne and I was just heading out into the sun to talk to you. It’s cold in the shade!” Tim says, apologetic for his tardiness. But I don’t care a jot. I get into it, so as to uphold my professionalism while I am figuratively shitting myself; The Whitlams have just released a Best-Of (Truth, Beauty and a Picture of You): why now?

“The music’s quite sprawling and different and played by so many different people over the years, over six albums, and it’s good to have a chance to put my favourites together so I can show people what I think is our legacy. Also, I love having an excuse to go out and play around the county. Thirdly, I guess I wanted to get a CD out there before the CD dies (laughs)”

Ah yes, that old chestnut. “I’m a really strong consumer on iTunes, we have a solid website, I enjoy staying in touch with everyone on our list, and there’s even an upside to people stealing our music, because, though it means there’s more records out there than we’ve sold; even though our last album didn’t sell as much as the one before, our numbers on the live circuit are even stronger. So, those little illegal forms of distribution can also have a benefit a well”

“We were already filling the Evelyn by the time No Aphrodisiac [1998- The Whitlams first commercial success] came out; we could already do 400 seaters because we had already created a community organically. [Downloading, etc] is just making what we always did a little bit easier”

So, how did you choose the songs to put on the Best Of? You have a fair few to choose from.

“A lot were put on because people knew them, from the radio, but then I started culling some singles and putting in my favourites, that’s the case of the last two songs on the album, for sure[There’s No One, from Love This City, and Out the Back from Torch The Moon] which are quite mellow and relaxing. There are various stories going on throughout the songs as you’ll read in the linear notes. Best known, most favourite, and songs that tell a history of the band, I think there’s a nice balance of those three qualities”

Having lost many of his band members and friends over the years (Tim is now the only remaining member since their conception in 1992), grief is as big a part of his life and career as being a moron is for Paris Hilton. How does one deal with it?

“For the first two months you drink and crawl up into the foetal position, then you come out into the sunlight, talk to friends, watch stories, grieve, I usually write a song about it (laughs). Time heals. I have fond memories of us piled into a station wagon going up and down the coast. I get to play their songs almost every night, which keeps their work alive. It seems strange that I’m the only member of the original line-up, very strange and sad. When you share a bus or a van with someone for three years, gee, you get to know them. You hear all the stories”

This hint at a breadth of melancholy below the scruffy, poetic surface of Tim’s exterior, I have to wrap up; time flies. Where to from here?

“We might be playing a little bit less because I might head off some side projects, but were not going anywhere, taking a breath and looking back is quite nice, because it feels like the future is this big blank page now; I’ve look after the past, and now I can do something different for the future”

Truth, Beauty and a Picture of You is out now through Black Yak/ Warner.

The Whitlams play:

Sep 24- Arts Centre, Hamer Hall- Melbourne
Sep 25- Arts Centre, Hamer Hall- Melbourne
Sep 26- Arts Centre, Hamer Hall **SOLD OUT** Melbourne
Oct 4- Belmont Sailing Club, Newcastle
Oct 11- Tilley’s Cafe **SOLD OUT** Canberra
Oct 12- Tilley’s Cafe **SOLD OUT** Canberra
Oct 13- Tilley’s Cafe **SOLD OUT** Canberra
Oct 17- Lizotte’s- Kincumber, New South Wales
Oct 18- Mullum Civic- Mullumbimby, New South Wales
Oct 19- Caloundra Festival- Caloundra, Queensland
Oct 24- Tank Art Centre, Cairns
Nov 1- The Regal Theatre **SOLD OUT** Perth,
Dec 2- The Vanguard -Sydney
Dec 3- The Vanguard - Sydney
Dec 4- The Vanguard- Sydney
Dec 5- The Vanguard - Sydney

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