Michael Smith, Journalist

"I’d watched my dad play music to me for a few years growing up but he never let me touch his guitar, but then, at age 12, my parents divorced and I don’t know why but he left his guitar behind when he left home."

“There’s some incredible computer animation out there – it blows me away when I see it – and I’m just very interested in working with that medium as well, with the music and songwriting and what the songs mean and how it locates and relates to the earth, and the earth as Mother."

“With the new album, it’s a bit more… I don’t want to say complex but we have different parts."

"I won’t say that there aren’t rock’n’roll songs or other electronic music that get me excited, but when I hear an acoustic instrument being played well, there’s just something about that – I connect with that much deeper.”

"The show is a variety show – we close the show with the James Brown JBs stuff, ‘cause that seems to be the most recognisable by the people, and we also do my own tune, House Party, which is very popular around the world."

"I’m in the middle of writing a new record and it’s goin’ great and there are quite a few new songs that I’m sure some will debut on a number of the festivals or our shows there in Australia."

“There was a lot of pretty stuff put on top of it – guitars and keyboards and back-up stuff – but the basis of it was supposed be kind of a roots reggae record which was ‘we’re changin’ the world’. That was the idea anyway."

“There’s definitely a massive variety of tunes and flavours in there but also it feels like it’s very much got this sound throughout it – it sounds like a band."

"I’m lovin’ the fact that it’s playing out like a screenplay in front of me. It’s a whole new learning process for me – I’ve got to get to the essence of it.”

“I’ve been coming here for three or four years now and spending a lot of time here – sort of six months here and six months in the UK generally in a year – and just built it up really, really slowly in Australia, and I love it here."

“I gave [the guest artists] a little bit of a choice. For Ash, I gave him a listen to Hurricane, which I thought was a much better choice for him."

“That was very important and a big thing that Sarah and I kept on talking about, what home means to us and how where you are at the time imbues what you’re creating and what you’re trying to do."