Image Credit: Laura May Grogan

Phil Jamieson takes flight with 10Charlie and PJ AIR tour

The old adage “Winners are grinners” has never applied to someone quite like it does for Phil Jamieson.

Sure, it nods to the adoring fanbase of his three-decade mainstay band, Grinspoon, but it also reflects where Jamieson finds himself now—grinning from ear to ear. With his upcoming solo album 10Charlie, Jamieson straps into the aisle seat of his life plane, his preferred vantage point, ready for a journey that’s as much about the ride as the destination.

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10Charlie has been described by Jamieson as a boarding pass—less a final stop than a passport to reflection. “It was born out of necessity for me to write these songs purely for myself,” he says. “I’m a selfish artist, and now I get to share them. Songwriting is so much cheaper than therapy. Everyone goes through shit, you know? Life did a few cartwheels” 

The album became a way to process turbulence, to explore the spaces between what’s intensely personal and what becomes universal when shared. For Jamieson, this is not about racing to the end of the flight but about what happens in transit—the emotions, observations, and revelations along the way.

The journey, unsurprisingly, became integral to the creation of the songs themselves. Ideas struck while moving, whether physically or mentally. “I wrote one of these melodies while I was at the traffic lights on Punt Road,” he recalls. “I loved the melody so much I had to get it down straight away. Once that happens, the song sort of propels itself.” Elsewhere, his new single Weekends was born out of a road trip along Victoria’s coast with his daughter. The journey from Apollo Bay became the song’s skeleton, the backdrop for reflection and observation as the kilometres rolled on. Jamieson leaned into the poetic charm of small towns, changing weather, and the strange, meditative rhythm of Australian road travel. 

“I’m leaning into like in Australia type of vision – the salty air, the winding roads, the cruising, the sun on your skin.” 

 

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Travel, both literal and metaphorical, has always threaded through Jamieson’s memories. “I remember travelling to the Big Day Out in 1994 when I was a child,” he says. “Driving from regional New South Wales, making a mixtape, all the excitement that goes along with the travel, then being first in the gate to see The Smashing Pumpkins. That stuff sticks with you.” Those experiences, where anticipation and motion collide, echo throughout 10Charlie, capturing the small, often overlooked moments that define a journey.

The road still calls him today. After taking the greatest hits across 46 different regional cities with Grinspoon, a run he describes as costly and far from romantic—“little motels, there’s no romance to the road”—Jamieson is back on tour for his solo project with PJ AIR, a mammoth 44-date journey through communities across Australia. Victorian stops will include Tanswell’s Hotel in Beechworth, Sooki Lounge in Belgrave, Young Street Tavern in Frankston, Theatre Royal in Castlemaine, Eureka Hotel in Geelong, The Deck in Traralgon, Live at the Bundy in Bundalaguah, Social Club in Balnarring, and Shotkickers in Melbourne. True to Jamieson’s ethos, the tour is as much about championing local venues and intimate settings as it is about the music itself. “Actually, it’s even more fun playing bowling clubs or tiny theatres in little towns. It makes me really happy. Sometimes the challenges are a good education.”

To navigate the rigours of long-haul solo touring, Jamieson has enlisted a co-pilot in Ricky Albeck. Describing him as a multi-instrumentalist Swiss-army knife, Jamieson is effusive about how Albeck’s musicianship and personality make the months on the road not just bearable but joyful. 

“You’ve got to really like someone to be stuck with them from June to September,” he laughs. “Ricky is a great guy and a fantastic musician. I think our playing styles really compliment each other so it will be easy to have that translate on stage each night.”

With the tour fully flying on 11 June, it’s time to make your way through the gates, find your seat, secure your belt and prepare for takeoff!  PJ AIR is ready to fly, and Phil Jamieson is your pilot on this journey. 

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