King Gizzard Had A Rare Year Off Between Records, So Drummer Michael Cavanagh Made An Album Anyway

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

Michael Cavanagh – aka CAVS – has a good claim for being one of the most recorded drummers Australia has produced.

Since joining King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, he’s played on over 25+ records taking in a plethora of genres from heavy metal, psych rock, folk, jazz, and even symphonic bombast.

Given his life spent on the road, it’s impressive that he’s had any time for extra-gizz-ricular activities.

But the past 12 months have been unusually quiet for his day job, with only touring – not album releases – filling up the calendar.

For Cavanagh, this rare “downtime” hasn’t gone to waste; the drummer made his second solo LP, Sojourn.

“I’ve had this record locked in for a while, recorded in April 2025 before all the Gizz touring kicked off,” he says, speaking from Gizz HQ in Melbourne.

Sojourn is a mystical, percussion-led instrumental record with hints of psychedelia, spiritual jazz, and even hints of “world-music” (i.e. not Anglo-Normative). It’s a window onto the weirder influences of a rock ‘n’ roll road dog, although Cavanagh is quick to point out that at heart, he still lives for the (50-year-old) riff.

“I’m not in too deep with traditional jazz – I like that spiritual stuff like Alice Coltrane – that’s what I listen to when I go to bed, and I’ve always loved that fusion stuff, like Herbie Hancock, and ‘70s jazz drummers like Tony Williams and Billy Cobham,” he says.

“I knew I wanted this to be a groove record, and in the spirit of something not of this time. I don’t listen to any music past the ‘70s! But I wouldn’t call myself a jazz expert. I also love rock n’ roll, metal, and all that shit.”

Despite his eagerness to play down his jazz credentials, Sojourn is an impressive piece of work; each song builds on Cavanagh’s drum improvisations, with guitars, bass, flutes, keys, and congas all swirling around his rhythmic pulses in a series of meditative, unstructured jams.

There’s even an appearance of the harp (“as soon as you throw a harp into the mix, it’s going to get spiritual”, he quips).

It marks Cavanagh’s first time as a formal band leader, but he’s quick to point out that his day job gave him all the tricks of the trade to perform this task effectively.

“I’ve been (live directing) with Gizz for so long … I wouldn’t call myself a band leader at all, but when we’re onstage and jamming, I’m conducting the flow of a lot of our jams, always changing feels, and always guiding where the song’s going,” he said.

“But as an arranger, I’ve been able to explore that side of myself a lot more with Gizz recently; that’s helped me learn how to lead a lot more that I’ve been able to apply here.

“You don’t see many drummer-led bands these days like you used to, so it was really cool to step into those shoes,” he adds. “It’s definitely all new to me still – I’ll always be learning with it!”

Was there ever a chance that Sojourn was going to be a spiritual King Gizzard album?

“No, I always wanted it to be my own thing”, he offers. “We’ve hit these kinds of vibes with Gizz before … with Gizz, there’s more cooks in the kitchen.”

One of those cooks – Gizzard guitarist Joey Walker – will appear alongside Cavanagh when he takes to the stage at Melbourne’s Thornbury Theatre in May, for what will be his debut solo live performance.   

Cavanagh will lead an eight-piece band, which features another drummer, a dedicated percussionist, horn players, and the ever-spiritual harp, in addition to more traditional rock instruments (Walker will play bass).

“We haven’t actually rehearsed yet”, Cavanagh laughs. “There’s going to be a lot of improvisation onstage.

“I’m planning on reworking the songs to take them to another level and make them a lot more energetic – the plan is to get really freaky with it.”

There’s no further news on future solo tours – and given it’s unlikely that the Gizz album factory will remain dormant for much longer – so one imagines we’re unlikely to see Cavanagh in solo form much over the next few years.

What’s clear from this album, though, is that Cavanagh loves to collaborate with others – especially other drummers.

After footage of former Slipknot and Suicidal Tendencies drummer Jay Weinberg sitting in alongside Cavanagh with King Gizzard appeared a few years ago, it felt right to ask him which other drummers he’d see as dream collaborators.  

“I’d love to make some crazy drumming record with (Tool drummer) Danny Carey”, he admits. “That would be really cool. I’m a big prog guy.”

Given the trajectory of Cavanagh’s career you’d be a fool to bet against it.

CAVS’ Sojourn is out now via (p)doom records. Tickets to his debut solo show are on sale now.

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CAVS – Sojourn Live

With Glyconic

Friday May 22nd – Thornbury Theatre, Melbourne, VIC

This piece of content has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body