Business Time

Four years since his last album, Get Out While You Can, Dan Sultan is finally laying down some new material and he's got good reason to be enthused. Packing a few dozen songs he'd already penned and accompanied by his long-time rhythm section of Peter Marin and Josh Jones, Sultan, presented with the opportunity of working with producer Jacquire King (Tom Waits, Norah Jones, Modest Mouse etc) at the legendary Blackbird Studio, jetted to Nashville to start tracking.

Three dozen songs written over four years may sound like a fair output for a songwriter, but Sultan reckons it's only really the culmination of the last year. Coming out of a bit of a creative dry patch, this burst of writing has come at an opportune time, with several career planets aligning and some incredible opportunities presenting themselves. Thirty-something songs is a hefty start-point, and although they'll need to be whittled down to around 12 or so numbers for the record, he seems ready to jump into this next phase of his songwriting journey. “I hadn't written anything in about three years,” says Sultan of the years following Get Out While You Can. “I was in a real rut and then I changed the situation I was in, took a bit more control over my career and over my life in general. I think some would probably call it growing up, you know, making the shift.

“I think it's important to be creative; being active like that and just working your brain and your spirit, y'know – in a creative way. Particularly being a creative person, and to not write anything and to not feel confident about anything for so long and [then] to just come out and do it, y'know, it was a good feeling.”

Of the songs that didn't make the final cut, Sultan says there's no regrets. Since the wheels started turning he's been happy to roll with whatever needs to happen to make it work. “There was a bit of apprehension about that kind of stuff,” he allows, “but at the end of the day we're trying to [get] something down that we're all proud of, and not just me as a songwriter but the people in my band and the people that we're making the record with. We're all invested in this, our time and our energy, and you've gotta get down to business.”

For the country soul of Dan Sultan, Nashville's a no-brainer (“There's guitars in glass cases at the airport”). In working with the best, he's essentially measuring his own playing, his band and his songs up against the best. It was a chance to step up and test the depth of his rekindled creativity. “It's a music city, they take a lot of pride in that and the people that come out of Nashville, the people who are considered the best in Nashville, are the best in the world, really,” he continues. “You need a mandolin player? You can get one of the best on the planet. Or if you need a pedal steel player, or an acoustic guitar player, or a keys player, or anything, really...

“It's definitely got a special vibe about it. You go downtown and, y'know, it's a bit of a touristy area but you can literally walk three metres down the street and there's another place that's got music playing at 11 o'clock in the morning.” There's also the famous Tennessee Barbecue, which he says is “not a sustainable situation”. And the waistline? “I'm maintaining, it's good,” he claims. “Up and down a little bit. In America, man, you get whatever you want; you can eat like shit as much as you want or you can eat well as much as you want... it's holding up okay.”

Taking your wares halfway around the world to the veritable beating heart of the country music (and barbecue) industry doesn't come without its fair share of trepidation, though. Sultan admits nerves played a part but is hopeful some of this energy will be captured in the record. “I wouldn't say 'intimidating' but it was very exciting,” he says. “I did get nervous but it's a good feeling to be able to hear some results. Even after the first day of tracking, it's such an amazing place... If you're kinda holding it together it's inspiring, encouraging. But absolutely, we were very nervous and I still am, but I think it's good to be nervous, good to be excited, especially when you're trying to be creative. If there's a little bit of fear there then that's a positive thing...”

Last year, Sultan broke with his usual band format and tested a bunch of new material in Melbourne venue The Toff In Town. There were cries of disappointment from around the country that the stripped-back shows didn't reach further than that. The first mission he's set himself upon returning from the US is to rectify this with a national 'Back To Basics' solo tour.

This low-key return will be followed up by two performances of a very different nature – Sultan, with band, will be opening for Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band at AAMI Park in Melbourne and Hope Estate Winery in the Hunter Valley. “It's going to be good,” he understates of the Springsteen shows. “It's a good reason to get a killer band together, you know. I've got a lot of players that I've played with for a long time and I'm looking forward to getting a lot of those people back on... It's going to be good to get some crew together and get some new faces as well and some new instruments and go and say g'day to The Boss.”