Releasing Sparrows

Josh Pyke promises he’ll kick my butt all the way to the street outside Mushroom Group’s Sydney offices, but only if I leak his next record, ‘Only Sparrows’, before its official release.

“The last album got leaked early,” he laments. “It's disappointing because once you've released an album, the horse has bolted. People are gonna do it, but it's disappointing because before you release an album you have a plan. It's a presentation of work you've worked really, really, hard on and you don't want people to get it before you're ready to give it to them.

“It's like if you organise a really mad party for everybody. You organise the food and drinks and stuff like that then, 20 minutes before you get there, everyone comes and eats all the food and drink and you rock up and you’re like, 'ah, so much for my party'. I'd be really bummed out. But there's only so much you can do.”

If you're thinking 'eh, I can handle one kick up the bum', then think again. Pyke's not the only stakeholder bound to serve you your just deserts [correct spelling guys] for gatecrashing this party early. For the first time in three albums, he's loosened his grip and allowed other players to shine.
“I've had loads of different people play on my records,” he clarifies. “But in the past I would record acoustic guitar and vocal first then build the songs from there. This time, we went into a studio, rehearsed with the band for two weeks and recorded like that. Also, Wayne Connolly co-produced the record with me. He was like a band member and brought so much to the record.”

Including some faith and perseverance.
“When we did the song, 'Particles' with the band, it just didn't sit right with me,” muses Pyke. “We laid it over and it wasn't going well. Finally I gave up on it. Wayne produced it and said, 'I don't think you should give up on this. I think it's going to be a real pivotal song on this record.' And I said, 'All right, man. Do your thing.' And I actually left for the day. I came back and we got another drummer to do another take and it started sounding promising. Then Wayne mixed it. He just made it really great.”

Josh Pyke plays the Coolangatta Hotel Sept. 23 and the Hi-Fi Sept. 24. ‘Only Sparrows’ is out now.