The Blackbird tour will see you travelling around the country for almost two months; how do you keep yourself entertained on the road?
Well there’s lot of Words With Friends! We used to party a little bit, which is to be expected, but we don’t really do that anymore. We just hang out and try to eat good food and try to get some sleep. It’s a lot harder getting to sleep because your adrenalin is going, so partying is a really good way to unwind after a gig, but it’s a lot easier to wake up in the morning when you’re just taking it easy!

What’s the first thing you like to do when you get home from tour? Do you have any rituals?
Yeah, I like to sit on the couch, put on my Qantas pyjamas and watch QI ...

You’ll be playing in Brisbane this Saturday July 5, is there anything you’re looking forward to doing while you’re here?
I really like Brisbane. I’ve got a lot of friends there so it’s always good to catch up. I lived in Cairns for a few years and went to high school there, so a lot of my friends ending up moving to Brisbane. It’s always good to catch up with old mates.

It had been a few years between albums – how were you feeling before the release of your new record, Blackbird?
Very nervous! I didn’t even know if I’d be able to make Blackbird, it took a long time and I wasn’t feeling particularly inspired or motivated, and I wasn’t in the best space creatively, so to be writing again was amazing. And then to have a record and be able to make a record that is Blackbird – which I’m really proud of – it’s a good feeling. But it’s always nerve-racking to think about how it’s going to be received … or if it’s going to be received. I’ve been really lucky to have a good response so far and it’s going well, there’s been a lot of support from community radio and a bit of commercial radio here and there, so I’ve been very fortunate.

When you were stuck in that low, what was it that made you want to start writing and recording again?
I just made a few changes … I started to take on a lot more responsibility and a lot more control over my career. I found that once I did that, then everything flowed from there. If you take one step in the right direction, then everything goes from there.

You spent two months recording the album in Nashville, Tennessee. Can you share any highlights from that experience?
It was great! I recorded at Blackbird Studio, which has had people like Neil Young and Buddy Guy in there, so it was a pretty amazing feeling. We took a drive down to Memphis and went to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. Standing in the tracking room where the studio was, where all those great songs and great artists started – to be a music fan it’s amazing, but to be a musician it’s on another level, and then even more so when you’re making a record of your own.

Of all the songs you’ve ever written, do you have a personal favourite?
I really like playing ‘Old Fitzroy’, a song I wrote with Scott Wilson, it’s good fun. We also have a single out at the moment called ‘Kimberly Calling’, which is a lot of fun as well.

You’re the first ambassador for Amrap and you were also recently announced as the first ambassador for the GO Foundation. What will your role involve?
I really admire Adam Goodes and Michael O’Loughlin – I think Goodesy has done a lot of good work and is a great role model – so when I heard they’d started the GO Foundation and wanted me to be involved, I jumped at it. We’ve got a long way to go but there are a lot of programs trying to help out in remote communities, but there’s not that much happening in the inner cities, so I thought this was a good angle to be coming at it from. I grew up in inner-city Melbourne, so it’s something that really spoke to me.

What were you like as a child?
Just a normal kid, a little bit cheeky here and there. I had my mates and had a lot of fun. I’ve always loved my music, it’s always been a constant. Things weren’t always easy when I was growing up but one thing that I always knew was going to be there was music.

We’ve heard one of your earliest performances was in a dancing circle in the desert …
Yeah, there was a bit of that! It was just something I always gravitated towards and enjoyed. A lot of kids do but I guess I never really grew out of it.

Which achievement in your life or career are you most proud of?
Well we didn’t know where my grandmother – my mother’s mother – ended up after the removal of children, which happened to my aunties and uncles and mother. She was actually buried up at One Arm Point in the Kimberley. I’ve been lucky enough to go there a few times and I knew I would find her one day. I was there at Cygnet Bay, which is right near One Arm Point, and a friend of mine knew some older people who knew her and they showed me her grave. That was pretty special; I was very proud of that.

What do you consider your life motto?
I guess there are the old clichés but they’re clichéd because they’re true. You’ve just got to work hard. I don’t always work as hard as I can and I don’t always do the right thing, but I think if you do it as much as possible then you’re off to a pretty good start.

What’s your personal definition of ‘success’?
Just being happy. Being secure and happy. Like I said, I’m not always happy and not always secure. I think that striving for recognition is the classic sort of ‘compensation’ in a lot of ways, but I think that’s a natural part of being a person. We always feel like we’ve got to prove something and be something. But I think just being happy is the ideal.

The Weekend Edition is giving away four double passes to see Dan Sultan perform live this Saturday July 5 – enter here.