Travelling troubadour Bob Evans is no stranger to the festival circuit. Having forged a solo career after years of fronting homegrown treasures Jebediah, the man has seen all kinds.

In the New Year, he’ll hop on a boat to Chill Island 2010 alongside The Living End and Kate Miller-Heidke. As the festival fast approaches, FasterLouder checked in with the affable Mr Evans.

You’re going to be at Chill Island festival in January this year. How did that come about and had you heard of it before you were offered the opportunity to play?
I never know how these things come about. People ask and I say yes or no or I ask and they say yes or no. I think I had heard of it but only very recently.

Chill Island is held in Phillip Island national park. A pretty amazing piece of the world down there. What your expectations for the festival?
I’m going to cover myself in mud and spend a week living from the land – after my performance duties are over, of course. I would hope there will be plenty of edible natural flora and fauna for me to feed from and some rock outcrops I can use for shelter.

You’ll be playing with other big names like the Living End and Kate Miller-Heidke. Anyone in the festival line-up you’re looking forward to meeting again, or seeing for the first time?
I’ve known the guys from Living End since forever ago so it will definitely be nice to say hello to them. I’ve met Kate once briefly but don’t really know her stuff… although she seems to be very popular with the kids, so maybe I should watch her and take some notes.

Is this part of a big season of summer festivals for you, and what else are you planning on doing this summer?
There will be the odd festival, but I think I will spend most of summer at home demoing new material. I’ve been touring and travelling pretty constantly all year and I need to recuperate.

Has your history playing festivals as part of Jebediah helped hone how you approach the festival thing as Bob Evans?
Perhaps. Having played many festivals now they no longer scare me as much as they once did. I can enjoy the nature of the event without stressing out about little technical things that you get used to when you are doing your own shows but at festivals are sometimes missing. They are great fun most of the time. I’ve been to a few bad ones.

You’ve just done some shows in Europe. Where did you go, who did you play with and how did it go?
I played in Hamburg, Berlin, Amsterdam and Brussels with Eskimo Joe and then skipped over the channel to do my own show in London. It was great fun but also a bit of a blur as there was so much packed in to such a short amount of time. I love any opportunity to go overseas. I always find that I enjoy the experience, no matter what country I go to.

In December you’ll be touring with Keith Urban. Are you excited by the possibility that you may meet Nicole Kidman of BMX Bandits fame?
Absolutely! But it might be for the best if I don’t meet her. I can become quite tongue-tied around celebrity. It’s very foolish and embarrassing.

Is having a solo career/being the master of your own destiny everything you expected?
I guess so. Probably more as I didn’t really have many expectations. I just wanted to sell enough records to justify me being able to do shows and tour and things.

I think I just wanted something like what I could see Darren Hanlon had. There are some challenges that I perhaps didn’t really prepare myself for. The isolation can feel a little weird sometimes. Creatively it can be very satisfying not doing anything by committee, but of course sometimes other opinions are useful.

Bob Evans plays Chill Island 2010 on Saturday 16 January at Churchill Island. Head to the website for details and tickets.