27 July 2022 – interview by Bec Harbour
Phil Jamieson has been a mainstay in Australian alt-rock for a long time now, forming Grinspoon back in the 90’s and winning the inaugural Unearthed competition and going on to become arguably one of the most popular acts in the Australian music landscape. His incredible energy on stage has made Grinspoon one of the must-see acts on the Australian festival circuit.
It seems odd that with all Phil’s other projects (playing St Jimmy in the Australian stage production of American Idiot, playing in The Wrights and doing the Beatles White album just to name a few) that he hasn’t released a solo album in amongst it all.
Somebody Else, Phil’s first full length album will drop this Friday, 29 July and from the three singles released in the lead up, it’s going to be a cracker. The album falls into the easier listening side of the alt-rock genre very comfortably.
When Phil called we were in the middle of what Australia calls a cold snap, he greets me with a spritely, “hello it’s Phillip!” and we chat about the cold weather, living in drafty wooden houses and being poor starving uni students in the 90’s.
Bec – Congratulations on your latest single, ‘Lights On’, can you tell me more about the song?
Phil – YES! Thank you. The song was written in Bluey’s Beach in New South Wales about five years ago, and I dunno what I was doing, if I could do a bit of Cher, if I could turn back time and you know, that sliding doors moment and whether we could choose our own adventure, what would actually happen if we went through a different door.
Essentially there is a bit of time travel in there, Marty McFly in the Delorean and all amongst that there’s the question that if you could change it, obviously you can’t, but its a cute notion though.
It started back then [five years ago] but it was a different song back then, and Oscar Dawson [from Holy Holy] helped kinda form it into what you sonically hear now. We’ve lightened the mood a little bit, added the drums and that kind of stuff which I really love, but it’s really groovy and I really love the song as well, thank you.
Bec – I would really love to hear it played live, with your solo stuff, during my research, some of the reviews were commenting around their expectation that your solo work would be an extension of the band [Grinspoon] is that something you expect?
Phil – Well yeah… I think thats a weird question and an interesting turn of phrase for me… I write all the lyrics and melody for Grinspoon, so there’s that.
And this is really myself, this was all born out of necessity, Grinspoon went on hiatus in 2013, nine years ago now and I was wandering in the wilderness for a hot minute, I was like what am I going to do?
So I started doing solo stuff. I started touring by extension. Grinspoon did reform in 2017, did some Guide to Better Living touring or whatever we did but we weren’t creating music. Last thing I released with the band was in 2012 so I was twiddling my thumbs, I needed to put something out.
I don’t really think of it being an extension of Grinspoon at all, it is what it is and having written seven albums with the group, I guess it’s kinda inevitable.
This was born of a need for me to not spin my wheels and put out music that I have created and the best way I can describe it as a song dump, you know how you photo dump on Insta[gram]? Same kind of thing.
This is my July song dump, you know empty the camera, develop the film and start again. But I also guard these songs very privately, a lot of them have been floating for a few years, do I want anyone else to hear them?
Wally Kempton from Cheersquad Records came along to this thing I was filming in Melbourne last year and I was shooting at a motorcycle mechanics and he turned up and heard the song and he said, I should put this out. I was like yes you should buddy ha ha ha ha!
At that stage we were just doing a 7 inch and I was like hang on, I’ve got other songs I need to put out! He [Wally] was alright, we’ll do a 12 inch. Wally has been really, really helpful, he’s a legend of the game, so he gets it.
It’s been a ride, but if it’s been an extension of Grinspoon, I think thats going to be natural in some ways, but I don’t think about it like that, it’s just me doing what I do.
Bec – One of the reviewers seemed quite annoyed that it wasn’t the same as Grinspoon.
Phil – The thing that I would say to them, there is seven albums of Grinspoon readily available ha ha ha! And there’s some arguably good tracks there.
And I’m not bashing people over the head with this new stuff, I don’t have a major label, not spending millions on promotion, you know, it’s just me doing me. If people don’t like it thats OK, I’m not asking for world wide domination, but, and I hate this word, as a creative, it’s nice to be able to release something and I am very grateful. Thanks Wally.
And to be able to talk about it, it makes my job easier, people will come along to the gigs and have a dance, or maybe they’ll get upset that they’re not hearing ‘Champion’ ha ha ha!
Bec – They might be at the wrong gig ha ha!
Phil – Ha ha yes! Come to Splendour instead ha ha!
Bec – This flows nicely into my next question, your creative process. I found in my research that you were very much into stage and performance at school and this comes across in your video clips and live performances. One of our writers when, reviewing Spring Loaded said that you’d make a really good Frank-n-Furter…
Phil – Oh yeah…hmmmm..I dunno whether that’s a compliment ha ha ha ha!
Bec – They did also ask if you took interpretive dance classes.
Phil – Ha ha ha, nah, that’s just yoga.
Bec – How does that all flow into or fuel your creative process?
Phil – The show business, the theatrical side of things runs in parallel, that process is somewhat different to how I approach a gig.
After doing American Idiot [the musical] in 2018/19, I think it was… doing 100 shows of that, I felt there was a lot more fun to be had on stage. Obviously within the solo environment there’s a lot more work to be done, I play guitar. But if I’m doing a Rolling Stones show or Spring Loaded with the band, there’s much more time for theatrics and fun.
But I don’t know if the the theatrics, the show business side work hand-in-hand with the other…
The creative side is much more personal, I just want people to come along and get a kick out of it. If I was paying $50 or whatever you pay for a show these days, I’d want to make sure that the back of the room is enjoying it, that’s my job right?
Sometimes the tunes do that, if the tunes are you know, there’s less required but sometimes you just want to shake your booty ha ha!
It’s not lost on me what a great opportunity this is, a privilege, I feel very grateful to do this in front of people, especially considering what has gone on in the last two and a half years. There is less of me taking things for granted, which in my 20’s it could be argued I did a little. So I am incredibly grateful.
Bec – So how did you weather the last two years?
Phil – I did weird little solo shows. I did three shows in one day in front of 20 people each, I came to Brisbane and played the Triffid, I played covid safe gigs at the Cambridge and the Lansdowne in Sydney, I just flexed into solo stuff, I hadn’t released anything but was just tip-toeing through doing little tiny shows and that’s what I do, it doesn’t matter if I have 30 000, 300 or 30, it’s still the same idea, here’s a microphone and a stage, I’m facing one way and they’re facing the other.
So that’s how I managed that time and I’m not going to say that it was always smooth sailing. Now that gigs are back and people are back to shows, there seems to be an influx of shows everywhere because it was such a lean time. I managed to do little tiny shows and never got covid, so there you go.
Bec – So one last question – what’s next after the tour and album release?
Phil – That’s a good question. I am just putting one foot in front of the other, you know what, I have the Eltham, I’ve got the Gold Coast but there are some songs on the boil that I’m working on. It’s exciting times for me but I really want to get through August ha ha ha! Then reassess.
