Canadian producer Mike Milosh is heading to Australia for a tour in support of his album 'Blood', the sophomore release from his acclaimed R&B project Rhye.
'Blood' was released last February and is the follow-up to the Rhye debut album 'Woman' released back in 2013.
Mike says the 'Blood' album cycle has seen the band tour consistently, much to his pleasure, for the past year. “I really enjoyed spending basically 12 months on the road,” Mike says.
“My general philosophy has always been that I don't really care too much about an album cycle, I like to be constantly playing and getting that feedback from the world.
"For us it's not like 'oh, it's been a year'; for us, we released 'Blood' and we've been touring and we will continue to play.”
With 'Blood' marking off its first birthday, Mike reports that he has recently finished another Rhye EP due at the end of February and says he prefers to maintain a steady, creative output even when touring.
“I think that is important and I think that a lot of artists get really into this idea of album cycles, and they think almost too businessy [sic].
“I think it's really important to constantly be playing because it helps you create – it's really good for your writing,” he says.
“When you only write for a bit, then only tour for a bit, then only write for a bit it's almost schizophrenic. Whereas, if you're constantly touring at a nice pace and also working on new music you can plan your life a little bit better.”
Originally a collaboration between Mike and Robin Hannibal, Rhye has grown into a touring collective of multi-instrumentalists minus Robin.
Rhye kick off their Australian tour at Perth Festival before moving on to Brisbane, Sydney, Wollongong, Canberra and Melbourne plus Golden Plains and Adelaide Festival. “I've only been to Australia once before and I discovered that the plane flight is incredibly exhausting,” Mike says.
“[The] first time I got there, I got off the plane and I was seeing double images because I was so exhausted from the flight from Los Angeles to Australia.
"So this time, I'm going to fly a little bit earlier so I can give myself about two days to recoup just from the jet lag. It's definitely no joke.
“Other than that, for me it's like 'cool, I'll be back in Australia'. I really loved being in Australia the first time, it kind of feels like Canada but warmer. So it didn't feel too far away or foreign to me... it has that Commonwealth vibe.”
The rest of the year has Mike and his band working on their next releases, such as the aforementioned EP that Mike says is a return for him to the piano. “The new EP is a little bit different in that I really wanted to make a very intimate EP,” he explains.
“It was born out of the idea that I wanted to make an EP that was connected to the piano. I fell in love with the piano again so it's all piano based, and it's a quaint and gentle EP.”
Rhye 2019 Tour Dates
Sun 24 Feb - Perth FestivalThu 28 Feb - The Triffid (Brisbane)
Fri 1 Mar - Metro Theatre (Sydney)
Sat 2 Mar - Farmer & The Owl Festival (Wollongong)
Mon 4 Mar - ANU Theatre Complex (Canberra)
6-7 Mar - Melbourne Recital Centre
Sat 9 Mar - Golden Plains Festival (Victoria)
Sun 10 Mar - Adelaide Festival
