Shiver Like Timber, Tamworth

Current band roll call?
Just me and my guitar.

Shiver Like Timber has been around since...
2005, I think, officially. That's when I played my first show in a friend's lounge room in Brisbane.

Let's play Six Degrees of Shiver Like Timber...
Hummmmm. I'm not really sure if I am linked to anybody in particular! Most of the time it is just me freewheelin' on my own.

First song ever written?
Wander/Tumble was the first.

Music-making for you began when...
In high school, I taught myself to play guitar and spent my lunchtimes figuring out Cranberries songs.

Most unusual sound/instrument you've used in your music?
In the background of one of my first demos you can hear the fishtank
burbling...

Strangest gig you've ever played?
Maybe the show I played with Japanther at Urtext in Adelaide because of the interesting mix of bands playing on the night and also the fact that I had just driven overnight from Melbourne and was feeling somewhat delirious.

Do you pin up images when recording to help inspire your songs? (Or put up other things in the studio for the same effect?)
I usually make up songs in my bedroom, where I do have pictures on the walls, yes. Mostly drawings and photos by me and my friends, Polaroid photos and yellowed pictures from 1960s National Geographics. My attic bedroom at my parents' house still has all the posters that I put up when I was 14, posters of horses and teenage dreams.

Unlikeliest thing to influence your music?
I think my music is influenced by everything I've ever come across, from train trips to crumpets, giraffe spots to trumpets.

If you had to offer any of your lyrics as love advice (or life advice), you would offer...
On E.T. & Me: "Don't pull that broken-hearted face, because you know there is always outer space."

Most useful lyrics you've heard in a song?
All of Animal Collective's lyrics are useful because they make me very happy.

Do you think the country/city/town you live in affects your music in any way?
Yes, of course. I grew up in the countryside, in a big open space between Tamworth and Gunnedah and I think you can hear this in my songs.

You would love to record with... Tony Dupe... Soon hopefully.

Favourite person you have performed with/recorded with...
Playing a show with Beirut was pretty exciting.

Outside of Shiver Like Timber, you spend your time...
Riding my bicycle, drawing pictures of monsters and people, cooking dinner for friends, thinking about moving to Iceland.

Next for you is...
Travel and shows around Europe. More recordings.
New songs.

If record stores had to come up with a new genre name to file your music under, it would be called...
Galloping-asteroid-rumble-folk.

Five things you currently love

Musically?
Valet and Atlas Sound.

In Print?
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov... I am thinking about travelling to Russia sometime soon... This book is pure madness set in Moscow.

Locally?
The streets of East London... where I am spending my time these days.

Visually?
I keep looking at people's tattoos... Maybe it's time for me to get one... I've never paid such notice of them until now.

Cinematically?
Old Joy... Such big spaces of greenery and nice music!

Shiver Like Timber, ie Betony Dircks, writes feverish and fragile songs. The raw acoustic strums break away like twigs and her voice catches and burns like a tender flicker that's either about to flame out or start raging intensely. Her song, ET & Me, pretty much breaks my heart into uncollectable pieces everytime I hear it. You can keep up with all her songs and news here.

Clubfeet, Melbourne

Current band rollcall?
Cohen plays guitars and sings, Cooper plays synthesizers and sings, Roberts plays bass and sings, and Nichol plays drums and sings. We use the term “sing” loosely, but If you had hair like Nichol you wouldn’t worry about how your voice sounded. We sometimes have guests who are good at human beatbox, giggling and who have access to boisterous children. This is the only boy band we’re in. We all play each others' instruments when someone leaves the room.

Clubfeet have been around since...
We met on an online dating forum in late 2007. Cohen said he liked saying “Maseltov” and then Roberts wrote to him and said “Maseltov”. It seemed more beautiful then than it does now.

