Interview: Tim Wheatley – Crooked Saint

Interview by Chris Dornan

Just recently playing live shows up and down the East Coast are the highly successful band CROOKED SAINT with their new album “SWEATING BULLETS”. Chris Dornan (LMM) caught up with solo artist, songwriter and the front man for Crooked Saint, Tim Wheatley.

Chris Dornan: It’s been a great year for you and Crooked Saint with your newest EP SWEATING BULLETS. An EP completely full of a mixture of cool rhythms, harmonic melodies and a simplistic journey of brilliant songwriting. A perfect album to play at the beach this summer. With such a great band behind you including Michael Badger, Johnny Grant and Troy Ramaekers. Are you pleased with the early success so far?

Tim Wheatley: Thank you very much for that. I’m over the moon with everything. When we started this I just wanted to keep myself a little busier and once we finished up recording that first EP “Every Angry Inch” I got a bit of confidence in the tunes as I was a little uncertain at the start. Then I thought let’s take it to the next level and get the band and promote that record and push it and see what happens. I started hanging out with those guys and working with them and doing the shows. Going through the highs and lows I formed a bond with those boys and I’m happy having them on board and contributing now it feels a lot better. As for the shows, the response couldn’t have gone any better.
 
 
LifeMusicMedia: The mixture of laid back sounds and easy going styles on all the singles including the title track “Sweating Bullets” really show your diversity as a songwriter and to the simplistic single “Man In Waiting” which I felt was so true to life and the lyrics about “…for me to slip… for me to lose my grip. “I think it’s true of how society looks at us to sometimes fail. Was my interpretation correct or totally off the mark?

Tim Wheatley: Your interpretation was spot on. It’s funny because it comes across to me as a real happy highway song. Ironically I was writing it originally in a state of angst. There was a lot of pressure on me to be writing and progressing and moving forward. All the demos I was listening back to and I would say I don’t think I like that one or that’s good or there is some potential there. I was very angst to find the good ones to progress with. When I wrote that song I was struggling to find some stuff that was convincingly better. I got those lyrics from the feeling that there is someone there waiting to take my place and slip right in if I don’t up my game.
 
 
LifeMusicMedia: How much of your song writing is true to your life or the people around you?

T.W.: It’s very true. I sing about my surroundings and my environment and try to make it imaginative. I do take a little bit of poetic license here and there. Kind of fast forwarding the boring bits. It’s so very true. I stand by that because the songs that I’ve falling in love with growing up. People like Paul Kelly and Tim Rogers and The Band. They sing about stuff that can be occasionally self deprecating. A lot of the music out there these days is safe people just glorifying themselves. It is just a general statement. My favorite songs are the ones about the guy down in the dumps and it’s most likely his fault he got there.
 
 
LifeMusicMedia: What would be the biggest obstacle as a single artist and for your band Crooked Saint in the music industry today?

T.W.: Bands are really putting themselves out there. The harder they work and the more they get their name out there increases their chances of getting lucky and finding that support. The more time you spend out there you’ll win when the time is right. That’s the way I look at it. I think the biggest obstacle is being able to spend enough time and dedicating enough time. On a whim to be there at the right time. If that made any sense at all it increases your chances of lightning striking you and getting the push that you need.
 
 
LifeMusicMedia: Do you think the days gone where everyone had stacks of Albums, CD’S and cassette tapes? Do you feel that purchasing music online has hurt or improved the independent artist like yourself?

T.W.: It’s improved in a few ways, you can help your online presence from home. You can make things happen from there that you couldn’t in the past and some bands have been able to turn over a few bucks. You weren’t able to do that in the past, but in the past people were buying albums and supporting the industry a lot more. Before that the only way you could make a buck was to perform live if you go back even further. I guess it’s evolution as the industry needs to find ways to embrace it and I think there doing so. It doesn’t necessarily make it harder for a band is what I’m trying to say.
 
 
LifeMusicMedia: When you play a live gig do you feed off the audience or is just playing your set live is enough to inject energy into Crooked Saint?

