Phil Jamieson’s sophomore solo album, 10CHARLIE, arrives on August 14, although the release will now come under very different circumstances following an on-stage accident that has forced the Grinspoon frontman to cancel his planned PJ AIR tour. In the interview with Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips, conducted before the accident, Jamieson spoke enthusiastically about an album he had been eager for listeners to hear, describing it as a collection of “cute little songs” that he was particularly proud of.
MORE ABOUT THE INTERVIEW
10CHARLIE follows his 2022 solo debut Somebody Else, with Jamieson maintaining a two-year cycle that also included a Grinspoon record in 2024. Unlike his debut, which effectively drew on a lifetime of songwriting, the new album was assembled from material written over roughly two years. Around 20 to 22 songs were initially in the running before nine were selected, with collaborators including producer Oscar Dawson (Holy Holy) and others helping determine the final tracklist. Jamieson says the sound of the album began to take shape around “Weekends”, whose nostalgic character and layered production provided a blueprint for the rest of the record.
The album’s title came from Jamieson’s fondness for an aisle seat on a Boeing 737. Among a number of possible titles, 10CHARLIE stuck, eventually taking on a broader significance as the album developed into what he describes as a kind of journey. The boarding-pass reference became a metaphor for an album intended to “take you places”, with its songs moving through different moods, stories and experiences.
Despite the album’s relatively elaborate production, the recording itself was completed remarkably quickly. While touring with Grinspoon, Jamieson had just five days in Abbotsford to record the nine tracks. Much of the experimentation had already happened during the demo process, allowing the studio sessions to focus on capturing the songs. Producer Oscar subsequently took the recordings back to London for mixing, with Jamieson embracing the creative discipline imposed by the tight timeframe.
Collaboration was central to the record. Guitarist Davey Lane returned after contributing heavily to Somebody Else, with Jamieson describing their relationship as one built on trust and honesty. Lane contributes the distinctive twangy guitar on “Get It”, while Jamieson himself provides the fuzz-heavy guitar solo on “The Soft Return”, a performance recorded at 3am on a farm and ultimately lifted directly from the GarageBand demo because he couldn’t reproduce it in the studio.
Other collaborators include singer Soph Ozard, whose vocals appear across several tracks, and Rob Muños, who has been part of Jamieson’s solo journey from its beginnings and served as a sounding board during the album’s development. Jamieson also worked with Ben Edgar, whom he had never previously met, at a studio in Melbourne’s outer suburbs. Their collaboration produced three tracks, illustrating Jamieson’s willingness to step outside familiar creative relationships.
The album’s songs draw on both personal experience and imagination. “Reading Keats In Byron Bay”, for example, contains autobiographical elements alongside deliberately ambiguous and fictionalised details. Jamieson reveals that the song’s melody first came to him while sitting at a red light on Hoddle Street, demonstrating the often unpredictable circumstances in which his songwriting emerges. “Weekends” proved the most challenging track to complete, requiring considerable work on its arrangement, chorus and mix before becoming the album’s first single.
Perhaps the most significant difference between the Phil Jamieson of his twenties and the songwriter behind 10CHARLIE is the motivation for making the music. Looking back at his 25-year-old self, Jamieson says that younger version of himself was largely writing for other people, whereas his current songwriting is much more personal. He acknowledges that this might sound selfish, but believes there is value in expressing things honestly and allowing listeners to find their own connection with them.
That idea of connection is ultimately at the heart of Jamieson’s approach to the album. Although he remains best known as the frontman of Grinspoon, he is largely unconcerned with whether his solo work is “accepted” on its own terms. He is simply grateful to be able to write, record and perform the songs. For Jamieson, music is fundamentally about connection, whether between people, friends and family, or even the everyday world around us and he hopes listeners will find something of their own in 10CHARLIE.
At the time of the interview, Jamieson was already deep into a 44-date tour, with the new songs being incorporated into a set alongside material from Somebody Else. He described performing the music as an almost meditative experience, often playing with his eyes closed and focusing entirely on the songs rather than monitoring the audience’s reaction. He was also looking forward to his first-ever Japanese tour.
That touring schedule has since been abruptly halted. Following an on-stage accident, Jamieson fractured his L1 vertebra after slipping and hitting his spine against a drum riser. The injury has forced the cancellation of the PJ AIR tour, with venues and ticketing agencies arranging refunds. Despite the setback, the release of 10CHARLIE will proceed as planned on August 14. The album, his second solo full-length, features the singles “Weekends”, “Blue As The Sunlight” and “Reading Keats In Byron Bay”, and represents a particularly personal chapter for Jamieson, combining his rock instincts with melody, humour, nostalgia and vulnerability.
For an artist who had been looking forward to taking 10CHARLIE out into the world, the circumstances surrounding its release are undoubtedly disappointing. But the album itself remains intact, a snapshot of where Phil Jamieson is creatively after more than two decades of making music, and, as he puts it, another opportunity for music to make a connection.
10Charlie is out this Friday August 14.