Sydney boys still might knock your head off
The Shake Up drummer Tim Browning (right) doesn’t like to conform, but then again, he doesn’t really care.
Yeah they’re a garage band, yeah they like the crazy rock star image, but they’re not trying to reinvent rock and roll, says Browning, who joined the band in 2007.
“Some bands say they’re going to change your life, blow your mind, knock your head off… but there’s no scale of rockingness. We’re not out there killing each other on the dance floor. We have a balance, girls dancing and guys pumping their feeeests,” he twangs, laughing.
Browning was the Mrs Doubtfire of the Sydney music scene, changing his role in different bands and playing 100 shows in a year after he moved from Newcastle, where he studied graphic design. He picked The Shake Up as the band with the most potential and hasn’t looked back.
They’re touring Australia with songs from their as yet unreleased second album and are paying us another visit (they rocked our shores last year). But it is undeniably thrashy, with that distinctly casual Aussie accent dragging through the vocals, fast, upbeat riffs and some tight drumming from Browning, who began playing music with his twin brother. Though they’re not similar – “We’re just like strangers who were thrown into the same nursery on the day of birth,” he laughs – the boys met on a musical level to make early sounds with Andrew on guitar and Tim on drums. Browning saved up his first $1000 working at McDonalds, and bought a drum kit rather than a car. He now has four kits, still doesn’t drive, and is all about the music.
“The Shake Up is about catchy, infectious music,” he says, and they’ve nailed it.
The first album was about personal conflicts, relationships – “It was a soundtrack to our singer Miles Selwyn’s early 20s,” laughs Browning – but he got it out of his system.
“There’s a song about how Miles fell over drunk and tore up his face. We needed new inspiration and I put up my hand. These songs are positive,” he says.
Browning is independent and loving life – “We’re self-made men.” - and he hates the patronising apathy he’s met with when he talks about what he’s been doing.
“At parties, family gatherings people go, ‘What are you up to, Tim?’ and I go, ‘I’ve been playing with my band.’ They say, ‘Oh, that’s nice,’ with no hint of genuine interest. I hate that,” he groans.
Browning’s not held down by a mortgage or a full time job and that’s the way he likes it.
But as much as his mother says, ‘Don’t you think it’s time to settle down?’ he’s no wild child.
“I don’t have a needle hanging out of my arm. I’ve got plans. I’m excited about finishing the album.”
Browning’s favourite song from that album is Worth the Pain, about turning up to work on a Friday when you’ve gone out on Thursday and you shouldn’t have.
“You’re dying but hey, you had a great night out!” he chuckles.
For a band not keen on conforming to the rock and roll stereotype, they’ve had some of those great nights on stage.
“People jump up and grab the mic to sing and the bouncers chase them. We’ve had couples on stage making out… exhibitionists,” he laughs, “But it’s cool when someone from the crowd brings up a tray of shots, it’s validation.”
The Shake Up might change your life. But then again, they don’t really care.
The Shake Up, Mighty Mighty, 9pm, October 1.
Jennifer Niven
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