Influence is a funny thing, particularly in the realm of popular songwriting. Journalists often portray influence as a straightforward part of a musician’s creative method. In this depiction, artists are seen to grab elements from the past and throw them in a blender, sprinkled with fragments of their own experience. Yet in actual fact, the origin and effect of influence is probably too ambiguous to speak about in absolute terms.

The repertoire of Sydney tunemaker Steve Smyth invites listeners to play ‘pick the influence’. Tom Waits, Jim Morrison, Howlin’ Wolf, Jeff Buckley, Glenn Richards; these are some of the names that regularly crop up in reference to Smyth’s work. However, the bearded blondie rarely deigns to spell out the exact source of his creative ideas. Sure, when it comes to formative role models, Smyth gives a nod to his literary heroes: “Hunter S. Thompson and Arthur Rimbaud and Albert Camus and Bukowski.” But in terms of what’s shaped him as a songwriter and performer, he credits a far less tangible force.

“When I left Australia, I started to play constantly and I think that was the biggest turning point for me,” says Smyth. “You could talk about being a carpenter or you could get taught in university, but it’s never until you start working 60 hours a week that you understand what really works for you and the reality of it. It’s not until you go out on tour that you learn the finest lessons, where you’ve got no money and you’re on the other side of the world and you’ve got to get to the next town to play a show. There’s no time to think about influences. Everything’s an influence.”

Facing the tough reality of life on the road hasn’t stifled Smyth’s thirst for touring. Last September he released Exits, his debut album for Ivy League Records.Upon the album’s release, he jumped on a mammoth 45-date Australian tour. After postponing a few shows due to a jaw injury sustained in a physical assault incident in Newtown, Smyth has now extended the tour to include more than 80 dates, which he’ll complete in early May.

“We really set out to get into Australia and not just see the capital cities,” he says. “It’s been beautiful meeting so many great people. A lot have let us into their homes and you feel that if you come back around that way, you’ve always got a friend. That’s almost as important as playing the shows, having those experiences. Not just a tour bus into a venue and a tour bus out. There’s parties you get invited back to … that’s all part of the great times.”

Before the Exits tour wraps up, Smyth will play some of his biggest shows to date, including at Oxford Art Factory on ANZAC Day and multiple slots at this weekend’s Bluesfest. These gigs are a sure contrast to the cramped bars and taverns, caravan parks and sidewalks he’s visited throughout the last seven months. But even when performing for a tiny audience, Smyth makes the most of the occasion.

“I don’t think I’ve been a hyped man at any point – and I don’t expect to be, and I don’t really want to be,” he says. “If there’s five people at the show, then that’s a good time. The shows where there’s 50 people crammed into a little room are the most precious. There’s a few moments in each show where you’re just so present and you all feel like you’re in a room together. It’s like a big conversation, like sitting down at a big family gathering with the extended cousins that you don’t really know too well, but you know there’s something that binds you.”

Performing night after night for more than half a decade, Smyth could easily have developed an onstage routine by now, allowing him to work on autopilot. However, such a suggestion ignores the fact that Smyth isn’t just an entertainer carrying out a commercial function. Rather, he aims to enact a spiritual exchange.

“I don’t do yoga or meditation, but there’s different experiences every time people do that. It’s the same in music. I’m pushing into a certain place and there are certain triggers that push me a bit further into that meditative state, where the world ceases to exist a lot more than any other time in your day. I never want it to be pre-programmed. That would be horrible. Whenever I feel like I’m getting too close to that, something drastic happens. It’d be a shame to feel like I’ve got tricks up my sleeve and it’s not something that’s coming from an honest place.”

At first listen, Exits is something of a bumpy ride. Tracks like ‘Get On’ – powered by a hard stomp, coated with demented electric guitar and topped off by Smyth’s murderous howl – stand in harsh contrast to the sweetly subdued ‘Written Or Spoken’, which features orchestral flourishes and gently plucked classical guitar. After building a relationship with the record, however, Exits becomes less a composite of competing characteristics than a depiction of Smyth’s multi-faceted artistry. For Smyth himself, living with the songs day in day out, a similar evolution has occurred.

“In the studio, it’s like being at a hospital and these tunes are just freshly born and they don’t really know how to walk or talk. By the end of touring, they’ve metamorphosed and gone through many changes. It’s like getting a nice pair of shoes. You fork out a fair bit of money just to get those nice shoes and they fucking blister and they bleed and you’re sore as shit. But then, by the end of a couple of months, they’re sacred and they get their own character.”

Prior to wrapping up his Australian tour, Smyth ducked over to the US for his first stint at South By Southwest. It’s almost become trendy for artists to bad-mouth SXSW, often due to the struggle one faces in making a major impact amid such a mass of performers. But it should come as no surprise that Smyth not only relished every show, he also had some off-kilter experiences.

“You can’t not embrace it with wide open eyes. And we sure did,” he says. “When we landed in, we had a big night. I walked out of a tattoo that I didn’t pay for and went back to a bar and I got this message on my phone saying that the tattoo artist was coming to my show. So I was like, ‘Holy fuck,’ and I went back in the next day to pay, thinking that I would beaten with a baseball bat. But they had big open arms like, ‘Oh dude, I knew you’d come back.’”

Limbs intact, Smyth will head back overseas for a lengthy European tour in May. It’s safe to say his journeyman predilection isn’t weakening. “It’s been beautiful to be back in Australia and I’ve fallen in love with it, but I’m not sure what’s to come after this,” he says. “Once I get back to Europe, I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”

Exits out now through Ivy League. CatchSteve Smyth at theCambridge Hotel, Newcastle Friday April 24,Oxford Art Factory onSaturday April 25, oralongside Zac Brown Band, Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, Alabama Shakes and many more at Bluesfest 2015, Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, Thursday April 2 – Monday April 6.

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