But yet here we are - four albums and four ARIA awards later - and the 39-year-old has released a 40-track Best Of, B-sides and Rarities album which he will tour around the country in 2017.

Set to appear in Launceston next month, Pyke is hard at work reacquainting himself with his back-catalogue as he prepares to play Memories and Dust from start to finish. 

“I’ve never played a full album before in one go so I think that’s a real key about this tour and why it’s different,” Pyke said. 

“There’s songs like Covers Are Thrown and Someone Else’s Town, there’s probably five or six songs I’ve never played live and some of them I haven’t even played since I recorded the album, so I had to relearn all of them which was cool.”

And how do you relearn your own songs?

“I had to Google my own lyrics because I couldn’t remember some of them. 

“Including all the B-sides I’ve probably released over 100 songs now and I only have room in my brain for about 25 of them at a time.”

Pyke said he was more excited by the opportunity to release demos and unreleased songs than the chance to compile a ‘best of’.  

“It was like a chance to go back and give these orphan songs a home which they’ve always deserved. 

“They were all songs that I loved and was proud of and I’ve always loved the stories within the songs but I could never find a place for them on albums that I’d released, so it was great to go back to those ones especially and get them out in the world, it was kind of like mental spring cleaning.”

Pyke has become known for producing a number of memorable film clips, which have seen him perform among a barn full of hatching chickens and sail a life-sized guitar boat around Sydney Harbour.

“Film clips were a lot more important 10 years ago, unless you’re a massive massive star they’ve become less important in a way, but I always really enjoyed making film clips and trying to have an interesting narrative there and having something left of centre.

“Having said that, I always think it’s going to be a lot more fun than it actually is.

“Making up the idea is fun, but then when you have to be the one sitting amongst s***ting chickens for eight hours... it’s less fun.”

While Tasmania sometimes finds itself left off the map on national tours, Pyke has never missed a chance to visit, bringing each of his five records to Tasmania in the past decade. 

But this tour might be your last chance to catch him live for a while. 

“After this I think I’m going to take an extended break from touring my own stuff so I think it’s going to be the last time people can see me for a little while.

“There’s always stuff on the boil, I’ve got a few projects that are happening next year but none of them are me touring my own songs.”

Josh Pyke will perform at Country Club Tasmania at 7.30pm on August 25.