Joshua Jon Pyke (born 18 December 1977) is an Australian singer-songwriter, producer, musician and children's book author.
Biography
Josh Pyke is a prolific songwriter, with a successful and critically acclaimed career both domestically and overseas. Josh's 6 studio albums to date have all debuted in the ARIA Top 10. Amongst numerous other honours, he has received 4 ARIA Awards, 10 ARIA nominations, and gold/ platinum accreditations. Josh is a member of the AGSC, and a respected composer for Film/TV– having received an APRA Award for film composition, Josh has also worked on a slew of recent TV / advertising projects, including popular ABC series The Justine Clarke Show, Miki Vs The World (Season 1&2) and the upcoming dark drama Troppo.
Through his work with the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, Josh has also run numerous song-writing workshops with Indigenous communities, and raised over $50,000 for the organisation through his Busking For Change events.
Josh is a committed member of the music community, and an influential advocate for creators. Josh has been an active APRA Ambassador for 15 years, and has also served as PPCA Board Director (Artist Representative) since 2016. He has represented musicians in national forums such as Parliament House roundtables, Q+A, and The Project, on key issues including copyright reform, Arts funding, and more recently, the impact of COVID-19 on the creative industries. Josh also champions emerging musicians via the JP Partnership, a mentorship program he established with APRA/AMCOS in 2014.
Josh Pyke is also an acclaimed children's book author, with 4 titles out, (Lights Out Leonard, A Banana is A Banana, The Incredible Runaway Snot, Chatterpuss,) and 3 more titles to be released in 21/22, (Chatterpuss In Deep Water, A Family Tree, The Bewilderbeast).
Pyke released his 7th studio album To Find Happiness on 18 March 2022.
2003–2004: Early EPs and Night Hour
Josh Pyke was in his first band by age 12 and played his first performance in front of 650 parents and students at his primary school graduation. Playing guitar and initial song writing efforts came aged 14. Despite his aptitude for song writing and performance, he stayed 'under the radar' throughout his high school years at Fort Street High School.
While part of Sydney band An Empty Flight he successfully applied for a grant from the Music Board of the Australia Council under the Buzz Project to remix a number of his own demo recordings to be released as an EP Current Works Volume 1, under the name of Night Hour. The lead track, "Kids Don't Sell Their Hopes So Fast", received wide-ranging radio airplay on national youth broadcaster triple j and on various community radio stations including 3RRR in Melbourne and Fbi in Sydney. In 2004 Pyke won the Jaxter Music Award for his single "Kids Don't Sell Their Hopes So Fast". The proceeds went towards a home studio. A second EP titled The Doldrums was released in November 2004.
2005–2006: Early EPs as Josh Pyke
In 2005, Pyke signed to Australian indie label Ivy League Records and in September 2005 released the EP Feeding the Wolves, the first under his name Josh Pyke. It features the singles "Middle of the Hill" and "Private Education" and peaked at number 64 on the ARIA Charts. In January 2006, "Middle of the Hill" was voted at number 19 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2005.
In 2006, Pyke spent a month in New York, writing and performing before touring the UK for the first time in support of Feeding the Wolves. In October 2006, the song "Memories & Dust" was released which peaked at number 39 on the ARIA Charts.
2007–2009: Memories & Dust & Chimney's Afire
Josh Pyke released his debut studio album, Memories & Dust on 10 March 2007. It debuted at number 4 on ARIA Charts. Lead singles "Memories & Dust" and "Lines on Palms" peaked within the ARIA top 50. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2007, the album was nominated for five awards, winning three.
Pyke recorded a cover version of "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush for the No Man's Woman album which was released in 2007.
In 2008, Pyke and Michael Yezerski won the APRA award for Best Original Song Composed for the Screen for "When We Get There", from the film The Black Balloon.
In October 2008, Pyke's second studio album Chimney's Afire was released. It debuted at number 3 on the ARIA charts, and number 1 on the ARIA Australian Album Chart.
In August 2009, he played a series of concerts where The Beatles' White Album was played from start to finish with Tim Rogers, Chris Cheney and Phil Jamieson. The tour was extended due to popular demand.