Australian singer-songwriter, Josh Pyke recently chatted to Newcastle Live about Viewmasters, the opportunities grants offer to musicians and his show at Cessnock on the 28th of June.
Known for his ability to weave intelligent lyrics with warm melodies and quirky song structures, Pyke is a modern-day storyteller whose unique and evocative use of both words and music places him in a league of his own.
You’ve just kicked off the regional leg of the ‘Lone Wolf’ tour, which heads to some of the more “off-the-beaten-track” stages across Australia. How do you find doing shows in smaller regional places as opposed to the bigger city shows in Sydney or Melbourne?
JOSH: They were amazing! Particularly the show in Healesville….such a great and professionally run venue with great gear etc. It’s always slightly daunting playing to sit down crowds, but both nights were sold out, so the vibe was good.
You’re headed our way to perform at the Cessnock Performing Arts Centre on Sat 28 June, what can Hunter audiences expect from your upcoming show? Will it be mostly focused on your new material plus a few old favourites, or will there be a few surprises along the way?
JOSH: Always a few surprises! Mostly me making mistakes and surprising myself too! I’ll be covering stuff from all my releases, even back to the very first indie EP, so there’s a lot of ground to cover.
Speaking of old favourites, I noticed you have a Viewmaster in your Collectors Edition pack! A very interesting choice of merch, what’s the story there?
JOSH: A long time ago a great supporter of mine in Adelaide, hand made me a View Master with photos from the gig I did there. I just thought it was so great and promised myself that i’d do a ViewMaster as a merch item if i ever got the chance. It’s photos from the first leg of the Lone Wolf Tour.
The ‘Lone Wolf’ tour sees you hit the road with just you and your guitar. Do you prefer performing solo or in a band?
JOSH: They both have their particular pros and cons. I do love the camaraderie of playing with a band, always someone to chat with etc. But I think at this point I’ve been preferring playing solo. There’s something about being up there by myself that i find challenging and rewarding in a very different and personal way. Hard to explain. It feels more like a conversation with the audience too, rather than me just sending my songs out there and not having anything sent back.
Over the past decade, you’ve secured your standing as one of Australia’s most successful and award-winning musicians. You certainly know how to write a hit song, tell us a bit about your writing process?
JOSH: Well it’s changing all the time. I can honestly say that the only thing about my process that’s been consistent is the fact that i plug away at writing songs on a daily basis. Whether it’s just jotting down some words, or ideas or themes that I can get into later, or actually sitting down and trying to come up with something, I’m always pretty focussed on that creative output. Apart from that it’s really about experimenting and doing different things, and just trying to keep on developing.
Is it harder to find time and inspiration to write while juggling life with a young family?
JOSH: It’s just a matter of creating some structure. I have a studio in my backyard where I lock myself away a few days a week and just focus on music. Inspiration takes so many shapes that i think it’s always there, but sometimes you have to look a bit harder for it, so that sometimes you feel you have nothing to say, but the next day you’ll see something, hear something, read something or do something that sets your mind on a tangent that ends up as a song. It’s something you can’t manufacture really, so you just need to wait for it to come, and that was the same before i had kids too.
Straight after the ‘Lone Wolf’ tour ends, you’re back on the road touring with ‘The White Album Concert’ in July. Tell us a bit about your involvement with this show?
JOSH: We did this show about 5 years ago, and it was a roaring success, so when i was asked to do it again, it was kinda a no-brainer from a performers point of view. I was a bit concerned that people wouldn’t want to come see the show again, since we’d done it before, but it’s gone nuts and we’ve had to add 5 extra shows, so its gonna be pretty huge. I’m looking forward to it.
When you’re not touring across Australia and the world, you’re involved with some great development and mentoring programs such as Busking For Change and The Josh Pyke Partnership. Did your success with the Buzz Project when you were first starting out inspire you to go on and offer the same helping-hand to other young musicians?
JOSH: Definitely. Grants helped me a lot when I was starting, and it just takes a bit of motivation and commitment to get something like the JP partnership together, and I have those things when it comes to trying to develop our cultural landscape. The music industry has always been tough to get started in, but if you can play the long game and be smart about it, you can have a great career, so I just felt if there was something i could do to help some promising artists that I’d like to try.
What’s next for Josh Pyke?
JOSH: After the Beatles shows, I plan to get stuck into some writing and recording. I have a few rather surprising projects on the boil that I’d like to spend some more time on. Hopefully I’ll be able to start talking about those soon!
Josh Pyke plays the on June 28. Please contact the venue for more information.
