It’s been a massive year for singer/songwriter and all-round nice guy Josh Pyke – one that’s seen him well-and-truly cement his success on the Australian music scene.

Just this month, Pyke’s been nominated in two categories for this year’s ARIAs – for Best Male Artist and Best Adult Contemporary Album. He’s been riding the wave generated by the release of his second album, Chimney’s Afire, ever since since late 2008 – and the swell is showing no sign of abating.

The year started off on a high with Make You Happy and Lighthouse Song hitting 29 and 27 respectively, in the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2008. In August he teamed up Tim Rogers, Chris Cheney and Phil Jamieson for the mammoth task of recreating the Beatles’ White Album in a live show.

But if Pyke got up to any mischief during the White Album Tour – he’s not giving anything away. Surely on a tour with three such characters, recreating the some of the Beatles’ greatest hits, there’d be some debauchery to report?

“It was pretty mellow,” Pyke says with a chuckle. “We were all on our best behaviour.”

The tour saw Pyke, Rogers, Jamieson and Cheney tour the country, performing the Beatles’ classic album from 1968 in track order – a challenging prospect for any musician.

“It was definitely a daunting experience,” Pyke says. “I was daunted but I didn’t realise that these guys who are obviously such established pros… they were all kind of nervous about it as well. So when we realised that we made the decision to put our own spin on things and do it well.”

After coming to terms with the enormity the project, the group relaxed and began to enjoy the ride. Despite a $100+ price tag, the concept was so popular, organisers added extra Sydney shows. And it seems Pyke and his new mates were destined to play together. Last month, Jamieson and Rogers joined Pyke for the ‘Busking for Change’ benefit gig at the Annandale Hotel.

Arranged by Pyke himself, the proceeds went to the ‘Indigenous Litercay Project’ (ILP) – a group that works to supply culturally appropriate reading materials to remote indigenous communities. Pyke’s keen to stress that the fundraising effort isn’t just a passing fad on his behalf.

“It’s something I’m interested in and passionate about,” he says. “I didn’t want to do some misguided charity thing…. not actually needed by the indigenous community. I just wanted to team up with an organisation that’s already doing excellent work.”

Pyke has worked with the ILP before, performing at other events organised by the group, and even auctioning off the infamous guitar boat that appeared in his Make You Happy film clip, for the cause.

But the year isn’t over yet. October marks the start of a series of shows throughout Spring for Pyke. On October 29 he’ll kick of his Variations tour at The Palace in Melbourne.

But the title of the tour is not to be confused with the track Variations on his latest album Chimney’s Afire. It’s not going to be his next single, as one misguided interviewer assumed.

“The next singles going to be Don’t Want to Let You Down,” he explains. “Variations is referring to the fact that the tour is going to be…all the different variations of how I play live. It was kind of fortuitous that I had a song called Variations, and that was kind of the aim of the tour as well. I’m basically breaking the set into three parts. I’m going to do some full band stuff, but also I’m going to rework some of my songs with some different instruments, so it will have an organic feel to it.”

So will his Variations tour be the pre-curser to a hectic summer festival season? He’s already got Stonefest in Canberra scheduled for October 31. “I’m not sure yet,” Pyke says. “I really want to get down to writing and starting to develop up the next record. “It’s been such a busy year that I’d be really keen to have a summer off.”

Adding to the pile of musical ventures already on his plate, Pyke’s also been dabbling in the world of production. He developed a taste for producing while piecing together Chimney’s Afire, and has taken to mentoring other up-and-comers.

“It’s kind of a time thing – I’m dead keen to move further in that direction, and also write more songs for film stuff as well. I really enjoyed doing that [referring to his work on the soundtrack of Aussie flick Black Balloon in 2008],” he says.

But he’s not looking to do his own production for the next album. “I don’t want to produce the next one by myself – I want to get back in the studio with someone else, so I can learn more production tips from them,” he says. “I’ve got a few American producers in mind.”

Pyke said one of his ideal choices for production on his next full length project would be Peter Katis, who produced Interpol’s Antics album. He’s also produced for Mates of State, Frightened Rabbit and The Grates. Pyke says although Katis is at the top of his wishlist, nothing’s been arranged yet. So when can we expect to hear something new, and what should we expect?

“I don’t know yet – it’s really early days,” he says. “I would love to get something out by the end of next year. But that would be a pretty quick turnaround, so we’ll see how we go.”

For the next album, Pyke’s hoping to relocate for a couple of months, for a change of scenery. But where exactly that will be will depend on who’s doing the producing.

And while he might be a bit vague on the timing of his next release – he has a clear idea of where he’ll be heading musically from here. “I want to do something a bit more band-oriented for the next record…and record it fairly live,” he explains.

Pyke already written a number of songs for the next album that he’d love build up with a band. “I’d like the live sets to be a bit more of a rock show, I guess,” he said. “I’ve been a solo artist for whatever years now, but before that I was always in bands. “It’s something I’m very familiar with and very fond of – so yeah, I’d be keen to do that.”

Josh Pyke plays these four shows this month, proudly presented by FasterLouder.

Thursday 29th Oct – The Palace, MELBOURNE
Friday 30th Oct – Big Top Luna Park, SYDNEY (ALL AGES)
Friday 6th Nov – Fremantle Arts Centre Ampitheatre, FREMANTLE
Saturday 7th Nov – The Big Top, BRISBANE