You may remember a little musical act, all the way back in 2008, formed in Mandurah called Tim and Jean.
The duo went from bedroom noodling to national super-stardom in a rapidly short time, winning Triple J’s Unearthed High School competition and being selected to play Parklife Festival.
After releasing their debut album, however, the group broke up in 2012, each member going their separate ways.
Tim Ayre – a Secret Harbour native dead-set on a musical career from an early age (he was asked to play with James Morrison at age 12) – has maintained a constant output of work in varying guises over this time, running Mandurah-based events promotion Hooch, touring as the keyboardist for Meg Mac’s band during her recent and huge national tour, and quietly putting out a few tracks on Soundcloud. The effort sees him splitting time between Melbourne and Mandurah these days.
“It’s cold,” Ayre says of his current slog in Victoria.
“But you get used to it, you tend to adapt. And then I come back to WA and I have to adapt again.”
Adapting is an operative word here, as Ayre has put himself back into writing mode.
“I think with everything going on around me, I was just inspired to sit down and write again,” he said.
Being as forward-thinking, yet sentimental, as he is, the new angle on Ayre’s music saw him looking as much back as he did forward to try and put a pin in a specific sound.
“One of the big things was when I got my parents to send over my old piano to where I was in Melbourne,” he said.
“It was the piano I used to write a lot of the Tim and Jean stuff on, it had been sitting there for about ten years.
“I don’t know… when I sat down and started playing it, I felt a lot of things flowing back, and I was just kind of inspired to write what came to me.”
That nostalgia was just the start, though, with memories eventually serving as the stylistic centerpiece for new single Find You, the first release from his upcoming EP.
“I was listening to a lot of hip hop and old jazz records, all sorts of stuff, and they all kind of folded together,” he said.
“But I really though a lot about records I would listen to when I was a kid, that my dad used to play.”
It’s something of a musical process come full-circle, as elements of Ayre’s past work re-emerge – including old instruments – yet with a keen eye on making his music as progressive as possible.
“I spent a few years releasing slower songs; I think I spent that time really working out what it was I wanted to do, in the end,” he said.
“I definitely feel the most confident I have in my music now, and I really think the EP will be a good representation of who and what I am musically.”
Tim Ayre’s new single Find You is available now on SoundCloud.
