‘I
’m getting old and i like it,” is
Tim Rogers’ opening line. The gal-
lery guffaws. A drunk at the front
table makes her first nonsensical
interjection. It’s the gala premiere, to use the-
atrical vernacular, of An Actor Repairs, and
the plot is thickening by the moment.
The You Am I frontman’s new solo record
is a loose, nylon-stringed narrative “concern-
ing the retirement from the stage of an elderly
actor”. Its live debut at Brisbane’s Old Muse-
um is all bare-boards and footlights, just the
violin and voice of Xani Kolac colouring Rog-
ers’ intimate reflec tions on “ Youth”, “Age” a nd
“One More Late Night Phone Conversation”.
The latter song proves prophetic. Quaffing
mineral water at his hotel café the
next morning, Rogers confides
that he’s been up most of the night
talking–butnotforreasonsthat
might be expected.
“Igotacallfromafriendafter
theshow:‘Tim,I’vegotabag,
we’rehangingoutattheRydges
Hotel...’Isaid,‘Nah,Iknowabar
across the road. I’m going with
Xani and Steve, my tour manager. It’s just
gonnabethethreeofus.’”
Thechoiceofrelativesobrietywasfortu-
nate.“TurnsoutIhadcallsfromNewYorkall
nightfrommy16-year-olddaughter,”hesays
witharighteoustwinkleinhisclearblueeyes.
“I’ve learned I can’t be completely nonsen-
sicalatanytimeoftheday.Iwasneededbe-
tween the hours of two and six and sure, I’d
had a lot to drink, but I didn’t get my nose
intoabagandIdidn’tknockmyselfouton
pillstosleep.
“The main thing is just making sure
you’re accessible for people,” the new man
says.“MakingsurethePAguyshaveallgot
adrink,thatthefrontofhouseguy’sgirl-
friendhasgotagoodseat...mybrotherand
hiswifewereinlastnight.It’sallimportant.
“Idon’tknowwhenitcametobeunder-
stoodthattobeasuccessfulmusicianyou
hadtobeadickhead.”
He’s berating himself, more than anyone
else,inthemannerofany47-year-oldwitha past. In that vein, there’s another song on
the new album, “Forgiveness”, that surely
cleaves more closely to the character at hand
than the imaginary “Actor” of the album title.
“Tonight I’ll be the guy in You Am I/And
I’ ll work it until my soul is r insed dr y/I failed
you, I will pay my dues/Please forgive me.”
But nope. “That song was written for a
project about the seven deadly sins and the
idea of atonement,” he says. Saligia was
staged in 2010, as the rock & roll songwriter
was just beginning his sojourn into the thes-
pian arts. But come on. Surely there’s more
than a dash of himself in this performance?
“Yeah, maybe I’m trying to distance my-
self from it a bit. Not as any kinda smoke
screen, because there’s no need for
that, but just to make it interesting
for myself. The idea of another 12
songs about me is just.. .” he cross-
es his eyes and sinks into his blue-
and-white pinstriped suit with the
sound of air escaping from a punc-
tured tyre.
Detours, Rogers’ forthcoming
memoir through Hardie Grant, is
likely to play less loose with the truth, al-
though there are caveats galore there, too.
“It’s unusual in that... there’s no narrative
to the thing,” he says. “It’s not about the band
or about me, necessarily. It’s just pieces.” He
looks apologetic.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
Maddening. The discipline of it. But not
being a prose writer previously, I was en-
couraged to let my freak f lag f ly. How col-
laborative it was surprised me. Because it’s
all so solitary to a point and then you open
it up to [editors]. That’s been the most en-
joyable part.”
With that he’s up to hit the road, in search
of a room to write in before the ageing “Actor”
must be summoned for the next show.
“I do think about ageing a lot, because I’m
deter iorating rapidly, just as you do,” he says.
“I’ve hit that point and really, I’m glad for it.
I care more for other people. And I care less
about myself. And I am so not wanting to go
comfortably. It’s just not possible.”TIM ROGERS’
MEMOIRS AND
OTHER FICTION
BY MICHAEL DWYERHis new album imagines the atonement of an
ageing actor. His book should be a little less coy.
CLOSE-UP
“I do think
about ageing a
lot, because I’m
deteriorating
rapidly, just as
you do. I’ve hit
that point.”60 | Rolling Stone | RollingStoneAus.com