An ARIA Award-winning musician with 25-plus years experience, Tyrone Noonan's resume is literally bursting at the seams with his achievements.
In the early 2000s, his first band george (formed with his sister Katie) owned the Australian music landscape (alongside the likes of Jet and Powderfinger); their debut album 'Polyserena' landed at #1 on the ARIA album chart and stayed there for a number of weeks.As george was beginning to wind down in late 2004, Tyrone's next musical adventure would be his own jazz band Palimpsest (still active today) before he headed overseas to spend large chunks of time in London and New York in the late naughties pursuing his own solo career.
By 2011 he'd released his debut solo album titled 'I Believe'.
Now, almost a decade later Tyrone is ready to unveil his second solo LP, 'Utopia?', which features a number of collaborations including the final vocal recording of the late Grant McLennan (captured only weeks before his untimely death in 2006).
It's been nine years since your last solo studio album; what have you been up to creatively in the years since?
My last album was released while living in New York, and after returning home I lived as a hermit for a while, then got to work on an album remix EP and toured that around the country (2014).
In 2016-17, I undertook a 20-year reunion national tour with george (and new compilation album release); I joined psych funk-rock band The New Buzz and we did three years running as house band for Woodford Festival's Pineapple Lounge; and I performed regular, sellout shows with my jazz band Palimpsest.
I've also been writing a lot of songs and have another album's worth of material ready.
What's the elevator pitch for 'Utopia'?
'Utopia?' traverses genres and influences, with pop gems sitting comfortably alongside beautiful ballads, and all carrying a powerful message as I weave between personal and socio-political themes.
How did 'Utopia' first start coming together; did you have a firm idea you were creating a new album at the time or was it little more spontaneous?
At first I was wondering if there was any point releasing another album in this day and age, but as I am a committed songwriter and also a believer in the journey and experience of a great album, I decided to forge ahead and then the process became deliberate.
I'm learning fast there are plenty of other people out there who still value that experience too.
You've said this album is for "those yearning for a better path"; can you expand on that?
I don't believe there is any perfect system for humanity, hence the album title with the question mark.
But I do believe there are many people who seek a better way of life; eg. moving beyond a monetary economy into a resource-based economy; or generally getting rid of all the 'isms' and associated ideologies.
And of course moving away from coal and oil ASAP; and focusing on community. I mean that's a start, LOL!
There's a real mix of genres across the entire album covering the pop, rock spectrum as well as some quieter, balladry numbers; is there an element, theme that hooks these songs together?
I think 'Utopia?' is a journey album and hopefully encapsulates most of the issues we are facing today including mental health, socio-political and environmental problems; while also having some fun with lighter numbers like 'On My Knees' and 'Snow White'; the core musical element that threads most of these songs together is the acoustic guitar.
Was it important to present a range of diverse songs rather than focus on a specific genre?
On this album, I allowed each song to find its own, natural place, hence the mix of genres. Having said that, I'm not really a fan of the whole concept of genres in the first place.
I know that if we could move to a post-genre world, it would be, initially, potentially difficult for music journalists (wink), but I think it would then allow music to be judged on its merits – and of course talking about influences where appropriate – rather than focusing on how it relates to other music in a narrowly associated genre.
One of my issues in this current Spotify-led music industry is that the whole set up encourages you to be genre-specific, otherwise you risk falling through the cracks because you're not country/ folk enough, or indie rock enough, or whatever.
I struggled to work out the genre for the first single 'Black Dog' prior to release, because it’s not quite folk/ country/ roots/ rock, but has elements of each.
However Spotify worked it out in the end, and so I am now officially – among other things – a 'stomp and holler' artist. ???
Go-Between fans will be in for a real treat with the album featuring a collaboration with the late Grant McLennan, 'Snow White' (his last recorded vocals); 14 years is a long time to sit on a song; what's the story behind this collaboration and why has it taken so long to see the light of day?
Grant was a dear friend and mentor and he passed away suddenly and too young.
His vocals for this track were recorded shortly before he died and so for years, I couldn't open up the session; the thought of it was too painful.
However, in the end, I realised I owed it to Grant to get this song out there; not just because it contains his last vocal recording but because it offers a glimpse of a new direction he was exploring, taking advantage of virtual instrument technology, which for the first time was allowing him to hear the 'symphony in his head'. And it's a lot of fun!
The album also features collaborations with Dan Rosen (ARIA CEO), Donna Dyson and rising NT star Colin Lillie; what did they each bring to the project?
Donna Dyson is my main co-writer on this album; we have a special connection and she is an amazing human being.
Dan Rosen helped me out when I first arrived in New York as he was pretty established by then, and we did a few shows together at some cool venues. Our friendship developed and we decided to write a song together, which is our love song to New York on 'Utopia?'.
I met Colin Lillie towards the end of making this record but we immediately hit it off as a songwriting partnership, and our first song together made the cut, and it's one of my favourites.
You have a Brisbane launch show for 'Utopia' early November; anything special planned for the evening?
I have the great fortune of being backed by an awesome band who are also the main players on this album. (Joel Alexander – drums/ percussion; Ben Love - electric guitar/ synth; James McIntyre - electric guitar; Nicholas Maskell - bass)
We rehearsed solidly last year in preparation for three planned national tours this year for each single, which fell over due to COVID.
So while we have all played gigs together in various small combos, our debut full-band gig was just recently at the National Live Music Awards at The Triffid, which I'm happy to say was very well received.
I'm excited to present the full band performing the entire album at the launch show, along with some older favourites, and with vinyl copies of the album for sale.
Given 2020, touring plans for this album; what’s in the pipeline?
There are some festival shows in the pipeline but no specific touring plans at present; however watch this space.
Any other creative collaborations, projects you're working on atm you'd like to share with us?
I have received funding from Arts Queensland to help produce my monthly live-streamed concert series River City Streams starting in November; each featuring a prominent guest independent Southeast Queensland singer-songwriter and covering a wide range of music and communities.
My next recording project is my second jazz album with my band Palimpsest, and I'm currently putting the songs and arrangements together for that. There are some other projects on the boil as well, but it's a little too early to release info on those just yet.
Thanks for your time; anything else you’d like to add?
Straight back at you and thank you for supporting independent Australian music.
