Grinspoon frontman Phil Jamieson on his debut solo album and refusing to do encores

With his debut album Somebody Else, Phil Jamieson becomes the newest entry in a bulging discography of great 1990s-era Australian rock frontmen going solo.

Phil Jamieson pictured at The Old Butter Factory in Telegraph Point, NSW. Picture: Lindsay Moller

Midway through a hard-rocking set performed on one of the biggest stages in Australian live music, the man at the microphone straps on an acoustic guitar and serenades a crowd of more than 10,000 people, pulling focus with a voice that has captivated audiences for decades.

It’s the final night of Splendour in the Grass 2022 – a muddy, challenging festival held near Byron Bay that’s saved by a string of great performances – and Grinspoon frontman Phil Jamieson momentarily gives his three bandmates a breather as he works through Minute by Minute, a pretty ballad from their 2007 album Alibis and Other Lies.

It’s a beautiful singalong moment and a departure from the hard-hitting, alternative-rock stylings of the Lismore-born band he co-founded in 1995.

Something like this would never have happened in the band’s early years. The singer didn’t begin playing guitar on stage until about 2004, as six-string duties were the sole responsibility of Pat Davern to that point.

His Sunday solo song at Splendour is a marker of Jamieson’s progress as an artist working in the glare of the public spotlight, and as a performer armed with the confidence to step out on his own. As well, it points directly to his immediate future, as his debut solo album is days away from release.

Titled Somebody Else, it’s a collection of sharp songs that showcase his impressive vocal range, from the high notes heard in the earlier releases Lights On and YCBM to the deeper tones of menacing album closer Little Pickle, which contains low notes that Grinspoon fans may not have heard him sing before.

Together, the band has released seven albums; its last, Black Rabbits, was issued in 2012. But while Jamieson has been performing under his own name – initially solo, and more recently in a trio format – since about 2007, it has taken until now for him to assemble an album.

The press materials state that “the collective fear and loathing that has gone into releasing this has sometimes seemed insurmountable”. What’s that all about, Phil?

“There may be a bit of hyperbole involved in that – I’m obviously selling a record,” he says with a laugh.

“But I think when you’re in a band, you have that immediate, visceral reaction to new material you’ve written. So I’d come to the band with (singles) Comeback, Just Ace or Hard Act to Follow, and it’s usually like that,” he says, snapping his fingers for emphasis.

“I’ve always had Pat, Joe (Hansen, bass) and Kris (Hopes, drums) with me; they’re like training wheels, and it’s been a comfort,” says Jamieson. “I’m a hater, as well; I’m a hard marker on my own material.

“When you’re in your own head, it’s scary,” he continues. “Grinspoon are maybe even a legacy band, so it was sort of terrifying – and then I was like, ‘You know what? This is good. I know it’s good. I’ve just got to go with it, and let the world decide’.

“I’ve been listening to some of these songs for 10 years. It’s also ultimately a creative reset that had to happen at some point, for me to go, ‘They’re out – where do I start now?’”

With Somebody Else, Jamieson becomes the newest entry in a bulging discography of great 1990s-era Australian rock frontmen who have gone solo.

Before him were the likes of Daniel Johns (Silverchair), Bernard Fanning (Powderfinger) and Kevin Mitchell of Jebediah, who has a long and healthy career under the moniker Bob Evans.

Only last month, The Living End singer-songwriter Chris Cheney ventured out with a debut release, The Storm Before the Calm, which showed a different side to the punk-rocker whose band has shared many festival stages with Grinspoon across the years.

Alongside Tim Rogers (You Am I) and Josh Pyke, Cheney and Jamieson have toured a successful and accomplished tribute to The Beatles’ 1968 release The White Album on several occasions, which means they’ve also spent a lot of time together away from the stage, too.

“He’s a great singer, and extremely diverse,” Cheney says. “There’s a gentle side to his voice that’s probably sometimes overshadowed by his bigger ‘rock song’ moments.

“I’ve seen Phil in both modes. On the White Album tour, I’ve watched how well he can restrain and control his voice in Dear Prudence and Honey Pie – and then on a song like Yer Blues, he’ll walk out into the audience without a microphone and unleash this almighty power and even be heard above the band.”

This dynamic was on display at Splendour in the Grass, too: the pretty melodies of Minute by Minute and Chemical Heart were offset by a raw-throated howl in Champion, 1000 Miles and set closer More Than You Are.

Ahead of his album release on Friday, Jamieson is juggling two setlists. Coursing through his mind are more big shows with his old bandmates – including headline dates at the Spring Loaded festival in Adelaide (August 13) and Wollongong (October 22) – and those with a newer combo on the album tour, which features core players Sam Raines (drums), bassist Rob Muinos and You Am I guitarist Davey Lane, whose band The Pictures is supporting.

But there’s one thing you won’t see Jamieson do at these shows.

“I think encores are ultimately unnecessary, especially if you’ve done a great gig,” he says. “I get it, but I think they’re from an older time. I did it so often with the band; it was just expected, and I don’t like it. Since I started playing on my own, it’s all about ‘on my terms’, and drawing a line in the sand.”

“It’s different in a stadium, when you can oscillate and make people move with you, by doing a little solo acoustic number and the lights go dark. I find those broader, 5000-plus seaters to be a different sort of beast – but in a small room, they can seem pretty contrived,” he says with a laugh.

Somebody Else is out now via Cheersquad Records. Phil Jamieson is on tour in Maroochydore (July 29), Brisbane (July 30, two shows) and Adelaide (August 12).