Tim Nelson of Cub Sport on their new album 'J at the Gay Bar' : NPR

Contents:

• HOW THE IMAGE OF J AT A GAY BAR HELPED ATRALIAN BAND CUB SPORT TELL THEIR STORY
• CUB SPORT SGER TALKS G OUT AS GAY, FALLG LOVE WH BANDMATE
• WHY QUEER BAND CUB SPORT DROPPED 'J AT THE GAY BAR' ON GOOD FRIDAY: 'IT ULD BE READ AS PROVOTIVE/NTROVERSIAL AND I'D BE LYG IF I SAID I DIDN'T LIKE THAT'
• TIM NELSON OF CUB SPORT ON THEIR NEW ALBUM 'J AT THE GAY BAR'
• CUB SPORT’S TIM NELSON TALKS NEW ALBUM ‘J AT THE GAY BAR’ AND “PHORIC BUT PLITED” SGLE ‘KEEP ME SAFE’
• CUB SPORT ON J AT THE GAY BAR, TRAVERSG BETWEEN GENR, AND THE EPIC LOVE STORY OF THEIR LIV
• CUB SPORT ANNOUNCE HEADLE TOUR BEHD NEW ALBUM ‘J AT THE GAY BAR’

HOW THE IMAGE OF J AT A GAY BAR HELPED ATRALIAN BAND CUB SPORT TELL THEIR STORY

How the Image of J at a Gay Bar Helped Atralian Band Cub Sport Tell Their Story.

On Friday, the group members — who clu Nelson, Netterfield, dmmer Dan Puaari, and volist/gutarist Zoe Davis — are releasg their fifth album J at the Gay Bar, an electronic- and hoe-driven LP that ptur the ups and downs of romance and relatnships. The album is named after a powerful poem by Jay Hulme that imag J Christ as a clubgoer wh his “rob hched up to His kne to make easy to sp, ” who reassur a gay man at the bar that “nothg this heart of yours ever needs to be healed.

The poem’s msage was a great fort to Nelson and Netterfield, who both grew up as members of a Pentestal church wh “super nservative, very homophobic teachgs.

CUB SPORT SGER TALKS G OUT AS GAY, FALLG LOVE WH BANDMATE

Speakg om his at-home stud Atralia, Nelson broke down five key songs off J at the Gay Bar and explaed how the album celebrat showg your tt self to the world. BATS, the sophomore album om Atralian die-pop group Cub Sport, follows lead volist Tim Nelson g out as gay and fallg love wh keyboardist Sam Netterfield. Nelson explas sharg their story wasn’t exactly his goal, but he went through a lot of personal velopment after the release of Cub Sport’s but album, This Is Our Vice, 2016, cludg g out as gay.

WHY QUEER BAND CUB SPORT DROPPED 'J AT THE GAY BAR' ON GOOD FRIDAY: 'IT ULD BE READ AS PROVOTIVE/NTROVERSIAL AND I'D BE LYG IF I SAID I DIDN'T LIKE THAT'

The approval followed a natnal referendum that showed the public support for gay marriage. The rerd, J at the Gay Bar, is named after a work by transgenr performance poet Jay Hulme, and Cub Sport sger-songwrer Tim Nelson — who has procsed much of his childhood relig trma through his mic — tells Yahoo Entertament that readg Hulme’s poem was a lightng-bolt moment for him. “Basilly, tells a story of J partyg at a gay bar, and there's a boy that up to J and wants to touch his robe to be healed.

In a recent Instagram post featurg Hulme’s poetic words juxtaposed wh some trolls’ cel ments (albe not the ments emed particularly “serly sry and vlent”), Nelson clared: “I’m fully aware that the name and release date of our new album J at the Gay Bar uld be read as provotive/ntroversial and I’d be lyg if I said I didn’t like that.

