You Am I going strong with a gut feeling

You Am I say the dynamics between them haven't changed much in the band's 16-year lifespan.

Tim Rogers is nursing a hangover after having too many pints of Guinness with his mum last night.

You'd think the You Am I frontman would be used to drinking after more than 16 years in a band which, it has to be said, doesn't mind a bit of what Rogers calls "the old this and that".

But he is in Canberra today on "family business" and thankful for the "bracing cold morning" that's helping him fight off the Guinness effect.

You Am I, the Sydney-based band made up of Rogers, Andy Kent (bass), Russell Hopkinson (drums), and Dave Lane (guitar), bring their heart-warming, fun rock'n'roll to Shadows at Auckland University on June 1.

Rogers says for a band that's been around as long as they have, not much has changed between them.

"We were driving back from a festival the other day and the way we act after a couple of crates of beer is no different to 10 years ago.

"I turn into Barbra Streisand, Russell becomes the great sage, Andy is the most fun whenever he's out of it because he's a very together guy and we love seeing him fall apart, and David is the handsome gun-slinger to the right of me."

However, before they recorded their new album, Convicts, which is out here on Monday, the band took a break.

Rogers toured the world and released the excellent Spit Polish album as Tim Rogers and the Temperance Union; Kent became a dad; Hopkinson started his own record label; and Lane has his own band and toured with Jimmy Barnes.

"So the break wasn't planned," says Rogers. "Things just sort of happened, really. Never at any point did we go, 'Hey, we've got to take a break'. We're just not those type of people. If we're exhausted or sick of each other we'll just have an afternoon off and meet up for a drink later on," he says.

"So, you know, the great architect above us deemed it necessary that we don't [make music together].

"We still hung out and socialised quite a bit. But we were probably just exhausted of being in You Am I."

The break did them good and it is now four years since the release of their last album, Deliverance.

"There were no great revelations but I got better songs out of that time. If we recorded it two years ago, the album wouldn't have been that good. So, by the time we got together to record, we were just gunning for it. We felt a lot of enjoyment, a lot of spice.

"We felt good about it, so I'm not surprised that I can listen to it now and really enjoy it."

First single, It Ain't Funny How We Don't Talk Anymore is a cracker pop song, Thank God I've Hit the Bottom is a little mongrel of a track, and Secrets is possibly the most beautiful song Rogers has written.

And he has been writing consistently good songs since the band formed in 1989. In Australia they have had three straight-in-at-number one albums, including the 1996 classic, Hi-Fi Way, and won seven Aria Awards (the equivalent of our Tuis).

He jokes that the secret to writing good songs is: "LSD. And, um ... amphetamines".

"No, no," he laughs, "It's what I do and it's very important to me but the actual construction of songs I don't take seriously.

"It's a very pure thing and when I listen to records I get enthused and for some reason, rather than put it into relationships or everyday life, and that kind of joy, I want to write songs or get an instrument in my hands. I haven't investigated songwriting very much and I think that's what keeps it kind of fresh.

"In fact there's been times when I've been forced to examine my own songwriting and that's when we have come up with our worst songs."

He admits that the band have borrowed elements from their favourite bands and often worn their influences openly. On Convicts it was different. "I deeply love certain rock bands and certain writers, and it's difficult to divorce yourself from that, and think, 'Well, do I actually have anything inside my heart that is vaguely artistic or am I just a plagiarist?'

"But with every song on this record I wasn't trying to copy anyone for once. It's a very satisfying feeling, and I feel much better about this record than any other because it's from my gut, and those guys' guts as well."

* Who: You Am I

* Where & when: Shadows Tavern, Auckland University, June 1

* Tickets: From 95bFM at the university

* New album: Convicts, out Monday

* Essential albums: Hi-Fi Way (1996); Hourly, Daily (1997); 4 Record (1998)