Tim Schilperoort’s blank slate of mind
Perth singer/songwriter Tim Schilperoort launches his debut solo EP, Tabula Rasa, at the Rosemount Hotel’s Four5Nine Bar on Friday, October 31, with Clare Perrott and Lachy John & the Red Bellies. Tickets are on sale now. Tim Schilperoort talks to BOB GORDON about starting with a clean slate.
You were previously in Phoneline Valentine and Redcliffe, but this EP is your solo debut. Now that your name’s on the tin, what was your vision for this?
During COVID, I bought a bunch of recording gear and started just making my own instrumental music. And the fun thing about that was that it wasn’t really bound by a genre. So it was kind of like Redcliffe had the whole blues rock label, and that sort of, I guess, felt a little bit like we caged ourselves in a little bit. So my outlet was to then record my own solo stuff outside of that.
Time went on, and then this year, I just sort of realised, with Redcliffe finishing up, I was like, ‘Why don’t I just do something that I want to do and not care about what genre I’m putting out or anything like that?’. Sort of just like doing what I want to do. So most of the songs are actually pretty recent, written within the last six to eight months.
It’s interesting with the songs; they’re kind of laidback, but they’re still very groove-based.
I struggle to classify it. I’ve heard other people say there are ‘90s elements, and there are other people who say it sounds a little bit surf rock in some cases. But for me, I’m always a real sucker for some groove and a good locked-in drum and bass sort of sound.
I do think a lot of the tracks come together through that element. They all sonically sound a little bit different, with different sounds going on, but I think my personal taste for having that underlying groove is what ties it together.
The EP is called Tabula Rasa, a phrase that relates to the concept of having a blank slate at birth.
This year went into creating this solo project, and I was like, ‘It’s just going to be a blank slate.’ Redcliffe sort of ended, and I really wanted to play music here and start gigging again, to launch this solo project. I felt like a suitable name for the first body of work that I was going to do was Tabula Rasa to release this as, like, a brand new chapter, a clean slate, put this body of work out, start gigging, and then look to the next year and a half to drop more singles and maybe a few more EPs or something like that. That’s sort of where it came from. It’s just me saying, ‘Fresh start. It’s late. Let’s get going.’
You sound very committed to making more music.
I just sort of realised that I actually quite miss it, and so I’m going to do everything I can. I have this little goal that by the time I’m thirty, I’ll have put out at least an album or two and have definitely given it like a good shot to actually get out there and start playing a bit more again. I have no aspirations to make it like my full-time career, I guess. Like, if that happens and it somehow blows up, I definitely wouldn’t say no, but I just really miss getting out there and actually sharing a stage with my friends. And, you know, every now and then, if you play to quite a large crowd, there’s nothing that beats that feeling.
So I guess that’s the whole push behind it. I just want to keep creating because when I’m engaging in the creative side of myself, I definitely feel much more productive at work as well. It’s my outlet, I guess, and I just want to continue sharing that with everyone.
Tim Schilperoort launches his debut solo EP, Tabula Rasa, at the Rosemount Hotel’s Four5Nine Bar on Friday, October 31, 2025. Tickets are on sale now from rosemounthotel.oztix.com
