The four members of Cub Sport are huddled around a table, afternoon beers in hand, at the Warren View Hotel, situated at the top-end of Newtown’s Enmore Road.

Well before any substantial interview questions are posed, the banter is flowing, and conversation is bouncing around a variety of tangents and subjects. Somehow, they end up on the topic of first live gigs, which provoke some very different answers across the table.

“I think mine was Scandal’us when I was about 11 years old,” offers Tim Nelson – the band’s vocalist, keyboardist, occasional guitarist and primary lyricist. “I’m not entirely sure that it was live, though – they were performing at a shopping centre somewhere, and my mum took me along.”

Zoe Davis, who started out as the band’s bass player and then moved to guitar in 2014, has a very different first. “Mine was Underoath,” she says, a smirk spreading over her face as she recalls her time with the recently-reunited metalcore band. “I was about 16 – I was definitely a MySpace ’emo’ type.”

Keyboardist Sam Netterfield sadly can’t remember his, so the buck is passed to drummer Dan Puusaari:“It was MxPx!” he says with a laugh. “Remember them?” It’s suggested that the music of Cub Sport is somehow the connecting throughline between all three bands: a statement that is met with more laughter. “I mean, it’s all definitely in there,” says Nelson.

The band is riding high in the midst of an exceptional calendar year. March saw the group release their long-awaited debut album, This Is Our Vice, to a strong critical reception and a top ten position on the Australian indie charts. The band also recently performed at the two biggest shows they have ever been a part of, opening for uber cool British pop act The 1975 across huge headlining shows in Sydney and Melbourne. “I’d have to say they would be up there as some of the best shows that we’ve done,” says Davis. “It was really crazy.”

Puusaari agrees: “Everyone was so nice. We were told that were hand-picked by the band to do those shows with them, so that was an absolute honour.”

“We sadly didn’t get to see all that much of the band,” adds Nelson, “but we had a quick chat with them backstage and they were really kind to us. Weirdly enough, we were soundchecking on the first night and Matt [Healy, The 1975’s singer] wandered out because he had to specially test a new microphone. I think it was some special radio mic or something.”

It’s posed that perhaps Cub Sport should move into headset microphones, and the band immediately runs with it. “So we can focus on our dance moves?” laughs Davis. “Perfect!”

Netterfield interjects: “We should try and have that happen on this tour that we’re about to do… although, maybe we shouldn’t let the cat out of the bag too soon.”

Cub Sport originally came together as Tim Nelson and the Cub Scouts in 2010, with Davis, Netterfield and Puusaari among five other individuals enlisted to fill out Nelson’s solo material. Although all four have been through every inception of the group, Nelson admits that he barely recognises the band in its original form.

“I don’t even see it as the same band,” he says. “To me, this band really started when we changed the name for the first time [dropping “Tim Nelson and the” in 2011], where we had a much clearer understanding of what we wanted to achieve.”

Puusaari agrees: “I still love our first EP [2012’s Told You So] for that very reason. It’s the sound of us finding ourselves, in a way. We put a lot of time into making sure those songs were recorded properly, and that each track held its own. We were so invested in it – we agonised over every little thing.”

The following year saw the band become Cub Sport after legal intervention from the actual cub scouts, and the intervening years between that change and the release of This Is Our Vice saw further change within the fold – Davis transitioned from bass to guitar, her first instrument, while Nelson also started playing guitar live after years of primarily playing keyboards and synthesizers. It didn’t always go to plan: “I remember the very first show that I tried playing guitar,” says Nelson. “It was this O-Week show, this university party thing, in this really low tent… I went to put on the guitar and I dropped it. It was a really bad vibe in the room – it might have even been our worst gig that we’ve done.”

Thankfully, the Cub Sport live show has evolved into something substantial and exciting – it’s taken them to the far reaches of Australia with bands like Ball Park Music and Saskwatch, and has brought them to some key overseas runs through North America and the UK. Now, the stage is set for a long-awaited headlining tour in support of This Is Our Vice, in which every night of the tour is officially out of tickets. “We’ve never sold out shows like this before,” says Nelson incredulously. “I think the one time we’ve sold out a show was a hometown one the night before. These have all filled up something like a month in advance, which is incredible. It’s insane to us. These have the potential to be the best shows that we’ve ever played.”

Cub Sport play Newtown Social Club Saturday August 27.

Header photo by Joe Agius

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