Josh Pyke

Fri 9th Sep, 2011 in Features

To any casual observer, the Australian music industry remains as fiercely competitive and prosperous as ever, a veritable feast of artists across every state and region clamoring for recognition. Prior to his acclaimed debut album Memories and Dust, then-fledgling performer Josh Pyke ran with the pack. His first foray, however, would ignite nationwide interest, ultimately propelling Pyke to his second effort – Chimney’s Afire – and now, third LP, Only Sparrows. In the spirit of beloved author Roald Dahl, a crucial question emerges: what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he wanted?

“I kind of had my whole adult life up until that point to prepare for what I wanted to do as a musician and then when it started to happen, I realised that I was not prepared for it at all!” Pyke admits of his Memories and Dust days. “But I think back on that time as incredibly exciting and challenging… and frustrating and a massive, massive learning curve. It was really scary as well because everything was pure potential at that point. I didn’t know if it was going to work or if it wasn’t. I really didn’t have anything – and still don’t have anything – to fall back on. So it was a really great time, really stimulating and exciting.”

Even with a burgeoning career and a sky-rocketing profile, Pyke remained grounded, his endeavours business as usual. “I’ve always had the same group of friends since I was a little kid and I think that helped me roll with it a bit better and not get too caught up in the idea of fame and all that stuff. I find the idea of celebrity pretty distasteful and I’ve always been like that.”

With his down-to-earth disposition, Pyke is still aregular Jenny-from-the-block. “Nothing really happened for me before I was 26 or something. I had a pretty realistic view of the world and I had working as a truck driver, at a car wash, as a delivery driver and at a record store,” he recalls. “I had loads of crappy jobs and I knew what the world was about by the time it all happened for me. So more than anything I felt really grateful. It was really a time to put my head down and work hard and hold onto it.”

Pyke’s hard work has resulted in his third full-length studio album, Only Sparrows. Rather than retrace chartered territory, the record opts for an emphasis on worldly ideas over more personal inclinations. “The first two albums were totally autobiographical. That was played and that was what I felt like doing at that point – what I felt like I needed to do. I just didn’t want to keep going over the same ground,” Pyke reveals. “I think it’s harder to take things seriously from an artist when you know they’ve done alright. You know those albums where ‘It’s so hard to be alone!” and “It’s so lonely on the road!” – I didn’t want to write that record, basically. My life experience has largely been about being a musician and I don’t really want to write an album about being a musician! I wanted to draw my influences from a broader range of things but I still wanted the songs to come across as intimate and personal in a way that’s not necessarily about my own personal life.”

Meanwhile, fans can still expect a few familiar calling cards scattered throughout _Only Sparrows, as Pyke returns to his role as the music world’s wily wordsmith. The singer-songwriter’s delicious articulation defined even his earliest releases and continues to intrigue. It all comes naturally to Pyke, however. “I just write songs how I talk, believe it or not! I just use words that are in my vernacular. It’s not something that I think too hard about, really, the same as I sing with an Australian accent.”