T.W.: Recently I’ve had the experience of playing a lot of shows by myself solo. Doing a lot of supports as well so the people are not necessarily there to see you. I think I learn a lot more from the gigs where the audience response wasn’t so good. The gigs that do well you just float through. You just feed off it and have a good time and come off the stage on quite a high but it is sort of a blur. When sometimes there are gigs that are painfully slow or the response is lacking you really feel that the impact. Every chorus your singing is either working or not. That’s when I find I’m learning a lot more about trying to capture them.

LifeMusicMedia: Has any of your fans ever gone too far in their enthusiasm at a live gig? If so, how extreme has was it?

T.W.: It hasn’t got too extreme, it’s been pretty mellow. I don’t think we attract that many crazies yet. But I guess time will tell. Ask me that question in about five years and I hope I can give you a much better answer than that.
 
 
LifeMusicMedia: When would you say your defining moment was? When did you know you wanted to do this for a living?

T.W.: I was playing in a band when I was sixteen and playing at the Gershwin Room. I literally just turned sixteen and that was the final year of my high school I have been playing live since then. I’ve played with a multitude of bands, some of those bands struck deals and some just sort of fell away. A lot of people are in my position being kicked in the guts and it’s sometimes a little daunting. They just get lazy and concentrate on getting a real job. I’ve managed to have enough support so I can carry on with it. It’s the sort of question that I actually had like a song.
 
 
LifeMusicMedia: You could write something from it.

T.W.: Yeah exactly I might just write that down.
 
 
LifeMusicMedia: What artists would you say really stand out at the moment but don’t get the respect they deserve or we should have a listen to?

T.W.: I’m really digging the vibe down here in Melbourne at the moment. There are a few guys, my drummer Troy also plays with a Melbourne singer song writer named Jimmy Hawk and The Endless Party and he’s been chipping away for some time now and I think that guy deserves a lot of credit for keeping at it. There is another band at the moment called Dirt Farmer and I’m playing with them on a show on January 26, 2012. There are some bigger bands out there now like Boy and Bear that are getting recognized that have also been chipping away for a while. There is a lot to choose from. I like the Triple J vibe at the moment. I’m starting to get my head around it now as I’ve tried and tried to get played on the station and get recognized. They’re helping a lot of young bands at the moment and that’s a pretty good way to follow it. I think. Once you crack it that it’s pretty good as well.
 
 
LifeMusicMedia: Having played your music overseas, particularly in America, how’s the reaction been and do you intend on returning?

T.W.: Absolutely that’s something I really want to do. It’s a lot of fun playing over there and I can feel a lot of opportunity around the corner. Sometimes you can play in a small venue and there might only be five or ten people. People in Los Angeles tend to get out and see and they’re really looking with eyes and ears open for some new tunes. I would like to get back over there this coming year.
 
 
LifeMusicMedia: Is there a particular place that you enjoy playing while you’re in the states?

T.W.: I spent a lot of time over there with my old band in San Francisco and then with my other band we went to Nashville. Playing in Nashville it’s a real singer songwriter community and I found it a bit intimidating. California is just a lot more fun.
 
 
LifeMusicMedia: Is there any big tours or dream gigs you would love to showcase your music?

T.W.: I went and saw a couple of gigs at The Hollywood Bowl when I was there. I think you can add that to the top of my list now. A summer night there would be nice.
 
 
LifeMusicMedia: What can we expect from Tim Wheatley and Crooked Saint in 2012?

T.W.: A lot more gigs and music. I would like to cover a lot more ground this year and see more of the country. As far as recording, I’m already backed up and I’d like to get some more tunes down sooner rather than later. My theory is the more songs I throw out there the more likely one of them is going to stick.
 
 
LifeMusicMedia: Any plans on coming up to Queensland?

T.W.: Yes we are going to work on that as soon as possible. We have been looking at finding some dates now. Over the next two months of January and February I’ll be in Victoria and New South Wales doing a lot of acoustic shows. So I’d say some time around end of February hopefully but don’t hold me to it. It’s just work in progress.

Interview by Chris Dornan

Visit the Crooked Saint facebook page for upcoming tour details.