Dear Time’s Waste Newsletter Interview

Born from sleepy disillusionment with life in Auckland’s leafy suburbs, Dear Time’s Waste paints an aural picture of soft water colour with a grey wash of light that is – according to one listener – “akin to a morning orgasm”.

What can we expect to see from Dear Time’s Waste over the next year?

This record, ‘Spells’, release on 18 October. Beyond that, shows in and about the place. The record is coming out in Australia on Speak n Spell in November, and that will be followed by shows over there. Following this I plan on starting another record, and am also working on a couple of collaborations.

I have also been chipping away at a small book which I had hoped to release with the album but it is unfortunately being delayed until early next year. 

Who are your favourite NZ musicians/bands, and why?

Seth Frightening, for making music that echoes in my life and seeming to do it so effortlessly.

JPS Experience, because they make songs that ache like sexy slow jams!

Grayson Gilmour, ‘No Constellation’ is a great record and he has solid work ethic I really admire… he just makes one record after another and is a nice guy to boot.

And Timothy Blackman for being the most courageous solo performer….

But really, I admire anyone who sticks to their guns and keeps making/playing songs in or outside of a country that doesn’t sustain it terribly well…

How do you come up with your lyrics?

A lot of them are influenced/inspired by particular texts/films I have been thinking about. A lot of material on ‘Spells’ is drawn from the David Lynch film Blue Velvet, there is a song (‘Alice’) drawing from Closer by Patrick Marber, and others drawing from Virginia Woolf and Lyn Hejinian. That said some material speaks from an internal perspective of my own with no direct/intentional textual references. The stuff that I draw from Woolf, Lynch, and so on resonates with me on an extreme level so in that sense it becomes personalised through my reworking of it.

Who would you most like to support live?

I’m not sure really, playing support for bands I love is nerve-wracking, and I’d perhaps rather just go to see the show and listen. But if there was anyone, the Pixies and Kate Bush – but in the 80s. Having supported Deerhunter and soon to be supporting Low (on 18 October in Auckland) are both special shows for me. 

What can you never leave home without?

Pen and paper.

What is the best part of being a musician?

Trying to make the songs in my head a reality…. and also meeting and playing with awesome people and making friends in a variety of cities.

What is in your CD collection at home?

Favourites include the Smiths, My Bloody Valentine, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Slowdive, The Shocking Pinks, PJ Harvey, Fugazi, Q & Not You, Antony & the Johnsons, Sonic Youth, Hole, Deerhunter, Smashing Pumpkins, Cocteau Twins, the Breeders, Simon Joyner, Joy Division, Joanna Newsom, the Walkmen, Rufus Wainwright, Hank Williams, REM, Swans, Bob Dylan, and heaps more. Not to mention a billion burnt mix compilations

What is your favourite place in NZ to be?

I am a city person, I get a thrill every time I get to hang out in Wellington, there is so much life and positivity floating in the air. That said I love Auckland and the far North is incredible. I’ll be camping there this summer.

What inspired you to become a start Dear Time’s Waste?

I was looking for an outlet for some songs I had been working on, and set about recording them with producer Djeisan Suskov

How did you come up with the name Dear Time’s Waste?

It’s taken from Shakespeare’s 30th Sonnet, the line reads like this: 

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time’s waste

I liked the way the words look and sound together and the way it’s a bit hard to pronounce. It also speaks a bit to the way I feel about creative processes which for me are often soaked in nostalgia, longing and procrastination.

What is the best gig you have ever performed at, and why?

Laneway Auckland in 2010 is memorable, I think our band sounds good through big flash PAs rather than small shitty ones. And I got to meet Warren Ellis which was exceptionally exciting. That said, I think I have made my best performances at Auckland’s Wine Cellar, which is tiny and very intimate.