Josh Pyke (29/07/2015)
Josh Pyke is one of Australia’s most loved and prolific singer/song writers. His new album 'But For All These Shrinking Hearts' (July 31) is one of his most creative works to date, with electronic influences infused into the old musical style that fans have grown alongside with. I was privileged to sit down and have a beer with one of my first musical heroes at Beer Deluxe in Hawthorn.
Josh Pyke fans have loved his creative use of imagery and metaphor, especially with animal themes. Though the title of his record 'But For All These Shrinking Hearts' seemed unfinished... To open up our chat, I asked why did he leave out the title?
"It's actually from a little verse of poetry or maybe it was lyrics that I was writing but I never finished, that I was writing when I was in the UK on tour. The whole thing said something like, you are a shadow held aloft in a world less vast, but for all these shrinking hearts. I like things that sound a bit ambiguous and open to interpretation, as you picked up, it sounds a bit unfinished. Makes you ask what that might be about."
Unlike Josh’ past albums, 'But For All These Shrinking Hearts' was not written with a central theme in mind.
"It's kind of liberating to not feel like I was writing about something in particular. I kind of see each song as an individual story as opposed to part of a dramatic story arc. In terms of how it influenced me, the biggest thing for this record was the kind of creative environment or headspace that I felt like I was in for this record. It's quite different to what I felt in the past where I really felt liberated and free to explore… I've been doing a lot of writing with a friend of mine, Dave, who's a Sydney muso, we've been doing like a psychedelic stoner rock record. I’ve got a studio in my backyard and so we'll go record on Friday nights and stuff. Just doing stuff like that opened me up to a few more different influences musically. Making the record, it just felt a lot more free and liberated than the past ones did."
The new band Josh has formed is called Volters, look out for them in the near future.
After hearing about Josh’s new and liberated creative process, I wondered if there was anything he did, like reading books for example, to plant the seeds and cultivate his creativity.
"Cultivating creativity is the thing that artists need to do the most. For instance, I'm always reading books or watching movies, or going to the art gallery and stuff like that. One of the biggest things that I've done is just, when I'm down in my studio everyday, whether or not I write a song that I like or not, I'll try and record something. It could just be a little idea or it could be one lyric or whatever. As long as I do something everyday, it feels like it's all going to add up to a bigger picture down the line."
One day before the interview, Josh had just announced the winner of the Josh Pyke partnership with APRA, where Sydney artist Gordi received $7500 and a mentorship from Josh, and industry experts Gregg Donovan and Stephen Wade.
"I've got to a point where I've been given so much from being a musician and I've been afforded a life where I was able to pursue creativity as my job and I just wanted to try and help somebody else do that, because it's harder and harder to do. The music industry is harder and harder to survive in, so I just had the knowledge and was able to get it off the ground. This was the second year we've done it and I think it's getting better and better.
Josh’s earlier records, especially his first EP Feeding the Wolves felt with some pretty dark ideas. Did But For All These Shrinking Hearts bring out any vulnerable moments?
"There's a couple of songs that I'm dealing with a lot darker issues, I guess. It's always comforting to put that out there in the world because it's five albums in, people kind of know me and know my life, to a degree. By putting those things into songs you're opening yourself up a bit more than I'm comfortable with. That's always a challenge, but I feel like I care a bit less these days, about what people think of me anyway."
One thing that really interested me before the interview was how Josh added a sample of one of his kid’s voices to one of the songs. It reminded me of his song 'Vibrations in the Air' where he talks about photographs and the memories associated with them. Had he ever imagined showing his music to his kids in the future and saying “that’s your voice”?
"Yeah, well he's four-and-a-half now so he gets it. My kids have only just started really understanding what I do for a living. My oldest son came to one of the SSO shows that I did In Sydney with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and he was just so proud. I dedicated a song to him and he was like, "That's me, that's me." He got it. It's really only been in the last six months, my youngest son is going to be two, so he doesn't quite understand. My older son knows what I do now, and he took the program of the SSO show to his pre-school to show his friends and stuff. All the songs are about my life and about my experiences, so I want it to be, everything that I've learned in my life, I try and put into my songs. That's actually what 'Songlines' is about. Song lines in indigenous cultures a way that Aboriginal people, for thousands of years, have mapped out the landscape. They'll makes songs about the landscape and that's how you navigate yourself from one part of the country to the other, you sing your way across the land. I sort of thought about that in terms of my legacy to my family, I've put everything of myself and everything of what I've learned about the world, into songs. In some ways, that's my musical map that I've left for my kids to learn what I've learned through my songs. Yeah, I think they get it already. They always say, "What's this song about?" I'll be like, "This song's about just before you were born this happened and this happened." I think they're starting to get it now. It's a good thing. I feel like it's a positive thing, positive way to inform them without sitting down and sermonizing to them. Hopefully they'll listen."
Ryan Hyde
Josh Pyke fans have loved his creative use of imagery and metaphor, especially with animal themes. Though the title of his record 'But For All These Shrinking Hearts' seemed unfinished... To open up our chat, I asked why did he leave out the title?
