Sydney-based singer-songwriter Josh Pyke is no stranger to the nation’s capital, having made four trips to the Territory already this year. Those visits saw him meet with federal politicians about the Voice to Parliament and advocating for fairer royalties for musicians. But this time, there’ll be no politics on the agenda.
Marrying the Familiar with the Different
Departing from the podiums and parliamentary meetings to return to the raw essence of his music, the ARIA-award winner is bringing new collection Revisions. The album pulls from his immense back-catalogue of indie/folk hits, with Josh delivering new pared-back arrangements of beloved favourites, often shifting a track’s mood entirely.
“The version of Memories and Dust on the Revisions album is a lot more joyful,” Josh reveals. “The song is about two friends of mine who passed away when I was around 24, both for different reasons.
“Those are the first two people I was close to that I lost.
“So now, 15 or 20 years on, the sadness is still there, but I wanted to make it more of a celebration of life, rather than a solemn reflection on death.”
Conversely, Middle of the Hill takes a sombre turn. Its poignant lyrics are given more room to paint a darker picture – from drunk, indifferent parents to a mutilated, voiceless dog and the unsettling tale of attempted child abduction with the promise of a phone box filled with riches.
“And it’s all 100% true,” Josh exclaims. “Well, they actually offered me a phone box full of lollies. But it just doesn’t sing as well as money.
“I can remember it was a classic white van scenario; they just pulled up beside me and my sister and said ‘Hey, jump in the van. We’ll take you to this phone box full of lollies around the corner.
“I was all for it—‘Let’s go!’—and my sister was like, ‘Let’s get out of here’. I was really mad at her for having me miss out on this phone box full of lollies.”
Revisions is an album that beautifully marries the familiar with the different, a testament to Josh’s belief that a song is an ever-evolving entity, always open to exploration and reinterpretation.
“I don’t really believe in a definitive version of a song,” he says. “I think it’s there to be messed around with and explored. And when I write a song, I never think of it as the final version; I just think of it as a version that I happened to record at that time.
“I love the idea of a song never really being finished,” he continues. “You can always return to it and refine or change it because as you go through life, you change; you grow, and the meanings behind songs evolve with you.”
Confronting Anxiety, Embracing Authenticity
In recent years, Josh has begun talking more openly about his anxiety and resulting panic attacks. Don’t worry, interviews don’t have his pulse skyrocketing while reaching for a paper bag to huff into. More importantly, performing doesn’t either.
“Performing is my safe space,” Josh regals. “On my recent Beatles tour [performing The White Album with Chris Cheney (The Living End), Phil Jamieson (Grinspoon), and Tim Rogers (You Am I)], I was feeling a bit nervous going into it because I hadn’t played for a while.
“But I’ve spent so many years of my life on stages and in backstage rooms and around performance. That’s where I feel most comfortable.”
Like so many things in life, Josh has found that talking honestly and openly about his anxiety helps him regain control. He’s been hit with panic attacks a few times publicly, recalling one time during a speech and another during an important meeting.
“I’ve found being open about it meant that it passed quickly. Whereas the times that I’ve just tried to white knuckle through, it can last for hours and hours.
“There was a time in my life when I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know what was happening to me, so that was even more confronting.
“But now it’s happened so many times you know exactly what it is. And you’re just like, ‘Oh, here we go, just gonna roll with it’.”
A Natural Leap from Music to Children’s Books
Beyond the realm of music, Josh has ventured into children’s picture books. As a voracious reader to his children, he naturally transitioned into creating stories for them.
“Being a parent, you read thousands of books, right?” he states. “And I just got to the point with me, where if there’s something I enjoy creatively as a consumer, I want to have a go at it as a creator.
“I was always making up stories for the kids anyway. And we always read at the end of the day, and it would always be like, ‘Do you want a book or do you want a story from my mouth?’
And they’d be like, ‘From your mouth! from your mouth!’”
His initial foray into children’s books wasn’t without its challenges, his first three ideas were rejected by publishers. His passion, however, persevered.
“[With books] it’s fighting the good fight,” he says.
“At the end of the day, your audience is little kids, and there’s just something very lovely about that. They’re not cynical. If they don’t like the book, they just put it down. They don’t want to hear it again.
“That’s always my litmus test for when trying the new books out on the kids – if they start chatting or ignoring me, I need to change something.”
While my favourite work of Josh’s is The Runaway Snot, he is perhaps most proud of Your Head Is Not The Place To Store Problems, with illustrations from his personal hero, Steven Michael King.
Unleashing Vulnerability
Reflecting on his creative process, Josh recounts: “I was on a bike ride at night, just cruising along, and even the ordinary suburban world felt incredibly beautiful.
“I came up with the line [featured in the book], ‘we’re filled to the brim with unknowable things,’ and I thought about how our heads can be full to the brim too.
“We need to let it overflow and not keep everything bottled up.”
Josh’s personal experiences with anxiety as a child were significant drivers of the book, as he remains passionate about teaching children the power of vulnerability.
“I don’t know if I had anxiety when I was a kid, but I was definitely anxious,” he recalls. “In the ‘80s, you were taught to push it down. That’s just what you did. And it’s taken me years to learn to be really open and—I know it sounds a bit hippie dippie—to find the power in expressing your vulnerability.
“It’s something that I say to my kids all the time: ‘It’s okay to be vulnerable. And it’s okay to show that you have an issue that you’re trying to cope with’.
“And as soon as you put it out in the world, it just becomes a lot less scary and intense. It’s diluted amongst all the other people in your life.
“It’s just something I wanted to express.”
Despite his authorial success, Josh’s young critics at home remain unflinching in their feedback. When he proudly announced his status as a professional author, his youngest son responded:
“You’re not a professional author because it’s not your full-time job. It’s not the only thing you do!”
Tough crowd.
Nay a Political Tune for this Tour
While politics may have been the tune of his previous visits in 2023, this time Josh is all about his music. Political beliefs may be part of his core, but they don’t take centre stage in his musical performances.
“I’m a political person and I have political beliefs,” Josh asserts. “I know it always sounds wanky, but I believe in service. That’s one of the pillars of what I want to do in life.
“But I don’t want to do that in my music.
“Believe it or not, I’m a very idiotic and funny person; just not in my music. And I’m also quite a political person; just not in my music. So no, you won’t be hearing any protest songs.”
See Josh Pyke at The Street Theatre on Sunday, 26 November at 7pm where he’ll be joined by the album’s Elana Stone on accordion and piano and Freya Schack Arnott on cello. Tickets are $65 + bf via The Street website.
You can listen to Revisions on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube
For Josh’s children’s books head to : https://josh-pyke-touring.square.site/