Tindley’s Wild and Unknown

Wild and Unknown is the astonishingly frank and fearless new offering from Sara Tindley.

Produced by Nick DiDia (Bruce Springsteen, Powderfinger, Pearl Jam), the album sparkles with resilience and artistry with Tindley fiercely singing away the bruises of her recent brush with mortality.

How did the beach shack in Iluka influence the songs you were writing? Did it help to be away from the ‘mundanity’ of your daily life?

Iluka is an undiscovered gem. I went there with the specific purpose of finishing writing for a new album. There was always the strong possibility that I was going to do nothing but procrastinate. A combination of this cosy little beach shack, sparkling sunny days, a few days of no responsibilities and the natural beauty of Iluka made it the most productive few days I have had. So yes, it definitely helped to be away from my normal routine, and to be by myself is a luxury.

I love the image you have used. You have this Showdown kind of feel, like Clint Eastwood from a western. How has your ‘recent brush with mortality’ changed you and what you were writing about? (I love that you don’t look like a ‘survivor’, more of an outlaw!)

Ha! I feel like a bit of an outlaw some days. Local photographer Jane Rantall took that photo. In 2012 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a horrible year. Going through very aggressive treatment, feeling stupidly ashamed for having succumbed to this disease and trying to keep myself together enough to help my family maintain some level of normality.

It was a very solitary experience. I tried a support group but everyone was so much older than me; it gave me no comfort. This album is informed by that year. At first I was avoiding writing about it; I really did not want to delve into that experience. In the end it took a few years of distance for me to look at it more clearly and see what was given to me by that diagnosis as well as what was taken away.

How does a person navigate these dark places? What pulled you through, Sara?

I was fighting for my life and it was Mark and my two girls, aided and abetted by our beautiful circle of friends, that were at the heart of my recovery. Also an acceptance that this is just a small part of my human experience and I had to feel it all intensely and then let it all go. Then, in no particular order, music, gardening, love of nature, reading, visiting Frida Kahlo’s house, visiting Georgia O’Keefe’s house, singing around the fire with my girls, my dog, driving, the beach, the sun, Tassie and the thylacine, and rediscovering horseriding. Life is just so bloody amazing.

Tell me a little about your track Lowlands.

Lowlands began as a half-remembered dream I had of singing a duet with Bill Chambers. I stored away for a later date the remembered line ‘the low low lowlands’. On my most recent trip to the States with my family we spent a night at The Joshua Tree Inn (where the legendary Gram Parsons died). I wrote the music and the first verse there. The rest almost wrote itself. I was thinking of New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina, our own northern rivers floodplain and death. Once I allowed myself to go with the feeling of the song, it wrote itself. I’ve never been scared off by darkness in a song. I think some happy songs are way scarier.

You recorded with Michael Turner, and you are touring the album together; tell me a little about your collaboration.

It was Michael’s unbridled enthusiasm for my new songs that led to the album being recorded with Nick DiDia. Having spent so long working mostly solo once treatment had finished, to have someone really believe in the project has been really confidence boosting. He’s such a passionate and dedicated musician and trusts his instincts. I love that. We played together for the first time as part of Phil Levy’s roots sessions in Lismore with players who later became The Immigrants. Michael’s belief in the new songs I had written has been so important in this project. He takes my country-style tunes into some kind of colourful sonic wonderland. It’s exciting what he is bringing to the material.

You have Lily your daughter on deck singing harmonies. Why is it so important to you to have your album rooted in family?

I have loved, more than anything, having my own family. My life didn’t make much sense to me until I had children. It would be impossible for me to separate that experience from my art. Lily’s leaving home and making her own way in the world is also reflected in the songs I was writing, so it seemed natural for her to be on the album.

I love this expression ‘simple pleasures of an unadorned life’. How does this sum up Sara Tindley, the woman, her music and her life?

Yeah, I like it. I have never really been impressed by what is generally considered ’success’ and have chosen to just follow my instincts and see what happens. I like hard work and I am used to being resourceful and practical and quietly going about my business.

Tell us what to expect for your upcoming gig in Mullumbimby and in Bellingen.

I’m so inspired by this duo with Michael. I think there is excitement and daring in the combination of the two of us and I can’t wait to share it.

Sara Tindley’s album Wild and Unknown released 10 May.

Sara plays Club Mullum 11 June (mullumexservices.com.au) and Bello Winter Music 7–9 July (bellowintermusic.com).