Tim Hulsman Q&A

Tim Hulsman is a man who has easily created a legacy for himself in the industry. A local muso with heart and a love for naming his guitars, we had a chat to Tim about his new film clip launch and the incredible party he’s about to throw.
Hi Tim, thanks for taking the time to chat with Forte, how are you and what are you up to at the moment?
Hi Forte, you’ve got me in a really great mood today because there is so much good stuff happening at the moment and I’m just finally getting the chance to sit back and think about what is happening and appreciate it. I’m working in the studio today demoing songs for the next album and at the same time preparing for the Dead Man’s Garden Video launch at the Workers Club Geelong on Nov 21.
So we’ve all seen the teaser for the ‘Dead Man’s Garden’ clip, which looked like heaps of fun, what was the process like of recording that one?
That day was the most fun I’d had in years I reckon. Will Cook and Kimberley Riddett from UP Creative had been working on the idea for a few months with me and together we came up with a concept for the video that was not too obvious (like just following the lyrics) but that has a storyline and a cast of characters.
On the day we had six make-up artists working full time all day on the cast, under the guidance of Image Makeup Artistry whizz Kellie McKay, and we completely rearranged and dressed up Gin & Co in Aberdeen St as the location. We had beautiful Burlesque dancers, un-dead characters, spooky/sexy looking backing singers and this huge team of film crew, art director, producers, bar staff, all building this ever-evolving, other worldly, decadent scene in front of the stage while the band and I just stood up there all day and played music. It was surreal and awe-inspiring to see such a huge production unfold in front of us over the course of eight hours. We could not have achieved such an amazing result if it hadn’t been for the expertise of Mike Patton the art director though. He was amazing and worked for weeks with Will and I to visualise the theme and then find all the necessary props and materials to make that vision come to life.
Your upcoming launch at Workers is set to be a similar feel to the clip, just how transported to that era will attendees be? What can they expect?
We are going to dress the Workers Club up to mimic the feel of the clip, and the burlesque girls will be there to dance to some of our songs and mingle with the crowd as well – just to give it that old school burlesque cabaret club feeling. I’m really hoping that when people arrive on the night they will have made an effort to dress up in-theme or even re-use the zombie outfit from Halloween! The bar staff at The Workers Club are coming up with some special cocktail ideas just for the theme as well…I’ll be trying a few of those. I just want to throw a great party really.
We imagine this project would have taken a while to piece together, what’s the next project you’ve got your sights on?
Well…the band and I are heading into the recording studio to start on a new album and I just love working with Up Creative so much that we are planning another two or three videos to drop as singles from that album…Always bigger and better than the last. I’ve just been announced as the recipient of a music industry scholarship by the Alex Legg Memorial Foundation too, which means that I now have a team of mentors for 12 months and also a bit of a funding injected into what I plan to do in 2016.
We saw you did a guitar naming competition recently, have you named all your guitars/what are they?
Yes, nearly all of my guitars have names. There’s Holly, Francesca, Willemina, Prisilla, Mae, Haggie, Bessie, Rosie and Mary Belle.
Thanks again for having the chat with us, are there any last words of wisdom you’d like to share with our readers?
I don’t have any words of wisdom to offer anybody, only the question that can guide you towards making wise decisions for yourself: “What is your legacy going to be?”.
When & Where: The Workers Club, Geelong – November 21 & Royal Hotel Meredith, Meredith – November 22