The Real Deal

Tom Wearne is down in Melbourne presently, taking part in the JUMP formalised mentorship program with none other than Bindi Irwin Apocalypse Jam man Dan Kelly, “an intensive week learning about art, and a lot of theoretical bullshit,” he jokes, “but it's free drinks every night – bang bang!”

It's more serious than that, though. Wearne is quick to shower praise on Kelly, speaking of his artistic respect and amazement at his lyrical prowess. “It's poetry I suppose,” he ponders, “and adding poetry on top of a melody to create a song is just a different skill set that I'm working on and trying to improve.”

More commonly known as the frontman for local indie-dance five-piece Tin Can Radio, Wearne has made the most of some summer downtime with the band following a record release last year, breaking away to form Sleepy Tea. “It's just songs that I write and record when the time is right,” he says modestly. “And I really see it as a lifetime thing, something that will always be there until I die.”

He cut his EP with Cairns beardie Mark Myers, the production mind behind The Middle East's former work. Wearne calls their EP [2009's The Recordings Of The Middle East] “phenomenal”, going as far as saying, “It's probably one of my favourite Australian releases of all time, [so] I was very privileged to work with him.”

After putting together a couple of tracks in Brisbane that didn't make new EP The Place Where We Lay, “to establish a relationship“, Wearne was confident the two men were on the same page, the end result only strengthening that opinion further.

“He's got a great knack with synths and making beautiful sounds,” Wearne gushes, “and I think Sleepy Tea is very much about beautiful things and trying to make beautiful sounds – trying to create warm, dreamy tones.”

Wearne also got a whole bunch of his friends to jump on the recording and fill out the intricate, rich instrumentation you find across the five tracks.

“It was a very organic feeling, just phoning someone up and going, 'Hey, can you come in and lay down some drums', and Emma [Louise] was up in Cairns with me at the time and she came in and chucked on some VBs (that's vocal back-ups, people). It just happened very naturally, but it's so nice to have my friends immortalised in the recording. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

“I love that time in the studio where you record the core of the song and then you look and see what you can add – it's a very creative time,” he adds. “You're in a position where you can do so much; you can [even] add multiple layers of yourself playing multiple instruments. You could have an infinite number of yourselves. [But] I've really fallen in love with trying to write songs that make the world go round, and just recording it in that way.”

After scoring the coveted support slot for Louise's recent run of sold-out theatre shows to launch her debut, Sleepy Tea was presented as a delightfully fresh three-piece. The lush folk pop shone, the performances were hypnotic; however, it was clear that the potential for something magic was close in the distance. Now it's Wearne's turn to launch his new offering, and this time he'll take the stage with a five-piece band, aimed at applying every colour to the canvas.

“[These songs], these are feelings that we have and that shit's real,” he states. “And I think when you acknowledge [and present] it people connect with it.”

Sleepy Tea will play the following dates:

Sunday 10 March - Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane QLD