Bristol indie-rock four-piece The Bedside Morale have released their debut EP, Still Life, and new single, Yours Sincerely. We asked vocalist and lyricist Tim Kazer the BIG questions . . .
Speaking about the new EP, Tim says, "I'm trying to write more that matters to me, lyrics that I can deliver from my chest. For this EP I wanted to write songs that reflect life, or some aspect of it.
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"Songs that are real and that are true to it. There's moments of love and pain and it's all heartfelt. I think maybe I feel some sort of need to come back to authenticity and I can say, hand on whole heart, that every song here is authentically us."
Tell us three things about yourself . . .
My name is Tim Kazer, I am 5ft 10 on a good day, I love a good chair tattoo and I have a really great sense of direction up until the point I say right or left because I will say the wrong one.
How would you describe your music?
I think like most people what we were aiming for and what we actually sound like is a bit removed. We can aim for authentic nostalgia of the music we grew up with but we also can't help but be swayed by modernity. I think we've ended up in a really cool garage rock/indie rock space, we wear our influences on our sleeves but our sleeves are very long. Heartfelt is the defining light for everything we do I think.
Who are your musical inspirations?
Even at the level he is lauded and awarded, Billy Joel is under-appreciated. I think he is genuinely one of the greatest lyricists and songwriters there have ever been. Dinosaur Jr. are another big one especially for emotion, J Mascis has such a sorrowful way of singing. It’s all about feel and tone. I also adore and draw from Adrianne Lenker a lot, too. She writes in such a true and unfiltered way. There’s a reality and a lack of abstraction to her music that most people aren’t brave enough to have. I think like most musicians I’m really just a thief in the night and most music I enjoy has inspired something I’ve done or a way I am. I guess I am the sum of my favourite artists' parts.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
It was Klaxons at Bristol Academy in London on their Myths of the Near Future tour. I remember they were supported by CSS, who brandished a wagon wheel throughout most of the set imploring whoever in the audience got it to not eat it as they had no idea how old it was. I went back to that album recently and Golden Skans is still an absolute anthem.
What was the first record you ever bought?
White Stripes - Elephant. I remember standing in a WH Smiths in Bristol with the pocket money to be able to buy one CD. It was between this and Marylin Manson’s Mechanical Animals. I always think about it being such a Sliding Doors moment. I sometimes wonder who I would have been if I’d chosen the other.
What’s your favourite song right now?
I think I’ve been playing Call Me After Midnight from the latest Bleachers album non-stop ever since it came out. That chorus goes so hard, and I love the way everything sort of darts in and out. It’s one of those songs that feels like it's been there your whole life the minute you hear the opening moments.
Favourite lyric of all time?
"Eating snowflakes with plastic forks, and a paper plate, of course you think of everything" - Trailer Trash by Modest Mouse. It's the "you think of everything" part. It just encapsulates everything pure about love. It’s such a specific and beautiful detail and it makes me so happy every time.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I actually have a playlist kind of around this idea. I'm fascinated by the idea of a perfect song. Those songs you never skip no matter what, that just captured something in you and always have a place at the table. I'm really cutthroat with what goes on this playlist, it really has to be never skipped otherwise what’s the point. To choose one song from that…. Fade Into You by Mazzy Star. That’s a perfect song, top to bottom.
Where can people find your music/more information?
We’re on Instagram, Spotify, Apple Music, Facebook. All under The Bedside Morale. We’re also looking for shows to play so if you have anything, even if it’s 3pm opening to an empty bar, we’ll take it.
Alan Corr
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