Former drummer for The Drones turned singer-songwriter, Mike Noga is putting the past ten years of his solo career on stage for all to see.
In December, Mike will be on tour with a special show called 'King Of The Folk Hunters' that brings together the three albums he has released as a solo artist: 'Folk Songs' (2006), 'The Balladeer Hunter' (2011) and 'King' (2016).
Mike says he thought it would be the perfect way to cap off what has been a busy year and prepare to start fresh in 2019. “It's been a really hectic year and it's been a year of some really big changes too,” Mike says.
“Not just gigging heaps, but I've moved to Tasmania. I've been working with the ABC doing a radio show for them, and there's been lots of changes in my life and in my career. I thought it would be a really nice thing to do a little tour at the end of this year to put a full stop at the end of the year and then start work on something totally new and different early next year.”
His most recent album, 'King', saw Mike take on the challenge of creating a concept album based around the relationship between a couple name Jack and Mary. “'King' was really different for me because it was a concept album, so it was a story and it had a narrative,” he says.
“It was about a couple called Jack and Mary – I actually lifted the story from an old German play from the early-1800s called 'Woyzeck'; I'd never done anything like that before. Instead of writing about myself, I decided to write about the two characters and I really, really loved it.
“I really got into it and I actually found it heaps easier than writing for myself because if you've got a storyline to follow, then the songs have to fit into it. I'm not the most prolific songwriter on Earth and I found that really helped my songwriting.”
With the past two years spent touring the 'King' album, Mike says it's also time to give the songs one last airing before closing out the album cycle by year's end. “I think I've had enough of these songs for now,” he laughs.
“It's been two years of playing them every other weekend, so again that was the thinking behind this next tour, is to do a little whip-around and finish off 2018 in a really nice way, and maybe put these songs to bed because they're like children – you love them but you want to kill them sometimes too, so it's time to put them to sleep for a little bit.”
With 2018 almost behind him, Mike's next project is a follow-up to 'King' that gives another perspective to the narrative laid out on that album. “'King' to me was a really bombastic rock & roll album for the most part, and sounded pretty masculine to me,” Mike says.
“It focuses a lot on the male character, Jack. So what I've been doing is almost writing... like a prequel to 'King', and most of these songs are seen through the character of Mary's eyes, so it's a bit softer this album; there will be a bunch of duets with female singers on there. It's almost like seeing the events of what happens in 'King' through Mary's eyes instead, and the lead-up to those events.”
Mike Noga Tour 2018
Sat 8 Dec - Golden Age Cinema (Sydney)Sun 9 Dec - Brisbane Powerhouse (Live Spark series)
Fri 14 Dec - The Eastern (Ballarat)
Sat 15 Dec - Merri Creek Tavern (Melbourne)
Fri 21 Dec - Homestead Tavern (Hobart)
