Hamish Rosser, drummer with Sydney rockers The Vines, talks to Jay Hanna ahead of the band's appearance at Blackjack 2007.

JH: Have things changed a lot for the band since singer Craig Nicholls was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome?

HR: Absolutely. There was a bit of a dark cloud hanging over the band around the end of 2004 and it wasn’t just made up by the press. It was quite real. Most people thought the band was finished and even I had my doubts at the time, but Craig has really turned himself around and has been able to go out and do tours again and is writing great material still.

JH: Is his behaviour less erratic?

HR: He isn’t like a completely different person or anything, he is still Craig. Getting diagnosed with his condition, Asperger’s, is more of a realisation, it hasn’t changed him. It is something he was born with and will always have, but it is also closely tied into his songwriting brilliance. You can’t really separate the two. Largely the problem was because he was smoking tonnes of pot and he has cut that out altogether.

JH: A lot of artists seek out that instability for the sake of their art. Did Craig ever fear his songwriting might suffer for his sanity?

HR: That was always a concern. He asked himself: “Can I still write?” The answer is yes and I am glad that is the case. But I know what you mean. A lot of the best songs come from extreme emotions – love or loathing or despair or whatever. It is often hard for a fat, wealthy songwriter to create those inspired pieces of emotion.

JH: It came as a shock when you were recently dumped by your label Capitol. Were you surprised?

HR: Yeah, but we are actually quite excited about it now. I think it is one of the best things that has happened to us. I guess from a business point of view we have this massive unrecouped debt with Capitol, but when we make our next album none of that debt is attached to it. So we are in a good position really.

JH: So you will start making some money?

HR: Well, hopefully. Capitol has spent a lot on us in terms of making expensive albums and fancy video clips and we never really sold enough albums to pay it back, but then again not many bands do. CD sales are declining and the record companies are all hurting for it. They didn’t think to jump on the digital music wave at the crest of it so they have been left behind.

JH: Has the band been working on new material?

HR: We started demoing some new songs late last year. We did about nine songs in December. After Big Day Out we put down about 11 songs. Craig is pretty prolific at the moment and the quality is high. We are hoping to have a new album out by August or September.

JH: Any surprises on the next album?

HR: There are some great fast rock songs, which I guess you would expect from us, but there are a few different styles that you wouldn’t have heard from us before. So we are exploring a bit of new territory and keeping it fresh.

JH: Are you looking forward to heading west?

HR: Oh wow. I am excited about this. I love coming to WA. I took a week off after the Perth Big Day Out and went to Margaret River to check out the surf and the wineries. I had only ever been to Perth before. I never really got a sense of this WA that everyone raves about, so I had to have a bit of a look around. I definitely get it now. I see why everyone likes it.

The Vines play Blackjack 2007 on Thursday, April 5.