Lachlan X. Morris has released five studio albums, an EP and a "smattering of singles" since 2017.
While he's not quite batting Frank Zappa averages, the Carrington resident remains a voracious recording artist.
The ever-modest Morris is quick to play down his prolific output but in the same exchange reveals he's formed two new bands called Sunbiirds ("ambient instrumental music, Boards of Canada-kinda sound") and Grand Pricks ("deadshit country band, very Flying Burrito Brothers, very cosmic country").
His solo work, frequently performed live as a six-piece band, including a flautist, shapeshifts between power-pop (Supermoon and Mood Bullet) and spacey psych-rock (Mood Uzi and Stoops of Hell) and takes numerous detours, all delivered with the writer's enigmatic wryness.
"I'm by no means good at finishing things," Morris says.
"I've always got songs and ideas for songs on the go but I do struggle to put a pin in them. Writing's a place to go when I get bored or despondent - gives me hope for the future, something fun to work towards."
Working at Mayfield recording studio RTN alongside Geoff Mullard, with whom he has a "great relationship" and "great rapport", has allowed Morris to pursue the DIY dream. The songwriter can demo and record his own music after hours and jam with his various bands when rehearsal spaces are not in use.
It's the perfect scenario for an artist who wants to run his own race.
Over a decade ago, as a student of Lambton High School, Morris was a finalist in Triple J's Unearthed High competition as the frontman of three-piece garage rock band The Guppies.
It was the young musician's introduction to the machinations of the music industry - a baptism of fire.
"That was a great learning curve," says Morris.
"We got thrust into some pretty outrageous scenarios. We got to play the Enmore Theatre when we were 18 with Birds of Tokyo, we went on tour with them. And The Rubens. Got to learn heaps through that, as is to be expected at that age."
The Guppies burned brightly but it didn't last.
"A couple of the guys wanted to go to uni," Morris says.
"We quickly realised how fickle it all was. We gathered heaps of steam and then it dispersed when the next crop of bands came through.
"That's when I decided to try doing stuff under my own name and have reign on how it all sounds."
Morris cites Elliot Smith and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy as two transformative influences, and he's recently travelled deep into the catalogue of Scottish power-pop luminaries Teenage Fanclub who he says have influenced his impending EP.
But while you can hear the echoes of '60s British pop and '90s garage fuzz, and the explorations of a songwriter looking behind every door, Morris' music is inherently of the sunburnt country.
"I'm still a hopeless romantic at heart," says Morris of his lyrics.
"I still love all the really heartbreaky kind of subject matter. But I love wordplay as well. That's usually how songwriting starts for me - the more colloquial the better, lines that people use in their everyday life that they've never heard in a song before. I'm a sucker for that."
Despite being in the prime of his musical youth, Morris is one of the seasoned veterans on the line-up of Newcastle's West Best Bloc Fest on the October long weekend. He sees the showcase event as a chance to find younger listeners and discover some of the new crop of bands that have appeared on Newcastle's music scene.
Morris chuckles as he recalls a ribbing from East Coast Low bassist Chris Hunter, who observed that there's rarely punters Morris' age at his shows, only boomer rockers. West Best Bloc Fest might introduce the tireless songwriter to fresh ears.
"Sometimes in Newcastle it feels like you're always playing to the same people, because you've found your core group who keep returning to shows," he says.
"I've had people come up to me recently and say, 'Who are you? Really loved the show' and then you tell them 'I've been playing around town for 10 years' and they go, 'Oh ... OK.'
"It flattens you because you think, 'How have I been evading people?' You feel like you're doing everything to promote yourself and you can still feel like a bit of a ghost sometimes."
West Best Bloc Fest is on Sunday, October 2, across seven venues. For more info and tickets head to Trybooking.com.
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