It’s always reassuring to meet musicians who have full recourse to be completely arrogant and snide but who are instead accommodating and down-to-earth. You Am I have won nine ARIAs and had three albums debut at #1 in Australia, so you could forgive them (maybe) for letting it go to their heads. Thankfully, however, it hasn’t – both Davey Lane and Rusty Hopkinson came across as approachable and honest. When I compliment Rusty on the backbeat he employed on Wankers off the upcoming album Dilettantes, he admits he was “actually completely drunk at the time”.

Dilettantes itself is actually a fantastic record. Far removed from the balls-to-the-wall head rush of Convicts, it is probably the most multifaceted album that band have produced in their history. When the story of influences comes up, most bands name-drop other bands that they enjoy. In this instance, though, I got Proust, which is perhaps a testament to the nature of the album itself. “I think that’s what being a dilettante is all about. I can go to Hawaii with my wife while reading George Orwell and listening to The Monkees. It’s not about being a snob, it’s about the things that give you your kicks and the things you want to delve deeper into.”

The topic starts to drift away from their own work over time and onto more general topics, such as the nature of what it is to be Australian. “It’s not about flag-waving, it’s not about going, ‘We’re the best country in the world’, it’s about saying, ‘We’re Australia for better or for worse, and we’re pretty rough around the edges and we probably swear too much and we drink too much beer and we like having a good time.’” We started talking about the nature of nationalism at festivals such as the Big Day Out, a festival at which a friend of Rusty’s “got kicked in the head for not kissing the Australian flag while lining up to see Franz Ferdinand.” And we all laughed, which was cool, because I rarely (if ever) pick up on irony on the spot.

We get to talking about life on the road, and specifically the time Andy Kent broke his hand trying to push a door open after a gig. “You might overhear a conversation of ours on the tour bus and think to yourself that it’s a bunch of fifteen year-olds or something, but that’s how we keep sane. We’re not troublemakers, we don’t go out to intentionally try and cause trouble but if things happen they happen and it’s good harmless fun.” And apparently being taken off the Sony BMG roster was pretty harmless in and of itself. “I just wish they’d done it two years earlier. When you’ve got the promo people from the company going, ‘We don’t know how to market your music,’ then that’s a problem.”

And it looks like the guys are at odds with major labels in more ways than one. “When I was 15 I’d say most of my schoolmates didn’t care about ‘owning music’, so I’d make them a Devo tape, and it’s not that different now. When I was growing up it was “Home taping is killing music!” and now it’s “Downloading is killing music!”, but as long as people want to listen to it it’ll be around.”

And technology has already created new ways to enjoy music. “There’s that new video game Rock Band where you have the guitar, the drums and the microphone and you can just play it in your living room. You’ve got songs like [The Rolling Stones’] Gimme Shelter and I think it shows that music is pretty timeless, no matter how you hear it.”

But of course, that doesn’t mean you have to sound like that. “We had a producer come in and bring Tim [Radiohead’s] OK Computer and [Brian Eno & David Byrne’s] My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts. They’re fine records but it’s not the music we write. It’s a bit alienating to have someone say, ‘You should sound like this because this is what now sounds like.’ And well, now can sound like yesterday pretty quickly.”

Which is true, and it comes as no surprise that You Am I’s back catalogue has certainly never fallen victim to overproduction. “One of the best things about rock & roll is someone simply capturing the sound of a bunch of guys playing music in a room. Whether it be Johnny Burnette & The Rock And Roll Trio or newer artists like Jay Reatard or the Black Lips, if it’s honest and it’s good then it’ll stay that way.”

Dilettantes is out now through EMI. You Am I’s ‘Let’s Be Dreadful’ tour takes them to the following venues.

Thursday October 16th – Settlers Tavern, Margaret River
Friday October 17th – Fly By Night, Fremantle
Saturday October 18th – Fly By Night, Fremantle
Wednesday October 22nd – Metro Theatre, Sydney
Thursday October 23rd – Coolangatta Hotel, Coolangatta
Friday October 24th – The Zoo, Brisbane
Saturday October 25th – Sands Tavern, Maroochydore
Saturday November 1st – The Governor HIndmarsh, Adelaide
Sunday November 2nd – Prince Of Wales, Melbourne
Monday November 3rd – Prince Of Wales, Melbourne
Thursday November 6th – Theatre Royal, Castlemaine
Friday November 7th – Karova Lounge, Ballarat
Saturday November 8th -San Remo, Philip Island
Sunday November 9th – Barwon Heads Hotel, Barwon Heads
Thursday November 13th – ANU Bar, Canberra
Friday November 14th – Wollongong Uni
Saturday November 15th – Cambridge Tavern, Newcastle