"It's actually from a little verse of poetry or maybe it was lyrics that I was writing but I never finished, that I was writing when I was in the UK on tour. The whole thing said something like, you are a shadow held aloft in a world less vast, but for all these shrinking hearts. I like things that sound a bit ambiguous and open to interpretation, as you picked up, it sounds a bit unfinished. Makes you ask what that might be about."
Unlike Josh’ past albums, 'But For All These Shrinking Hearts' was not written with a central theme in mind.
"It's kind of liberating to not feel like I was writing about something in particular. I kind of see each song as an individual story as opposed to part of a dramatic story arc. In terms of how it influenced me, the biggest thing for this record was the kind of creative environment or headspace that I felt like I was in for this record. It's quite different to what I felt in the past where I really felt liberated and free to explore… I've been doing a lot of writing with a friend of mine, Dave, who's a Sydney muso, we've been doing like a psychedelic stoner rock record. I’ve got a studio in my backyard and so we'll go record on Friday nights and stuff. Just doing stuff like that opened me up to a few more different influences musically. Making the record, it just felt a lot more free and liberated than the past ones did."
The new band Josh has formed is called Volters, look out for them in the near future.
After hearing about Josh’s new and liberated creative process, I wondered if there was anything he did, like reading books for example, to plant the seeds and cultivate his creativity.
"Cultivating creativity is the thing that artists need to do the most. For instance, I'm always reading books or watching movies, or going to the art gallery and stuff like that. One of the biggest things that I've done is just, when I'm down in my studio everyday, whether or not I write a song that I like or not, I'll try and record something. It could just be a little idea or it could be one lyric or whatever. As long as I do something everyday, it feels like it's all going to add up to a bigger picture down the line."
One day before the interview, Josh had just announced the winner of the Josh Pyke partnership with APRA, where Sydney artist Gordi received $7500 and a mentorship from Josh, and industry experts Gregg Donovan and Stephen Wade.
"I've got to a point where I've been given so much from being a musician and I've been afforded a life where I was able to pursue creativity as my job and I just wanted to try and help somebody else do that, because it's harder and harder to do. The music industry is harder and harder to survive in, so I just had the knowledge and was able to get it off the ground. This was the second year we've done it and I think it's getting better and better.
Josh’s earlier records, especially his first EP Feeding the Wolves felt with some pretty dark ideas. Did But For All These Shrinking Hearts bring out any vulnerable moments?
"There's a couple of songs that I'm dealing with a lot darker issues, I guess. It's always comforting to put that out there in the world because it's five albums in, people kind of know me and know my life, to a degree. By putting those things into songs you're opening yourself up a bit more than I'm comfortable with. That's always a challenge, but I feel like I care a bit less these days, about what people think of me anyway."
One thing that really interested me before the interview was how Josh added a sample of one of his kid’s voices to one of the songs. It reminded me of his song 'Vibrations in the Air' where he talks about photographs and the memories associated with them. Had he ever imagined showing his music to his kids in the future and saying “that’s your voice”?
"Yeah, well he's four-and-a-half now so he gets it. My kids have only just started really understanding what I do for a living. My oldest son came to one of the SSO shows that I did In Sydney with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and he was just so proud. I dedicated a song to him and he was like, "That's me, that's me." He got it. It's really only been in the last six months, my youngest son is going to be two, so he doesn't quite understand. My older son knows what I do now, and he took the program of the SSO show to his pre-school to show his friends and stuff. All the songs are about my life and about my experiences, so I want it to be, everything that I've learned in my life, I try and put into my songs. That's actually what 'Songlines' is about. Song lines in indigenous cultures a way that Aboriginal people, for thousands of years, have mapped out the landscape. They'll makes songs about the landscape and that's how you navigate yourself from one part of the country to the other, you sing your way across the land. I sort of thought about that in terms of my legacy to my family, I've put everything of myself and everything of what I've learned about the world, into songs. In some ways, that's my musical map that I've left for my kids to learn what I've learned through my songs. Yeah, I think they get it already. They always say, "What's this song about?" I'll be like, "This song's about just before you were born this happened and this happened." I think they're starting to get it now. It's a good thing. I feel like it's a positive thing, positive way to inform them without sitting down and sermonizing to them. Hopefully they'll listen."
Ryan Hyde
'But For All These Shrinking Hearts' is released on July 31st.
FANS-FIRST SHOWS (18+)
WED JUL 29 | THE SODA FACTORY | SYDNEY | DOORS 6PM
WED AUG 5 | BELLA UNION | MELBOURNE | DOORS 7PM
THUR AUG 6 | GRACE EMILY | ADELAIDE | DOORS 7PM
WED AUG 12 | THE FOUNDRY PRESENTED BY 4ZZZ | BRISBANE | DOORS AT 7PM
FANS-FIRST SHOWS (18+)
WED JUL 29 | THE SODA FACTORY | SYDNEY | DOORS 6PM
WED AUG 5 | BELLA UNION | MELBOURNE | DOORS 7PM
THUR AUG 6 | GRACE EMILY | ADELAIDE | DOORS 7PM
WED AUG 12 | THE FOUNDRY PRESENTED BY 4ZZZ | BRISBANE | DOORS AT 7PM