In the midst of working on Cub Sport’s new album, vocalist Tim Nelson went on a winding road trip that took him all the way from Brisbane to the Whitsunday Islands. In those picturesque surrounds, he snorkelled with sea turtles, had encounters with whales and watched spectacular sunsets. The getaway was a balm – and helped him reconnect with his creativity.
“I felt super grounded and connected,” he says. “It sounds kind of corny and I feel like those are words that people use a lot when they’re talking about being in nature. But I really did.
“I was in the middle of working on the album. And while I love working on music, there is an element of pressure as well – to make something that you love – and you don’t necessarily know when inspiration is going to come. So having the opportunity to go enjoy something that is so separate from what I do day to day was refreshing.”
The album that Nelson and his bandmates came out with is Jesus at the Gay Bar, a collection of euphoric, electronic-informed pop songs that are the latest evolution in the story of Cub Sport. The band is led by Nelson and his husband, vocalist and keyboardist Sam Netterfield, and completed by guitarist Zoe Davis and drummer Dan Puusaari. Their intent was to make something “joyous”, but peppered with religious motifs – a nod to Nelson’s upbringing.
“I grew up in a very Christian world and I really didn’t know anybody outside of the church and the Christian school that I went to,” he says. “So growing up queer was pretty challenging and it took me a long time to unlearn all of those things that I was told growing up.
“The four albums that have come before this one have followed that journey of coming to terms with being queer, then learning to accept it, then coming out. And now I feel like I’m at a place where it’s something that I genuinely am proud of. I’m really glad that I am queer.
“I feel like this album tells parts of that whole journey. And sonically it is our most uplifting and light album so far, so I feel like it’s a celebration of getting to the point that I’ve gotten to.”
Cub Sport formed in 2010, had their breakthrough hit in 2016 with the platinum-selling single Come On Mess Me Up, and became one of Australia’s most loved music acts in the years that followed with their brand of vulnerable, open-hearted pop music.
Nelson remembers performing a lot of their early shows at Brisbane’s Black Bear Lodge and Fortitude Valley mainstay Ric’s, a legendary venue he was “so excited” to play.
Brisbane’s array of exciting live music venues also includes the Fortitude Music Hall, the newly renovated Princess Theatre, and classics the Tivoli and Triffid, some of which light up each year for Bigsound, the Australian music industry’s national conference and showcase event, which takes place in Fortitude Valley every September. Nelson loves the tight-knit Brisbane music community and still lives in the Queensland capital.
“We made the music video for Come On Mess Me Up for, like, $100 in our share house in Herston,” Nelson laughs. “I feel like the way that things panned out [in our careers] and with the people in places in Brisbane, I don’t think that it could have come to be in any other place. [Our music] is all very inspired by real things that have happened here.”
But as indebted as Nelson feels to Brisbane, he and husband Netterfield still love to get away and explore their home state. Their trip north in 2021 was an unforgettable one.
Cape Hillsborough National Park. Photographer: Keiran Lusk.
“That whole area is just mind-blowingly beautiful,” Nelson says. “We went sailing one morning and whales came up just like 30 metres away from our little catamaran … I love animals and nature, so getting to go up there and see that was super special.”
On the road trip north the pair also stopped in at the Mackay region’s Eungella National Park, a mist-shrouded and forest-clad mountain refuge that is one of Queensland’s most ecologically diverse parks. There, Nelson and Netterfield swam in waterfalls and spotted platypus – one of more than 175 species of animals that have been found living in Eungella. It’s a great place to camp, walk and watch out for wildlife.
The couple also passed through Cape Hillsborough National Park, where they spotted kangaroos on the beach: a postcard-like image for which the park is famous. Rugged Cape Hillsborough is also home to rainforest, eucalypt forest, and volcanic rock formations, making it an awe-inspiring place to spend a couple of days camping and getting off the beaten track.
Another favourite experience on that trip was settling in for an evening drink at One Tree Hill in Hamilton Island, a bar that overlooks the Whitsunday Islands. “You can watch the sun set over multiple islands and it was extremely beautiful,” Nelson says.
Enjoying that special moment together in public with Netterfield was a far cry from the way their relationship began in their closeted teenage years, shrouded in secrecy and shame – something that is reflected on in their intimate new single Keep Me Safe. Rather than focusing on trauma or repression, the track emphasises the giddy rush of new love. That is how Nelson wants to remember the beginnings of their relationship.
“Now all these years later, I feel safe and secure in who I am, and like I can go back and celebrate something that should be celebrated,” Nelson says. And that is worth raising a glass to.
Head to the Whitsundays to take in the natural wonders of Hamilton Island.
Road tripping north from Brisbane?
Vist Eungella National Park, and follow one of the many walking tracks to rainforest gullies and river pools.
Stay in style
For something special, book adults-only qualia, or check out Palm Bungalows for a family-friendly option.
See the Great Barrier Reef
Take in the reef from some unique vantage points. You can even sleep on it!
Set sail
There are 74 islands that comprise the Whitsundays, and cruising is the best way to see as many as possible.
Keen to do Queensland differently? Dig a little deeper and discover somewhere new.
