Phil Jamieson talks ‘Weekends’, solo work, and what keeps him writing.
There’s something quietly reflective about chatting with Phil Jamieson right now.
On the day we speak, he’s already walked his dog, heard his new single Weekends spin on Double J, taken a call mid-play from a mate backing the track, and is lining up a night of Augie March and curry in Northcote – small details that say a lot about where he’s at.
With his sophomore album 10Charlie set for release on August 14, and on the verge of a massive 44-date PJ AIR tour, Jamieson feels settled — still carrying that same spark, just a little worn-in now.
Before he hits the road, we caught up to talk new music, touring life, and the moments in between that seem to matter more than ever.
HAPPY: What are you up to today?
PHIL JAMIESON: It’s a little windy, but I walked my dog. It was beautiful, and then Michael Hing from the Double J radio station played my new song. And that went well, and then Chris Chen rang me while the song was being played and it was nice to hear from him and he likes the song, which is nice.
And tonight I’m going to go see Augie March and Davey Lane at the Croxton – and I’m going to go to my favourite curry restaurant, which is next to Westgarth Cinemas in Northcote. That’s what I’m doing today.
HAPPY: Tell us a little bit about where you live, what do you love about it?
PHIL JAMIESON: I live in 3122 in Victoria in Naarm. I love that the park is really close, that I can hear the trams, that I can see the city and that yeah, it’s close to everything. I love it.
HAPPY: Tell us about Weekends – where did that idea first come from for you?
PHIL JAMIESON: I was driving in a coastal town in New South Wales. It was the start of some long weekend somewhere. Might have been Easter, might have been October, I don’t know. I was with my daughter and we had the windows down and it had just rained.
And you know that smell that you get when it rains but it’s hit the pavement and it’s warm, the asphalt type of smell, and you could feel that after rain sort of heat and you could see people spilling out of bars and whatnot and I guess a mood of possibility was in the air and I said to my daughter, “The air smells reckless, doesn’t it?” And she said, “That sounds like a song, Dad.”
And my daughter is my harshest critic, so if she says it then I was like – I pocketed that, went home and the song kind of spilled out. It’s basically a destination Weekends is a bar or a pub or a restaurant or a coffee shop.
You can go to Weekends on a Monday. And it’s a place for yaps. We all love a yap, right? So that’s what Weekends is about.
HAPPY: You’ve described 10Charlie as your most personal record yet — what shifted this time around that let you go there more directly?
PHIL JAMIESON: Yep, well, other people have. Over the last two years there’s been some, you know, like life doing life things. In November of 2024, Grinspoon were nominated for their first ARIA in what felt like a decade. And Pat and I were asked to present at the ARIA Awards which was, you know, nice, but also a bit of a— it’s a bit of a game, right? You’ve got to be prepared to play it.
But on the morning of the ARIA Awards, I went for a walk to try to, you know, meditate or whatever or just move my legs for whatever reason. And my daughter called me and told me that our family dog had passed away.
And so I kind of collapsed on the streets of Wentworth Street, Surrey Hills. I’d never had a dog – I’d never had a pet pass away and it – it was just one of those, you know, momentous moments that I’ll never forget.
And then as I was like howling in sadness, a lady who was on her way to work stopped and asked me if I needed a hug.
And so little moments like that, and then I had to go to the ARIA Awards and walk the red carpet and smile and nod and be cheerful and, you know, do all these things in this time of incredible grief.
So yeah, there was that. And then there was other stuff that happened as well, but that was one of the most pivotal moments I think in the last two years in the writing process of this.
HAPPY: There’s that line about writing “what you needed to hear” – was this album more about processing things in real time, or looking back on them?
PHIL JAMIESON: You know, due to, you know, Pablo’s passing and then other things I wrote sort of what my body and what my mind wanted to hear, like what would be soothing for me and what would be helpful.
I wasn’t going to write anything particularly chaotic I don’t think.
Well, that’s obvious. So, yeah, it’s sort of – it was really, really personal because it sort of was helping me process stuff. And so that’s why the record sounds the way it did – it’s what I needed to hear is what it was processing things in real time and looking back on them, it was both.
HAPPY: You reunited with Oscar Dawson again on this – what does he bring out of you in the studio that maybe others don’t?
PHIL JAMIESON: Well, I don’t know because I’ve only ever worked with Oscar. I’ve done the last three records with him.
I was going to record this in Prague for one minute, but then that didn’t work out. And then I was going to record it at the Rat Shack, but that didn’t work out.
Oscar and I have a great communication. I love working with him. And he makes the songs sing. So, yeah, that’s all I need from him.
HAPPY: You’ve been part of Australian alternative music for decades now – what still excites you about making solo work at this stage?
PHIL JAMIESON: Well, that’s an excellent question. Am I excited? I’m excited today because the song’s out.
I think it’s born out of necessity for me to write. And I was lucky enough to get a record deal this time so people are putting it out for me, which is lovely.
Hi, Origin Music. I’m going to make solo work anyway. And I’ll just keep writing and whether it gets released or not is sort of irrelevant.
I guess it’s relevant to this particular piece. I love writing music. I love finding new ways to say different things and I love the joy that it brings me and also hopefully other people. Yeah.
HAPPY: PJ AIR is a massive run of shows — what made you want to take this tour so deep into regional and grassroots venues?
PHIL JAMIESON: PJ Air is a massive run of shows. It certainly is, 44 count them. I just love touring. I love playing live. It’s something that I consider myself to be – I just love it.
And I love doing different venues and weird venues and going to different towns and – and, you know, meeting different people and doing small venues and doing big venues and driving… and I don’t know. Any opportunity to do 44 shows in Australia, I’m going to take.
So this is another one of them. I’m grateful for that.
HAPPY: What makes you happy?
PHIL JAMIESON: Coffee. Coffee makes me happy. My dog, my kids, seeing live music, listening to music, reading books and yeah, being alive.
