Slam Poetry and Spoken Word

Spotlight Series (Part 4)

Tim Evans Interview

The Second featured Poet of the Week

Born and Raised in Newcastle in England and grew up in outskirts of London but now resides here in Melbourne.

Tim is a multi-talented Poet and Spoken Word Artist, He is thought-provoking, Raw and laces his poetry with real experiences and Emotions and hugely Cathartic.

Self-care and expressionism are inspirational and really hits the tone and also the humour relief really balances the deep thoughts and message.

You can catch Tim at multiple gigs all over Melbourne and he will blow your mind and inspire you. He has even performed at the National Poetry Slam in Chicago.

One of my Favourite Performances Would have to be “Poem, Interrupted” filmed at @Melbourne Spoken Word where he chats to the abyss of emotions and is confronting his issues I will link it below.

Honourable Mentions

http://www.melbournespokenword.com
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsyKlORdqtWu2B7chXSdk4w
His Links are below:
https://www.instagram.com/tamlatim/?hl=en
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npYBYVqm6Uc&t=192s
https://youtu.be/_svG7DbNt4M

Enough From me here is the Interview.

Where are you from?

I was born in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne up in the North East of England, but I grew up down South just outside London. Then I moved to Melbourne about six years ago.

How Long have you been writing/performing?

I’ve been doing stuff on stage in front of the mic, in one form or another, for about five years. Before that, I was more behind the scenes organizing music events, DJing and putting out records by some amazing bands.

Performing at Slams must be amazing, what is it like?

Slams can be a great vessel for creating drama and energy around poetry and spoken word. I like the way they encourage the audience to play an active part in the event. That often injects a level of excitement and community when people maybe expect a poetry event to be very dry and dusty. This can raise the level of performances and the event as a whole.

The competitive element isn’t for everyone, which I understand, but I don’t take that side of slam too seriously. It’s often said ‘the points are not the point, the point is poetry’.

At its best, a slam creates an atmosphere where the organizers, the performers and the audience all feel like they’re bringing life into space together and it becomes a competition where somebody wins but nobody loses. If you think you don’t like poetry because you’ve only ever had the classics drilled into you at school, come to a slam or an open mic to find out how diverse and energetic the spoken word and poetry scene really is.

If you could meet any poet dead or alive who would it be?

I’d like to meet the person reading this who is a poet-who-doesn’t-think-they’re-a-poet. The person scribbling away in secret who has never shared their work. Come and find us. We can’t wait to welcome you.

What is your creative process? How do you find the focus of your poem?

I nearly always start putting things together in my head first. I might be inspired by an interesting line of conversation or a random thought or a specific event or something that keeps happening for me. I like starting in my head and mumbling lines under my breath because I think that’s where I get into the feel of the rhythm and the dynamics of a piece before I write anything down.

Sometimes the focus of the poem stays the same as the initial idea but sometimes it takes me off in a different direction and leads me to flip things around so something that starts off dark and troubling becomes processed and reclaimed, maybe even absurd and funny.

How has your life or environment inspired your poetry?

I think being from different parts of the UK, and then moving to Australia, got me interested in different accents and dialects and the huge variety in spoken language. I think there’s a big culture of joking and playing with language in both countries too, and the creativity of ordinary people just chatting between themselves is certainly a big inspiration.

Becoming unemployed a few years ago was when I started writing every day and finding the depth and wonder in the ordinary stuff of day to day life.

What is the best poetry you have heard or written?

There’s such variety in poetry and spoken word I don’t think I have a ‘best’. I see a new favourite piece being born every week. I’ll shout out a recent performance of ‘No Strings’ by Thabani Tshuma (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ylc9QZEopJo).

The writing is flawless with not a syllable wasted and every aspect of his performance from the changing qualities of his voice to the physicality of his whole body are absolute perfection.
I think the best piece I’ve ever written is ‘Poem, interrupted’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npYBYVqm6Uc&t=192s)

Are there any themes or motifs that you gravitate to?

Mental health is the subject I keep coming back to, dealing with my own depression and anxiety through recovery and relapse and better recovery. I started journaling as part of my treatment and some of those turned into poems. I’ve learnt from that how to write through the initial thoughts and fears that weigh you down to look at things through another lens and reframe things in a more constructive way.

While I started doing that for myself, I think it’s also part of what made my poems accessible and engaging and, in the end, funny. Without downplaying the very real struggles involved in living with mental health issues, I also reached a point where I could laugh at myself and find some of my thought patterns and coping behaviours absurd.

You do Comedy as well as Poetry is the creative process the same?

They are similar in terms of starting to work things out in my head for both. I think that helps me achieve a natural, conversational quality that is more relatable. For me, writing stand up is harder than writing poetry. I’m more concerned about audience expectation for ‘punchlines’ in comedy and feel like I have less freedom to go through sections of light and dark. People like Hannah Gadsby and Simon Amstel have been doing amazing things with comedy in the last few years, having the courage and vulnerability to say ‘this is a serious bit, this really happened to me and I’m not going to cheat myself or my audience by deflating it right now. There’s a big laugh coming up in five minutes’.

Any Upcoming Events?

I’ll just say check out melbournespokenword.com and their socials for all the amazing poetry and spoken word events going on the week in and week out. You’ll often find me at the open mics and slams or doing a longer feature performance now and again.

Any tips for the upcoming Poet?

First, watch John Englezos perform ‘I was there’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l9h6NeZXqI) and read ‘I don’t need you to be good’ by Waffleiron Girl (https://www.waffleirongirl.com/poems/2018/2/20/i-dont-need-you-to-be-good).

Then get out and take part in a local open mic or a slam. We need you and we need your work. You don’t have to memorize anything, many people read from paper or their phone. The scene is very welcoming of new people and new voices.

Try a few events and find your ‘home’ that suits you best. Take part in all of it and be present to take in as many of the other poets as you can. I know it’s hard for some people to get out for various reasons, so look after yourself and do what you are able to.

Learn from everyone but don’t try to be anyone but yourself. Try things out and don’t let the idea of ‘perfection’ stop you from getting involved.

Stick with your practice and your craft when it doesn’t feel like your work is going anywhere and your own unique voice and style will reveal itself to you when it’s ready. Come and say hello if you see me, bonus points if you can buy me a drink.

Peace