TIM NELSON OF CUB SPORT ON THEIR NEW ALBUM 'J AT THE GAY BAR'

”Here's quick look back at that path, which ultimately led to the exultant J at the Gay Bar: Soulmat/bandmat Nelson and Netterfield met at their extremely relig Pentestal Christian school 20 years ago, secretly dated durg their senr year, broke up, and then formed Cub Sport. However, was only 2016 that they officially me out to each other, to their fay, to their fans, and to the world — when they fally procsed both the external and ternalized homophobia they’d grappled wh most of their liv, realized that they were eply love, and cid to be together. The two married 2018, shortly after gay marriage was legalized their native album the Cub Sport disgraphy — om This Is Our Vice, whose lead sgle “Come on Ms Me Up” was hdsight the still-closeted Nelson’s sperate msage to Netterfield, through 2020’s Like Nirvana, which was led by the thartic, stream-of-nsc epic “Confsns” — has chronicled the band’s journey of self-disvery.

(Another member, multi-stmentalist Zoe Davis, is also gay and om a relig background, and she too me out relatively recently. ) And J at the Gay Bar is Cub Sport’s most celebratory and revelatory release yet, tly the sound of J partyg at a gay bar — the bt possible is how clearly livg his bt life: Cub Sport are about to play Los Angel’s Outloud Pri ncert wh none other than Grace Jon, for stance. I felt like was God's cisn that beg gay was wrong, basilly, rather than realizg that 's a group of people's terpretatn of somethg that's been mis-translated however many other harmful stuff were you tght — stuff that you had to unlearn?

CUB SPORT’S TIM NELSON TALKS NEW ALBUM ‘J AT THE GAY BAR’ AND “PHORIC BUT PLITED” SGLE ‘KEEP ME SAFE’

There was a lot of homophobia, and was que misogynistic too, which was always very sry.

A lot of people kd of stayed the bubble, but there were a lot of people who had to reckon wh so much shame — not jt gay people, but women beg told that if they had sex before marriage, no one's gog to want them and they're like an unwrapped prent. But you both spent so many years nyg and supprsg your te feelgs for each other, prumably due to your doctratn, there was a teacher at the school who told some clearly gay stunts: “Don't do .

”One of the songs on J at the Gay Bar, “Zoom, ” seems to touch on that, when you sg, “I kd of wanna my life…”Y, that was how felt — like, “If I give to this, I'm gog to everythg. I image you get a lot of msag om your fans, the Cubbi, sayg you’ve done jt 've had untls msag om people, om somethg as simple as “You've ma me feel more fortable wh who I am bee of seeg you two” or “I had the nfince to tell my parents that I'm gay bee of you, ” to people sayg, “Your mic has lerally saved my life.

CUB SPORT ON J AT THE GAY BAR, TRAVERSG BETWEEN GENR, AND THE EPIC LOVE STORY OF THEIR LIV

The school I went to would never acknowledge , but I thk they're still jt so homophobic and backward that they would rather jt turn away om .

CUB SPORT ANNOUNCE HEADLE TOUR BEHD NEW ALBUM ‘J AT THE GAY BAR’

But other than that, Northsi Christian College gets not a good word om, you were tght daily lsons there about homosexualy supposedly beg a s.

Do you feel any closure wh J at the Gay Bar? But I feel on the other si of wrg that album, I released myself om a lot of that heavs, and wh J at the Gay Bar, I was fally ready to wre the phoric album that I'd been wantg to — but jt wasn't ready to wre terview has been eded for brevy and more om Yahoo Entertament:Cub Sport and the greatt g out story ever told: 'We were secretly love, but nng away om 'Savage Garn's Darren Hay on his difficult, closeted '90s: 'I was tryg to be outed'Country hmaker Shane McAnally on g out: ‘I was so aaid of what would mean to my reer’Rob Halford rells his ‘Gee Michael moment’: ‘It’s gog to be the papers!

Their new album - a mix of spirualy, self-reflectn, and joy - is lled "J at the Gay Bar. At the gay bar, acrdg to the pop band Cub Sport.