"The idea seemed antiquated to me, particularly when I started working on the record which was over two years ago.My background of song writing seemed a bit old fashioned in what was at the time the general mood and atmosphere. The new thing seemed to be production, and I felt that my own song writing was maybe an old fashioned concept. But I have come to terms with the fact that actually song writing is, for lack of a better word, cool."

It was five years between Bull's debut record and Sea of Approval. When his debut album We're Too Young was released in 2009, it sounded like nothing else on the musical landscape at the time. "I think from a commercial point of view, or a critical point of view, it didn't sound like anyone else, and it sounded too much not like anything else!" Bull says.

The release of the album was a wobbly start to Bull's career in music. It didn't sell well, and in Bull's words, "My introduction to the music industry was like a big failure".

"So I had to take something from it. I had to learn after that record to do what I could with what I had. Because people had given me some money to make the record and then after it did so dismally I thought that I would never have those resources available to me ever again. And I haven't since, which again is kind of a blessing. It's not a curse at all, because Sea of Approval was done mainly in little studios that I rented out or in my house and all by me, whereas that first record was the polar opposite."

It was also a happier process for Bull. "It was really hard work but it always felt like good work that we were doing. It was a struggle but it felt like a kind of authentic struggle!"

He spent some time getting his head around learning how to play a few instruments. "I've worked pretty hard over the years to get a basic technical knowledge. It still would pale in comparison to someone who is like classically trained or a jazz musician or something, but it's still pretty good in the pop world."

The essence of it all comes back to song writing. "Doing the album I was actually a number of things, songwriter, producer, and engineer as well as performer, and I think people get romantically caught up in the idea of being all the things and the role of being producer. It's quite intoxicating to go down that path but definitely I've learned about my own process that songs and song writing remain relevant and that actually it's a really noble and good thing to do to write songs and get better at writing songs. I just can't do it unless there is song writing at the core of it."

ANDY BULL
When: June 12, 8pm
Where: ANU Bar, Acton
Tickets: $29.92 + BF available from ticketek.com.au