Liam Gerner & The Sunset Pushers

After spending 10 years abroad performing and recording, Liam Gerner has returned home and he couldn’t be happier with his life and music now.

Whilst abroad Liam begun to feel the pull of his heartstrings to return home, which pushed him towards playing more of the music he loved, reading books about the concept of home and finding a place of belonging. So when he finally made the decision to come home, he described it as a truly liberating and exciting emotion.

“It was funny actually I got back to Melbourne, which is a great music town, but people just wanted to know why I would give up everything overseas. Whereas I said, ‘hang on a sec, I’m more excited to be here because there is an awesome music scene in Australia’.”

Simply being a part of the Australian music scene, which Liam described as having “a great depth and history as well as great new bands”, was a reward in itself, but also having the opportunity to produce music without a commercial cloud hanging over his head made it an exciting endeavour.

“While I made incredible music connections overseas there was always this sense of not being on solid ground, because you’re constantly being sponsored by record labels and therefore you have that need to write a hit hanging over you,” explained Liam. “Whereas here I could just come together with old mates and new friends to jam for a bit of a laugh over a few beers in a really natural process.”

By implementing this method and mindset, Liam and the band were actually somewhat surprised when they all realised “oh shit, we’ve got five or six songs here” – and decided to head into the studio to record them.

For a band that is new in terms of name, but has been playing together for four years, the passion was shared and the process was a truly natural one, and one which they are all incredibly grateful for.

As they now head out on tour they’re all really excited, because they are simply “jumping in the car and having lots of fun”. Liam added: “I remember on the last run Steve [Hadley] wore the same clothes for six days, so I wonder if he can beat that during his three weeks, and then maybe we can auction off his shirt at the end.” (JA)

Dec 2, 8:30pm. LazyBones Lounge, 294 Marrickvile Rd, Marrickville. $15 on the door. Info: www.lazyboneslounge.com.au