Five Minutes With ... Tim Gane of Stereolab for Zoo Twilights 2020

Who: Tim Gane
What: Pioneering 1990s English-French avant-garde pop songwriter and co-founder of electropop group Stereolab
Where: On stage with Stereolab at Zoo Twilights, Melbourne, Friday March 6

You emerged from the UK underground in the 90s, influencing the likes of Blur and Sonic Youth – what do the 90s mean to you?
I don’t look back at the 90s with any sense of nostalgia, but will say that period between 1990 until the early 2000s was the Golden Age of electronic music.

Our music has still kept its currency and value, which I am proud of. I’m glad it doesn’t sound dated. When we play it live it’s all about keeping it simple and allow the intensity of what we used to do remain intact.

It’s been 10 years since you last toured. What can we expect from the Zoo Twilights show?
We will play songs from our seven-album past and throw in some early songs too. We have 27 songs to choose from and you can count on a classic Stereolab performance.

People tell me the shows still have the intensity as the past. We haven’t gone all slick, it’s full-on, in-your-face, and is about doing what comes naturally.

You left England for France when you started the band and since 2005 have been living in Berlin? Would you ever go back to the UK?
I don’t feel much about going back to Britain with all the Brexit nonsense. I am not a big fan. France, maybe, I won’t rule it out.

But my daughter is now eight-years-old and in the school system in Berlin and we won’t do anything for another 10 years, I’d say. I have been here for nearly 15 years. I still don’t speak German, which is kind of embarrassing. I have my studio and work from there a lot, too.

Why did Stereolab go on hiatus and now back together for a reformation tour?
When you do something for 20 years straight, touring and writing albums, it all has to come down baring on your eventually.

I guess it felt right to put a stop to it when we did, and it also appealed to do a reissues and work on a reformation tour too. But I am less about doing something for the sake of it – it has to creatively feel right.

Stereolab vocalist Mary Hansen was an Australian-born guitarist who died in 2002, aged 36, in a cycling accident. Do you do still keep in touch with her family here?
Losing Mary was hard then and it’s still hard now – especially knowing we are coming back to Australia. A lot of those memories come flooding back. I always wonder what would have been if she was still here – it would be better of course – but the loss of a friend is still difficult.

We spent 10 years working together so you really feel they aren’t there anymore. We saw her every day and she was great company. Every time we come to Australia we met up with the family and some members see them a lot. It’s nice to have that connectivity with her family.

Stereolab with Midlife play Zoo Twilights, Melbourne Zoo, Parkville, March 6. Gates open 5.30pm to visit the animals before the gig. Tickets on sale now.

All proceeds from ticket sales to Zoo Twilights concerts will help Zoos Victoria save the endangered Mountain Pygmy-possum from extinction.

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