Bearly A Man

Cub Sport

Tim Nelson had been kicking around the Brisbane music scene for a couple of years before forming Cub Scouts. The young singer-songwriter's secured modest respect and success within the local community, performing alongside local indie favourites like Montpelier and Charlie Mayfair. Still, nothing in his career up to that point would have suggested the success he's since found as frontman of rising indie-pop stars Cub Scouts. Since piecing the band together back in 2011, Nelson has crisscrossed the country, performed at Laneway Festival and secured multiple Queensland Music Awards.

“That was just a massive surprise,” Nelson says of Cub Scouts' Song Of The Year nod for single Do You Hear. “We'd already won Pop Song Of The Year earlier in the night and that was completely unexpected – we were up against people like Kate Miller-Heidke and Busby Marou – so when we won Song Of The Year it was just unbelievable. It's definitely been a surprising year. I didn't really expect much at all. I remember when we released our first single Evie, my only ambition was to get it played on triple j once – so when it did get played I was ecstatic. That was all I wanted. And then it got added to full rotation, community radio got behind us and it's just been amazing ever since.”

It's a particular shock given the origins of the project. Nelson didn't form the band with any intention of vaulting out of the singer-songwriter arena (and into subsequent stardom). It was simply a chance to have fun with friends and music (after too many years spent performing decidedly more downbeat fare solo). “I suppose it was always intended to be a pretty serious project but it's still been a bit weird,” Nelson reflects. “It's always been something I've wanted to do. Still, earlier this year, I had to defer my studies just so we could keep up with all the opportunities for the band. I never expected it would be successful enough to force me to give things up.

“I think I always wanted to have a band that people would actually listen to. I wanted Cub Scouts to be more enjoyable to listen to. With the songs I was writing earlier on, I didn't enjoy playing them; and if I don't enjoy playing them I don't know why anyone would want to listen to them. I just wanted to write catchier, more upbeat songs, really.”

Bearing in mind, all of this happened before Cub Scouts had even released anything substantial. It's only been in the past month that the band have unveiled their debut EP, Told You So. Nelson, however, is untroubled by any expectations generated by the band's success to date. “Well, in a strange way, the Queensland Music Awards actually took the pressure off a bit,” Nelson laughs. “After Evie, we were really worried about releasing a second single – whether it could do as well as our first, whether people would like us, that sort of thing – and when we won those awards, it kind of told us we were on the right track.

“I mean, sure, people's expectations were probably raised because of all that stuff but, generally, it's nice to know that people will be paying attention to us at all. The reception for the EP has been really great – we've gotten some nice reviews and people have been very kind to us. It's all going a bit better than I expected, really.”

Cub Scouts will be playing the following dates:

Friday 7 December - Alhambra, Brisbane QLD
Thursday 13 December - Good God Small Club, Sydney NSW
Friday 14 December - Rocket Bar, Adelaide SA
Saturday 15 December - The Toff, Melbourne VIC