“I feel so spaced out, I’m so jetlagged.”

Daniel Stricker, drummer with Midnight Juggernauts, should be one band member you would expect could keep time. Not 24 hours after landing home in Sydney, though, I get the distinct impression his body isn’t even sure which hemisphere it- œs in. And fair enough, too. The Juggers have just come off a massive world tour which saw them running around all over the UK, Europe, America, Mexico and Japan, playing the world’s biggest festivals and stacks of their own shows. Not bad for a group who hadn’t even released their debut record before they left.

“The first really big thing we did was the [2008] Big Day Out – that was a real eye-opener – then Coachella and Glastonbury. My favourite festivals were the ones that were quite different. There was this festival we did in the UK called the Latitude Festival – in Suffolk – and I remember our dressing room was across a lake, from the stage, and you had to jump on a little boat and go across the lake, surrounded by reeds. You had to go through the forest to the stage. It was absolutely incredible.”

How was the response? Surely there were a few crowds who’d never heard you before?

“It’s been really good. Last year we went overseas for the first time and it was definitely like an internet word-up thing but this year – œcause the album’s out everywhere and it’s been given a bit of a push, the crowds was amazing. They knew the words and stuff. Like Japan, we played quite early at Fuji Rock but the tent was full and there was like ten, 15 thousand people. It was an incredible year and quite surprising to see how the music had travelled. That’s the best thing about being in a band, or being a musician – you want your music to travel.”

And travel it did. Right into the ear of legendary DJ, Grandmaster Flash. Surely a pinch-yourself moment for three scraggly Aussie boys who were mere children when Mr Flash dropped classic track, The Message.

“I don’t even know how that came about,” says a bewildered Daniel. “We played with him twice. Once at this event in Austria: it was the weirdest thing. I remember we got there and they were like, – œOkay you’re going to launch this James Bond film. There’ll be something on stage before you play, where these two guys are going to be fighting and there’ll be this whole kung-fu theme. Then there’ll be a missile, and the missile will explode and then through all the smoke, you’re going to be wheeled through and you’re going to play the show.’

“It’s probably the most Spinal Tap moment ever. He was playing that night, and we met him and he was a bizarre, interesting guy. What you’d expect – he’s very much a character. And then we played in New York with him. [It] was surreal. I listened to his music as a kid, you know?”

A couple of decades later, and Grandmaster Flash is mixing Midnight Juggernauts. “It was the craziest thing ever, and then to meet the guy, who was so influential in hip hop. I couldn’t believe it when it happened. ”

Back on home turf, the party’s not quite over. A couple of days after we spoke, the boys were back in Sydney playing Sounds in the Ground at Manning Bar (“I used to play with one of the bands – The Lost Valentinos – so it will be good to see them. It’ll just be good to play again in Sydney and see our old friends. I think it’s going to be really big) before popping into the ARIAs to see how they fared with nominations in two categories: Best Independent Release and Breakthrough Artist.

As we spoke though, Daniel didn’t quite have his tuxedo pressed. He laughs. “Probably just jeans and a t-shirt. Or maybe a space suit. We were overseas when we found out and we had been away for so long, we didn’t know if anyone [remembered us]. It’s a very nice thing to be nominated.”

As we now know, they were pipped at both posts but there’s always next year. By which point there should be a new album out.

“We’ve been writing quite a bit. We were extremely busy touring for the whole year pretty much but it was kind of interesting because a lot of the time, a lot of the locations would inspire you. A lot of the demos we’ve been working on have titles that are the cities we’ve been working in, you know? We’re excited now to have some down time to work on it because we’ve changed a lot. We’re still the same band but we’ve played live so much that we’re lot more in tune with each other.

There’s definitely been an evolution in the band in terms of us knowing each other as musicians and also what we’re all into. I’m sure the next record will sound a lot like us, as far as what people are familiar with, but I’m sure it will be different. I hope.” He pauses. “It will shock a few people.”

While they’ve booked a handful of dates for the remainder of the year, culminating at Phillip Island’s Pyramid Rock Festival, they’re looking forward to a serious break until March “to concentrate on this record – you don’t want to rush it.” As well, Daniel adds, “There’s a couple of really interesting and amazing guys we might do some work with. We did the first album completely on our own, and we might do that again. But there are some [names] that have been thrown around that we’ve had contact with. We’ll see what happens.”

For now a week or two of chilling out is in order. “It’s been a couple of crazy years. We’ve been away for over seven months, so I’m just trying to get to know what life is like all over again. I think Vin doesn’t even have a place to stay at the moment – so if anyone out there has a spare room, let us know…”

The Midnight Juggernauts will bring in the New Year at Pyramid Rock Festival in Victoria.