As the year draws ever nearer to a close, indie-rock extraordinaire Liam Finn prepares to emerge from time spent in isolation. Having toiled in secrecy upon the coast of New Zealand’s northern island, Finn now bears a brand new bunch of songs slated for a sophomore release. The chance to finally perform again, however - at Pyramid Rock, no less - also stirs much excitement within the celebrated performer. “I’m really excited actually. I really miss playing live to be honest,” Finn affirms, candidly. “ Me and my friend EJ spent the last three years touring constantly and then I got quite... not sick of it, but just exhausted and was really craving coming home to write and hibernate in New Zealand.”

Finn would retire to a familiar setting, returning to the beaches of Piha to relax, recharge and ultimately reignite his creative flare. “It’s my spiritual homeground, it’s where I feel most safe and comfortable and inspired. It’s a really wild, rocky kind of beach with black sand and a high iron content. It almost looks kind of blue some days,” he describes. “Visually, it’s very emotive... kind of dark, in a way, but very psychedelic as a place. I find you don’t linger on the little nitty-gritty bits of life that can get you down when you’re in a place like that. You can enjoy the finer things.”

Piha has been a site of great significance to not only Finn, but his immediate family, acting recently as the HQ of his father Neil’s 7 Worlds Collide project - or, rather, its follow-up. It would this time expand in its ambition, again accommodating an unequivocally jaw-dropping list of personnel including Johnny Marr, Wilco, Ed O’Brien and Phil Selway. “The first 7 Worlds Collide was a really amazing thing and in that point in my life, being about 17 years old, I didn’t really know much about Johnny Marr or anything, I wasn’t the biggest Smiths fan because I was into the 90s, Nirvana and grunge music,” Finn recalls, “but since then and on this record I’ve delved into The Smiths and into what Johnny’s done heavily. To watch Johnny work was really amazing,”

“Obviously Wilco are one of the best if not the best band in the world. They were one of my favourite bands. I think it was probably me that got Dad into them and got him to go and see their show when they played in New Zealand. Then they all hit it off. Dad rang me up one day. ‘So, Wilco are in 7 Worlds,’ - 'What?! In three months I’m going to be meeting my favourite band, then all of a sudden jamming with them?!’ So yeah, it was a very dreamlike experience and it pays to remember these things when you’re down at the beach feeling sorry for yourself!” he laughs.

The discussion turns to inevitably turns to the idea of a more familial collaboration. “It’s been talked about. I’d love to do it. Me and Dad have been doing little things together forever, so I’m sure me and him are going to do something in the next year or two. We’re going to keep on trying to make plans when everyone gets busy. But that would be awesome to actually involve everybody. I’d love to do something with him and Tim, because I’ve grown up watching them sing together and it’s always been an inspiring thing.”

The sights and sounds of Piha would inevitably inspire thirty new songs of Finn’s, his focus firmly set upon a follow-up to his acclaimed debut, I’ll Be Lightning. “That was after quite a tense couple of years,” he reveals of his first foray as a solo artist. “ I really felt like life had changed. I learnt a lot, I had gained a bit of wisdom and perspective and I think that really helped the songs and helped the lyric writing. This time I want it to be as personal, I want to believe as much as I did the last one. But I’d like to add a different element of fiction, a bit more of a story behind things. Otherwise you really do feel like you’re singing about the same thing or directing your songs like ‘You and me and you’...’I’m a pie in the sky’...so I’ve put in a lot more time and I’ve agonised over trying to keep it interesting for me and feel like I’m taking at least myself and my mind to a different world. But they are still very honest and direct still.”

“They say that you’ve got your whole life to make your first solo record,” Finn muses. “It’s kind of true: it’s such a collection of your experiences that when you start trying to make (records) every year or two, you’ve got to try and figure out what the experiences are that you’ve been having in that year and how you’re going to sing about something different. To be honest it’s easy to end up singing about chicks all the time!”

It’s clear that Finn remains steadfast in his desire for artistic evolution. “I really wanted to mix it up and do it differently. When I started doing demos and recording on my own again, it felt like I was either trying to rehash what I did last time or it wasn’t inspiring me, because it was what I would usually do,” he explains. “I think it’s very different sounding to I’ll Be Lightning and I think the songs are coming from quite a different place in as far as what I’m trying to achieve as a songwriter. Hopefully that’s a good thing!”

Truth be told, however, it’s hard to imagine Liam Finn separate from invention and ingenuity. Those familiar with Finn’s live performances to date will note an intriguing one-man-band approach, roaring guitar chords and blistering drum solos fueling segments of brilliantly chaotic theater, each tangent defining his indie-rock aesthetic. “It kind of just evolved pretty naturally out starting to do solo shows for the first time after being in a band for so long. I’ve always played a lot of different instruments and naturally wanted to hear something of a more intricate nature than just an acoustic guitar. I had a loop pedal for a long time that I always made bedroom recordings on and I slowly introduced that to my live setup. It started very simply, doing little solos, then I realised what possibilities opened up,” he recalls.

“Eventually I just had this huge gnarly loop going in this bar called Water Rats in London and there was a drum-kit set up behind me... in a manic state I ended up somehow on the kit smashing as hard as I could and I noticed the entire room take a step forward. I just realised that I was onto something, that it was something I could do that not many people could do,” Finn explains. “It kept it really interesting for me as well, because every show is completely different and you really are on the edge of your seat. Things could go wrong at any moment, I think.”

A similarly great leap of faith seemingly awaits Finn, with 2011 just around the corner. “It’s really exciting. It’s kind of scary. We’re just now putting plans together to make a band to tour next year and do it a bit differently.”

Typically, Finn can’t wait to hit the road and tour his newer material, with Pyramid Rock his first stop. Fortunately enough, Finn knows the festival ropes. “I see it as you’re there to entertain people. They’re there to have a good time. Hopefully you’ve got some fans that want to hear your songs, but I feel like, at least for me, in Australia, I’m still relatively new to a lot of people and I’m kind of just there to act like an idiot and entertain them, really.”

And yet, as many suggest, one not to be missed.