Recharged Van finds the right balance

VAN Walker is known for his prolific songwriting and live presence in his adopted home town of Melbourne.

The Tasmanian-raised singersongwriter released five solo albums between 2008 and 2010; put out numerous records with bands such as The Livingstone Daisies and The Swedish Magazines; and worked on multiple other projects, including Dark Mofo’s 2013 Vandemonian Lags stage production, all while performing constantly live under his various guises.

But in 2015 — as Walker was poised to release a new Livingstone Daisies record, a Swedish Magazines EP, a Goatpiss Gasoline live album, and a collaborative project bringing together some of Melbourne’s best rock ’n’ rollers, known as HeartBrokers — it all ground to a halt.

Walker suddenly stopped, shelved everything and retreated from the road to his home in suburban Melbourne.

“I had a little break so I took a little break,” he says dryly, able to smile about it now.

Stress, exhaustion and ultimately depression felled the big musician, who seems, physically at least, as invulnerable e as a great Huon pine of f his native Tasmania.

“The battery was well and truly flat, so the recovery was a lot longer than I’d anticipated.”

Many in the Melbourne scene felt Walker the least likely to succumb to a lifestyle e he seemingly lived harder and more willingly than most.

“Maybe that’s why so o many disappear into the e cracks and don’t reach out, — we feel invulnerable,” he says.

Walker is now finally ready to release the HeartBrokers album, VOL.1O.

Featuring 10 tracks of blistering Aussie rock ’n’ roll, recorded one scorching summer’s day three years ago in a Melbourne backyard studio, the album captures the spontaneous combination of a diverse group of musicians, including Jeff Lang, Ezra Lee, Ash Davies, Jack Howard (Hunter & Collectors, Midnight Oil) and Walker’s brother, Cal.

“It was so hot, and the studio was so small, it was perfect for recording live rock ’n’ roll,” Walker says.

“We drank a lot of liquid and would just pour out of the studio dripping after each take.”

VOL.10 will be officially launched in Melbourne on March 30.

Now that his hiatus is over, will Walker be resuming his old evil ways back on the road? “That’s the danger,” he says. “When everything began to unravel around 2015, there were a few health issues that combined to knock me on my back.

“So it’s just a matter of better balance and, basically, just not neglecting the simple things — like sleep.

“All I could really do was cut down on touring and gigging, but I still needed to pay the bills, so I had to keep doing the odd show, which were difficult — if you think stage fright is bad, try doing it when you’re struggling to leave the house.

“Luckily music is such a tonic. Even so, when you’re in that state the old rules don’t apply. That’s what’s so heartbreaking and insidious about depression. It’s the silent assassin.”

Van’s first name is actually Donovan, in which hides the word “nova’’: an unknown star that suddenly increases in brightness until slowly returning to its initial state. According to the old adage, what goes up must come down. In this case, the reverse is also true.