Let's play Six Degrees of Clubfeet...
This sounds like the Kevin Bacon game. Our goal when we started Clubfeet was to be connectable to kevin bacon in six steps. um, we havent 'worked' with any heavyweights, but we have drunk with a few. We had a shandy with Steve Lillywhite (producer of U2's The Joshua Tree) at the Columbia hotel in London (He said the best thing about his label was, well, him. Then he giggled manically. True story) We downed many rounds of free vodka Red Bull at the Annex in NY with Victor Van Vugt, and hung out with the band Elefant and the crown prince of Monaco in a hotel bar playing Rodriguez covers on an acoustic guitar (until they said “play us one of your own songs” and then we were all like, “we can’t” and they were, like, then give us back our guitar. Also a true story) Oh and a friend Lauren McLean is the lead singer of a made-up band called Pool Party and she did some beatboxing on our song Die Yuppie Scum. Our dream is to work with Bob Rock...

First song ever written?
The Time in Paris Is...

Music making for you began when...
Cohen and Roberts played their own high school dance.

Most unusual sound/instrument you've used in your music?
We recorded seven minutes of silence at Martin Luther King Jnr's grave and we try to slip it into every track we do. Some trainspotters have picked it up.

Strangest gig you've ever played?
We have never played a gig because no one ever asks us. We'd like to though, we can do good Rodriguez covers.

Do you pin up images when recording to help inspire your songs? (Or put up other things in the studio for the same effect?)
We have a giant Helmut Newton nude on one wall – which Robert’s Melbourne housemate keeps taking down when she has guests. Also a picture of Samuel Beckett and a portrait of Elvis called Cut Me and I Bleed on the other which we stole from the good Samaritan bin next door to our Melbourne house.

Most unconventional topic you've covered in your lyrics...
Breaking down on a Ducatis – although actually that’s probably pretty common

If you had to offer any of your lyrics as love advice (or life advice), you would offer...
"I never asked you for a miracle, I just wanted someone to help me get by."
Or, "Feels like I’m here, holding your hand, but you’re at the bar buying a round".
Both from Brightlightsbigcity.

Most useful lyrics you've heard in a song?
There’s a Beach Boys song called Busy Doing Nothing where Brian Wilson explains a memory trick on how to remember a phone number. It’s a pretty shitty trick.

Unlikeliest thing to influence your music?
We all hate e-bow. Unless they want to sponsor us - in which case we all love e-bow. Whichever.

Do you think the country/city/town you live in affects your music in any way?
We spend about half our year in Biarritz in France and half in Melbourne. They are both fun - it's easier to get a suntan in France.

Favourite person you have performed with/recorded with...
Beirut said he was going to sing on a track but then he got sick when he was in town so instead we gave him whisky and a pep talk... You’ve got to keep some kids on the straight and narrow.

Outside of Clubfeet, you spend your time...
We are learning to play racquet ball. If anyone knows a good physio, we'd appreciate a hookup.

If record stores had to come up with a new genre name to file your music under, it would be called...
Instructional pop songs.


Five things you currently love
Ossa bucco, buying other artists’ platinum record plaques for our wall, Wardlow Art Residence, doing remixes for much better bands than us, and white anchovies.

Musically?
Enya, House of Love, Sting, Underworld, Tears for Fears.

In Print?
Lonely Planet: Monaco
Get the Edge, Anthony Robbins
The Stain Removal Guide
100 ways to eat a Truffle
Guinness Book of Records 1987

Locally?
Someone told us about an old man in Perth who has a disease that means he can't stop walking - so he just walks up and down the highway, like, ALWAYS. But we haven't met him so I don't want to talk about him here.

Visually?
Paisley Wallpaper, yellow neckties, Guy Bourdin.

Cinematically?
90210 Box-set.

Clubfeet play fast and loose with the truth and slow and wistful with their brand of danceable synth-pop. They do an incredibly awesome cover of Say Something by the 90s band James, complete with whistles and some giggly field recording at the end. Apparently "94 per cent" of the answers here are true, including the bit about Steve Lillywhite saying "well... ME rather!" and there being Helmut Newton nudes on their walls. Clubfeet don't really play racquetball but they recently did a track for the MTV Europe Awards and have a new album out soon. Follow their hijinks on Clubfeet's MySpace page.