“I’m really excited about the show,” Tim says. “We’ll be playing with Renegades of Munk. Mark [Munk] has been a strong advocate for the Green Hand Band. Before the recording grant from Gadigal [the Green Hand Band was one of five local bands to win a recording and promotions grant in 2013] we didn’t have any other recordings, just a few YouTube clips, some live clips. Mark spoke up for us. He really liked our sound.”
The current lineup of the Green Hand Band is Tim Gray on vocals, Tania Bowra on guitar, Kili Beltran on ukulele, Minnie Ryan on trumpet, Lucas Hendriks on bass, Anthony Cianci on drums, Michael Brown on keys and sax, and Amanda Dwyer on backing vocals. “This is the best band I could assemble,” Tim says. “Tania produced the EP and is pretty much our onstage musical director. She’s my music Jedi!”
The recording process was “intense”, Tim remembers, and involved “eating lots of pizza”. Bowra brought out the best in the songs, he says. The four songs were selected for their readiness, distinctiveness and political content. “There’s a love song too,” Tim adds.
As a writer and performer Tim values the feedback of listeners. “That’s what keeps us going,” he says. “I like the music to be upbeat … soul, reggae, desert rock … The lyrics should point out the facts, things that need to change, things like poverty and racism. ‘Head in the Sand’ is a political song that’s been around for years … I was really happy to finish it for this record. If you try to push the finishing it just doesn’t work, but if you let it go – if you ‘let go and let God’ – it can happen.”
A keen filmmaker, Tim has plans to incorporate video projections and animations into the band’s live show. “I can imagine projections of political stuff, politicians making speeches, images of world leaders … to get people thinking – juxtapositions, religious symbols, symbols of social change, war, poverty … the Dreaming.”
On Saturday November 1 Tim took part in an ecumenical prayer service at the Pitt Street Uniting Church, for adults surviving child abuse. Tim led the Acknowledgement of Country and played an original song called “Misery or Maintenance” with Kili Beltran on ukulele.
