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[title]Tim Minchin can be accused of many things, and he’ll admit that many of them are self-inflicted. But if there's one thing you definitely cannot accuse him of, it's getting lazy.
He's just come off a UK tour of his critically acclaimed, sell-out live show Back, which is just about to drop a live recording (available to rent and own in Australia from December 12). Season Two of his television series Upright is screening now on Foxtel. This December, Netflix is releasing the much-anticipated movie adaption of the Matilda musical, which Minchin famously wrote the songs for, a show which has been showered with Tonys, Oliviers and Helpmanns. He recreated that magic with the writer Danny Rubin for a musical adaptation of Groundhog Day. Out of lockdown, he put out his first "proper" album, Alone Together, a heartfelt detour from the politicised musical comedy stylings that first earned him some serious spotlight. There’s also a children’s book or two in there somewhere. And not to mention, every balmy Australian summer, without a doubt, my dad will crank his sort-of-festive song 'White Wine in the Sun'.
Many of the strings to the multi-hyphenate Australian star's bow will come together in discordant harmony on the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations. He’s playing a mega-set of songs with his eight-piece band on Saturday, November 12. It's quite a serendipitous turn for Minchin, who taped his first DVD special at the House back in the day. He tells us: "It was as thrilling as playing in the Royal Albert Hall." Read on for our chat with Minchin.
Tim, what excites you about getting back into performing live?
What excites me is dragging the audience sideways further than they expect to be dragged, you know, trusting them to come with me, always. And that I actually think that's what I've done, right? In my career, even from Matilda, or Upright or anything, I trust my audience that they'll come with me, even if it gets super-dense and pseudo-intellectual or intellectual, or even if it gets super-scary or super-silly.
What can audiences expect from your concert at the Sydney Opera House?
I like it when people don't quite know what they're gonna get, and I'm a variety guy really, you can just put me on the end of a pier in 1915. I've got a couple of songs on my record that are really sort of epic and expansive. I've got a song called 'Summer Romance' that just is kind of an arena song written by a guy who's never gonna get to play these songs in arenas. I try just to play with people's hearts and minds, really. I want them to be sitting there on the Opera House steps, like really feeling that moment and feeling the love and seeing the sky and the beauty – and then I'll play a ten-minute song about cheese. And then I'll play a polka version of 'Bad Guy' by Billie Eilish.
I've also got this new song from Upright Season Two, called 'Spider Girl', which is just this mad sort of funk rock, it feels super '90s. I get the audience to sing along even though they've never heard it because it's got a really simple call-and-response thing. I make people cry at the end, like I always try to do, because I'm a manipulative fucking gaslighter. And then I'll play some old shit.
I make people cry at the end, like I always try to do, because I'm a manipulative f*cking gaslighter
You've clearly been thinking a lot about your craft and how you use your platform. What do you do differently now?
I've changed, the world's changed, and I think a lot about what my job is, and at least how I can be a force for good. When I started, I felt strongly that as a polemicist, and someone who could use my craft to get away with saying things that are unsaid, I thought that was good. And I have evidence that that was good, you know, I made people laugh, and there's some pretty heavy activism moments that I'm proud of. But the world is just, I don't know how you find it, but I'm off Twitter and stuff now because everyone's a polemicist, but there's no concern for craft at all. It's just like, "I am going to express with as strong language as possible, my particular world view, and in doing so I'm going to make sure that you know, if you don't agree with me, that I fucking hate you, and you're evil, and you're doing damage."
And so, every time I want to say something in a public domain, I go, "Will I actually help anyone by weighing in?" And the answer is nearly always no, except for very specific things, which is really my sweet spot. The thing I'm actually most educated about, which is logic, and philosophy and psychology. So what I started talking about on stage is more about how we are tribal and how confirmation bias puts us into information silos. And it's more about what I've always been talking about, which is belief and the flaws in the way we form our belief systems. It used to be about religion, but now I tend to talk a bit about tribalism. But, aside from that, mostly, I'm going to tell stories that speak to the humanity in all of us and try to make people laugh and cry... and try not be another vessel of fury, even though I feel furious quite a lot.
I try not to be another vessel of fury, even though I feel furious quite a lot
Are there any songs or jokes you will no longer perform? Any regrets?
There's definitely songs I won't perform anymore. That's very distinct from regret. There's an economy of excoriation that I just simply don't believe in, it doesn't suit how I think about the world. Like, I don't think moving forward with ideas means that you have to flagellate the former you for not knowing what you now know.
There's things I've said that hurt people that...I didn't mean to. I've said things that upset people where I'm like, "Oh, gosh, that's just my worst nightmare. I don't want to upset those people." And sometimes the people were right to be upset.... But I've done stuff that really hurt people that I am very, very proud of, because it was worth it. You know, as in my religious stuff, of course it hurt people... there's a much bigger conversation here.
Matilda is coming out on Netflix soon. What most excites you about this?
That film is just amazing. Unfortunately, I was trapped in Australia and didn't get to even go [while it was being filmed]. But I wrote a new song for it that I'm really proud of and that people are really loving for the few screenings we've had. It's like a proper musical film in a way that I don't think we've seen for years... the whole thing feels like this amazing flight of fancy. You will sob. I mean, it's quite a lot actually. It's like not for five year olds, maybe eight and above. And Emma Thompson as Mrs Trunchbull is just such a baddie, like so fucking scary, but also just absolutely absurd.
Matilda's just done so much good in the world and I'm so "hashtag blessed" to have had it land in my lap. But there's no doubt that not everyone can afford to spend whatever it costs to go to the theatre. So the idea that my songs are going to be accessible to anyone with a Netflix account [is great]. It's doing a huge cinema release in the UK, and they have promised me they'll give it a couple of weeks in some cinemas in Australia. I want people to see it on the big screen because the score is just glorious.
Your life and career have completely evolved since the time you could write songs like 'Rock‘n'Roll Nerd'. Now that you're entirely removed from that not-so-starving artist trope, what has changed about your creative process?
The interesting thing about being where I've got, is that from the outside, I'm like a 47-year-old dude with a lot of power and all that stuff. But it took me years to think I was allowed to be an artist. Like, I was an artist long before I gave myself permission to call myself an artist or believe that I was going to be able to make a living out of it. I just wasn't brought up to think I have a right to be an artist, I certainly didn't think I was particularly gifted. And so it was a long, long journey to self permission. And if you look at my career from 'Rock’n'Roll Nerd' to now, it's an ongoing journey of giving myself permission to treat myself as an authentic person as an authentic voice. So my first album Apart Together came out two years ago, and I've been someone for 30 years, and it was then that I went, "Maybe they won't hate me if I just write some nice songs, you know?" And maybe I can do a show where I'm one of the main characters and I'm a person, I'm not a comic, I'm not a clown, I'm a human … I feel very, very fucking lucky and quite baffled by how well things are going.
Tim Minchin performs on the Sydney Opera House Forecourt on Saturday, November 12. Find out more and get your tickets here. Throughout the month, the Sydney Opera House is presenting a special outdoor concert series including two free concerts as part of its year-long 50th anniversary celebrations – check out the program highlights here.