TIM Rogers' many idiosyncrasies have made him one of Australia's more intriguing musicians of the past 30 years.
He's self-deprecating, almost to the point of caricature, but he's regularly described as one of our country's greatest songwriters.
On any given night he can be shambolic, and then the next he's the windmill-whirling rock'n'roll showman possessing the lyrical prowess that rivals Paul Kelly.
Rogers loves being part of a gang; whether it's on stage with his first band You Am I, punk mainstays The Hard-Ons, alt-country side project The Twin Set, doing The White Album shows or chasing leather with his country cricket team, the Taipans, or kicking a Sherrin with his footy buddies.
On the other hand, he admits "I can give people a good hour of my time and then I need to be alone."
At 54 Rogers is busier than ever. Just this year alone he's released new albums with The Twin Set (Tines Of Stars Unfurled) and The Hard-Ons (Ripper '23) and toured both records, as well performed The White Album Concert with Phil Jamieson, Josh Pyke and Chris Cheney and You Am I took The Who's Tommy on the road.
Two weeks ago Rogers slipped back into You Am I mode with Andy Kent (bass), Russell Hopkinson (drums) and Davey Lane (lead guitar) for a run of dates around Australia.
"Our odd little version of success means we can't be on the road all the time, we don't have that level where we can be working all the time and that works for us," Rogers says.
"When we see each other we get excited and we love getting social together, making a meal together or getting on the tins together.
"I love being in a rock band so much."
The first three shows have seen You Am I reach deep into their 11-album catalogue to perform less well-known songs like Judge Roy, Beau Geste, Pinpricks, The Piano Up The Tree and Bring Some Sun Back.
Rogers said the band wanted to test themselves.
"We've been a bit on automatic pilot for a while," he says. "With You Am I, we're never sure if people are going to show up because some nights will be great and others will be really quiet. There's not a guarantee.
"You can fall into the trap of thinking, 'oh well we'll play the songs people seem to request most'.
"But that's being pretty condescending to an audience because the people who shout out for Berlin Chair or Heavy Heart are usually just people with loud voices.
"I think maybe there's some folks up the back of the room who like some other stuff that the band do, so let's throw some different songs in there."
Barring the obligatory closer, Berlin Chair, the sets surprisingly haven't included songs from You Am I's 1993 debut album Sound As Ever.
Last month Sound As Ever turned 30 and a limited edition vinyl version of the record sold out almost instantly.
However, it's not a album held in high regard by the man you wrote the majority of it. Rogers describes it as an "inconsistent record" as You Am I were still searching for their power-pop sound they would perfect on their golden run of Hi-Fi Way (1994), Hourly Daily (1996) and #4 Record (1998).
"It was an interesting time," he says. "There was a lot of disharmony and grief, but always some really great fun.
"Perhaps the record we put out was too sombre for what was going on around the band. Often when there's a lot of hot air around, I tend to retreat and want to be by myself and away from that noise.
"I don't listen to it, but looking at the songs on it, I can see a lot of longing and trying to understand what was going on with ourselves and the band and the little surge of popularity and dealing with that."
You Am I's last record The Lives Of Others, released in 2021, was arguably their strongest since 2006's Convicts.
Rogers expects the next album to arrive in 2024 and revealed that for the first time Davey Lane is taking a lead role in the album's composition. Lane wrote and sang two tracks on The Lives Of Others - We All Went Deaf Overnight and I'm My Whole World Tonight.
"Davey has written a whole lot of music and I think I want it to be that way this time," Rogers says.
"Davey writes most of the chords and riffs and I'll do the lyrics and melodies and as as band we'll flesh all that out.
"Davey's ideas are ones that always surprise me. Just musically or harmonically he's got a wider palette than I do and I'm enjoying that."
You Am I play the King Street Bandroom on Friday.
