Tim Steward

In total opposition to the first act, Tim Steward and band are polished, tight, energetic and entertain with an eclectic set that takes us from indie rock to ballad and then into alt-country and even folk-rock territory. The sound is finally right (it’s been so LOUD of late), so whoever the engineer was, they were doing a good job. It was enormously pleasant to not have to wear ear plugs; especially for such a versatile, talented musician as Steward. New single Trigger Finger was a stand out, with a melodic intro that builds to a crescendo of (greatly missed) Brisbane indie-pop excellence. It would be surprising to never hear it on the radio. Steward’s band is a perfect fit for his solo efforts, the harmonies and counterpoints to his signature voice and guitar riffs melding effortlessly. Wrapping up the set with Back to the Car, the mid-size crowd stands to convey its warm appreciation for the locals. - FasterLouder.com.au

The stage is soon crawling with life - enter Tim Steward’s tall frame, backed by full band including a trio of female backup singers. They launch into the full and pleasant sounds of the album, pouring thick, smooth indie pop into our ears.

This is their first live appearance, and they are remarkably tight and having bundles of fun - and it’s rubbing off on the crowd. All eyes are fixed on the stage as a mixture of sweet melodies and fiesty electro pounce from the amps. ‘Remember What Came First’ is a wonderful acoustic ballad that dives through eerie guitar and distant, pulsating keys.

The beautifully soothing sound of ‘The Sun is Beginning to Rise’ evokes thoughtful faces and dreamy smiles. ‘I Can’t Wait That Long’ leans heavily on piano and a slow, driving rhythm. Tim has spent most of six years crafting this album, and he should be very pleased with how it translates to a live context.

Let’s hope Tim keeps making beautiful music, and venues like the Troubadour keep putting on well-run, relaxed gigs. - Time Off, Brisbane

In the close-knit Brisbane music scene, Tim Steward’s long-rumoured solo album has taken on almost mythical proportions. Many knew the popular Screamfeeder frontman was working on a solo album, while a few wags even jested it would never see the light of day.

Steward proved them wrong in September with the release of his debut solo longplayer, How Does It End, a warm mix of electro and acoustic indie pop. For Steward, its release is the fruition of a project with roots way back in 1997.

“It’s a massive relief,” Steward laughs. “I’ve just put so much into it, so much money and time, and waiting… It’s been good to get it out. I had to work on it sporadically between Screamfeeder stuff and overseas trips and whatever we’ve been doing. So it’s been finding the time and money.

“I think ‘Maybe’ is the oldest track and I had a bare bones version of that on paper in around 1997. I’d say about half of the album was recorded between 2000-02.”

In between his work with Screamfeeder and The Whats, Steward recorded 17 tracks, produced by the likes of Wayne Connolly, Magoo, Matt Maddock and Bryce Moorhead, which he whittled down to the final 11 on the album.
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“I got to know which songs didn’t sound good six months later or didn’t keep my attention a year later, so I brought it back down to 11, which I think was a good thing to do. I don’t like to sit through four minutes of a song where I’m kind of going ‘I want the next song!’. So I had the freedom to cut a few off .”

Steward says his passion for the art of songwriting is what keeps him prolific.

“I kind of have to be, because I’m in the two bands, plus this! I make myself do it and sit down and spend a few hours every couple of days doing it.

“I guess I’m motivated 90 per cent by exploration and having fun and thinking of ideas and having them fully realised enough to release on a CD. Just the experience of that is fantastic for me.

“It’s weird, both Kellie (Lloyd, Screamfeeder) and I are both making more music than we ever have in our lives. She’s in three bands, I’m in three separate projects, so we’re doing music every day, whether it be rehearsing or recording or whatever. Kellie and I spend every Thursday writing songs together, so we’ve got a nice little stash of songs building up for Screamfeeder. I’d say we’ll get an album out next year.”

How Does It End may have been quietly released into stores in September but there’s a very good reason why we’ve had to wait till November for an official CD launch: Steward was a man with no band.

“I’ve been in the process of putting the band together and rehearsing… it’s going to be a pretty awesome-sounding band. I’ve got a drummer called Dan [McNaulty] from The Narcotics and Dom [Vincent] who used to be in Fagan, plus a couple of other guys.”

Much like the long-anticipated How Does It End, the delay will have been worth the wait.

Tim Steward launches How Does It End (Reverberation) at The Troubadour Friday Nov 10.
- Time Off, Brisbane

Screamfeeder was part of the large swag of bands to emerge from Brisbane in the 1990s that had southern audiences wondering, not for the first time, what the hell was going on north of the Tweed River. Armchair sociologists got into a lather to explain that the surge of creative output in the Queensland capital was evidence of the youth breaking free of the shackles of the Bjelke-Peterson era (just as earlier the peanut farmer-turned Premier had been credited with the rise of The Saints, if not the Australian punk genre itself).

While a stardom of sorts beckoned for Powderfinger and Regurgitator, Screamfeeder seemed content plying their trade for a small but devout following. Albums such as 1996’s Kitten Licks showed off a raucous but fairly straightforward rock sound, punctuated by frontman, Tim Steward’s impassioned, slightly effeminate vocals. In the band’s down-time in the new century, Steward sporadically committed to tape songs he’d been carrying around. The result is his debut solo album, How Does It End.

The on-again, off-again nature of the recording process (several studios and producers, between 2001 and 2004) gives the album a bit of a disjointed feel, as it jumps at the start from melancholy dream-pop (Before), to bright flip-flop-on-the-veranda rock (Not The Same), to acoustic singer-songwriter dabbling (Remember What Came First). That said, all the strong points of Steward’s earlier work and more (particularly the forays into electronic noise-making, such as on Law For Yourself) are here.

The Sun Is Beginning To Rise is the acoustic, plus twin-vocal sing-along trick done to perfection, and recalls the overlooked Grandview recording by Trent MacNamara (Brisbane’s Melniks) and Tim Oxley (The Dearhunters) of 2002. The cello flourishes and vocal harmonies on Maybe wrap a warm blanket around Steward’s slowly strummed guitar.

What Are You Doing To Me? sees Steward putting his frail voice to some equally vulnerable-sounding lyrics. This sort of stuff was buried underneath power chords in the early Screamfeeder days; on this track, you get the impression that Steward is more content to spill his guts on record nowadays.

I Can’t Wait That Long has a lush keyboard arrangement and some sharp droning background noise, with Steward quietly intoning about loneliness over the top. The “yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah” line on The Difference is a frustratingly saccharine spoiler to an otherwise ramshackle busker rant.

The best of How Does It End is left to last, with Sunday Morning ambling along to a simple piano tune that sounds like Ben Folds on sedatives. There’s some genuine warmth in Steward’s normally slender vocals as he breathes, “It’s early Sunday morning and I can’t get to sleep.”

The album is a sizable departure from Screamfeeder’s output – for a start, it comes across as more introspective and benefits greatly from electronic tweaking. There are also pleasing bits of continuity – Steward’s honest vocalising for example.

Steward and Screamfeeder might not have scaled the heights of their Brisbane rock contemporaries, but they nevertheless continue to make an impressive contribution to the Australian musical canon.

- PBS