The Iron's Hot

To be fair, Searching For Sugar Man – the stunning documentary that was voted the best of last year at this year's Oscars – didn't exactly tell Sixto Rodriguez's story in its entirety. While there was certainly a gaping hole in the career of the Detroit-based singer-songwriter through the 1980s and '90s and one doesn't doubt he didn't understand the fervency of his South African following, there was one country where his popularity was acknowledged – Australia.

Australian label Blue Goose Music issued both of Rodriguez's stunning records – 1970's Cold Fact and 1971's Coming From Reality – as well as a compilation and two singles in the mid-late '70s. This was followed by a couple of visits to Australia. “I've been there four times,” the softly spoken 70-year-old artist says. “In '79 and '81 I toured there and then after that I toured twice more [in 2007 and 2010]. I enjoyed it, I have a good time.”

The first of these was as a headliner, with Mark Gillespie Band in support, and the second was in support of the mighty Midnight Oil, whose members Rodriguez will reconnect with on his forthcoming tour of Australia, which kicks off in a couple of weeks. “I have The Break, Midnight Oil's band [backing me up]. It should be fun,” he says. “After [the 1981 tour] I saw them both times back stage at shows they played in Michigan and New York. It's always been fun to watch his career – Peter Garrett's career as a political and music [career] – he's succeeded with that. I look forward to playing with his band – they're high powered, they're toning down for me.

“The ingredients of that Midnight Oil band [was] he had a lead guitar player on each side and one of them started doing keyboards after a while. You can do no wrong, Peter Garrett in the middle there… They were just such a great band.”

For those unfamiliar with his story, Rodriguez has remained unknown in his home country for his entire career, despite the release of those two incredible aforementioned records. “I was asked to sign to a label [Sussex Records] by Clarence Avant, he said 'I want to start my label with you'. We were in the studio recording Cold Fact, I think it took four or five different recording sessions, it didn't take a great deal of time – it was quickly done.”

The rawness of Rodriguez's lyrics, tales direct from the Detroit streets, are brought to life by the shimmering production of Detroit music masters Dennis Coffey and Mike Theodore on Cold Fact, with producer Steve Rowland giving a similar treatment to Coming From Reality. “Dennis Coffey and Mike Theodore, they're producers, they had a lot to do with how [Cold Fact] was presented musically. But it's my lyrics and my tunes,” he says. “But I do want to credit the production, because I think the quality of it is why it has maintained… I think if it gets too cluttered then the tune can get lost.”

The Academy Award-winning Searching For Sugar Man has changed Rodriguez's life and career so markedly in the past few months; almost as much as the rediscovery of the artist that is so deeply chronicled in said film. “Yes, 100% different,” Rodriguez says of the film's effect on his musical career. “I [was] on 60 Minutes on the 23rd [of December] and we're going to play the Glastonbury in England, The Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac are the headliners. This is 42-year-old material, who would have thought? It's an amazing phenomenon in music.”

One thing the film does not overplay is the humility of the musician at this point of his life. It's not as if Rodriguez is unwilling to take compliments, but he is far more interested in ensuring everyone around him gets their due. “It started at Sundance,” he continues. “Malik Bendjelloul is a self-made director and it's his first film. He called me in November [of 2011] after he had come four or five times to Detroit, saying he had submitted it to Sundance. He was very excited because he submitted it in time for the deadline.

“It's his first film and he and Camilla [Skagerström] got this thing together – she's the cinematographer, these two people put that whole project together. I didn't decide anything in the film as to who he interviewed or where he interviewed or what he put in there – it's pretty much his work. I'm in it for eight minutes. But it's changed things; I'm getting a lot of attention.”

Rodriguez has tried to break into the American market to no avail a couple of times now. The first, in the 1970s, saw him give up on his musical dream and has been widely reported over the years. But more recently some very nice reissues of both of his records from the Light In The Attic label in 2009 attempted to turn his home country on to his music without much success. The film, however, seems to have got him over the line. “We broke into the American market,” he says. “We were trying to do it through the Light In The Attic reissues of my albums, but it was through the film [that it happened].

“I have to credit – and this is really important – I have to credit Sony Pictures Classics, Sony Legacy, Sony Home Video, Light In The Attic, 42nd West and the local promoters – I think it's Mad Man in Australia. We're getting a lot of attention that way and it all has helped.”

Even through the time that he wasn't performing, Rodriguez kept his passion for music burning. Given he's never felt the spoils of the old record label system, he is excited by what the internet can do for music fans and acknowledges how deeply it has benefited him. “I'm committed to music for the long run, for the duration,” he says. “I enjoy music and I enjoy knowing about it. I would always follow it at any point – read the trades, see who's playing, who's in the charts.

“Because it's global now, we get more product, we can accept more. It's an exciting time. People are listening to a lot of different varied music, you can reach it more readily. That's a reason the internet is so good, I'm almost a new product for a lot of these young bloods – it's new material.”

At 70 years of age, 43 years after the release of his last record, Rodriguez is more popular than he ever has been. He is going to make the most of this opportunity. “I'm up for this, I really have stayed fit. I'm a worker bee, I get up early and I try and stay disciplined. You never throw away your work clothes, there are always things to do. I want to go as far as I can; I hope to go the distance.”

Rodriguez will be playing the following dates:

Tuesday 19, Monday 25 and Tuesday 26 March - Enmore Theatre, Sydney NSW
Thursday 21 and Friday 22 March - Hamer Hall, Melbourne VIC
Thursday 28 and Friday 29 March - Bluesfest, Byron Bay NSW
Sunday 31 March and Monday 1 April - The Tivoli, Brisbane QLD