Q & A with Sametime

Over the past 6 years Caloundra brothers Tim Aitken (18) and Sam Aitken (15) have become something of a permanent fixture on the street corners of South East Queensland. Every available weekend they would grab their guitar and cajon, pick their shop front or lane way and set about entertaining Saturday shoppers with their easy style and trademark sibling harmonies.

Now under their band name Sametime, Tim and Sam are set to release their debut single "Where The Wind Blows"; a strikingly beautiful melody which showcases the brothers` glorious harmonies.

We caught up with the duo in the lead up to their local single releases...

Hey Tim and Sam.  Nice work with the new single in ‘Where the Wind Blows’. It’s got that Kim Churchill-kinda vibe happening… very chill.  How long did this song take to form? Was it one of those tunes that writes itself?

Tim: It kinda sprung out of one of the thousands of jamming sessions me and Sam get into most nights in a room at the back of house called `The Bear Trap`.

Sam; Tim started the song and I started adding the harmonies. At the time we both thought it was a cute song, but we never dreamed it would be our first single. I`m glad it is, it shows what we`re about and where we are right now

You’ve mentioned that the song explores the fear and uncertainty of following your dreams, and that you’re both standing at a crossroads - to you both, what is there to be afraid of in this industry (considering you’ve been at it for six years now)?

Sam: I`m more excited than nervous about what comes next. OK, I`m a little scared, and its not just fear of failure, its more not knowing what`s going to happen.

Tim: It is all getting lot more serious, this is hopefully going to be our job for life and one wrong turn and it all goes away. That`s scares me.

Where was ‘Where the Wind Blows’ recorded, and who produced it?

Tim: Ian Pritchett produced the track. Our publishers at Sony/ATV hooked us up with him and we just clicked. He spoke to us like we were real artists which was great. He helped to bring our thoughts to life. He`s pretty successful, he produced Angus and Julia Stone and he`s just made albums with Boo Seeka and Kim Churchill…and now the debut Sametime single ha ha ha!. He was responsible for the song`s chill feel.

How was the headspace when Sony picked you up for a long term deal last year?  Did it feel surreal?

Tim: It all happened so quickly. They heard our stuff, next week they met us in Brisbane and the following day they offered us a deal. It started to dawn on us that this idea of a music career might be real.

Sam: It was one of the best feelings ever! After 6 years constantly busking its pretty unreal to have a music professional say they believe in you.

Given that there’s more production involved (by the sound of the single), will you be heading towards incorporating a full band in the near future, or more that you’ll rely on triggers and pads in the live performance instead?

Tim: We may explore the idea of pads and triggers but we also love playing as a 4 piece with our two best mates Jordy and Mitch. We`re still developing our sound so its good to mix it up a bit to see what works.

Sam: We probably need to be flexible with our line up. Sometimes we get booked as a three piece, sometimes the gig needs our sound to be a bit fuller so we`ll go out as a four piece and of course sometimes at Radio stations, they just want me and Tim with a guitar and a Cajon.

And finally, folks on the Coast would’ve recognised the previous name you performed under - Hoo8Hoo - and now you’ve shifted to Sametime.  Staring at the name for a bit, it just clicked, it’s got both your names in it. So am I anywhere close to guessing that was how the new name came about?

Tim: We were on our way back from recording a demo and we were told that we had to change our name as someone else had already taken the new name we`d chosen. It is so hard to find a good band name that doesn't already exist somewhere the world. We just started shouting out random names and Sam blurted out Sametime. I said `Huh?!` And he said Yes, Dummy, it contains both of our names!

Sam: Yes, I`ll take credit for naming our band.

Thanks guys. Well done again on the new track, and enjoy your release dates at in Brisbane, and at the Caloundra Street Fair on September 3rd.

You can also catch Sametime at Greaser Bar (Fortitude Valley) on September 7th, and The Triffid on September 21st.