Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Veteran Australian musician Kim Salmon remains as prolific and creatively restless as ever, juggling multiple releases and live projects while preparing for his ambitious new “Surreal Science” shows. Speaking with Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips, Salmon admits he's currently “stressed to the max” pulling everything together but recognises it as the kind of all-consuming creative moment he'll ultimately look back on with pride.
At the centre of his current activity is a string of interconnected releases. A new live album from The Scientists, The Definite Article, captures a particularly strong 2017 Brisbane performance. Salmon sees it as both a snapshot of the band at that time and a reflection of their original mid '80s spirit, complete with period-specific elements and arrangements that have since evolved.
Alongside that comes the reissue of Hit Me with the Surreal Feel, the debut album by The Surrealists, a raw and spontaneous recording born out of necessity. Salmon recalls capturing the material quickly in a rehearsal room on a borrowed four-track recorder, intentionally embracing a loose, “flying by the seat of its pants” approach. The result, he says, documents not just the songs but the process of musicians actively figuring them out-an element he considers just as valuable as polished performance.
Adding to the mix is a new single, “Freudian Slippers,” from his Smoked Salmon project, drawn from an upcoming album of reworked or overlooked material. The track itself emerged from playful word association during a writing session, though Salmon notes it subtly reflects a personal period in his life. More broadly, he acknowledges a recurring challenge for artists: audiences often gravitate toward older material, leaving newer work to “slip through the cracks”, which is one of the reasons he continues revisiting and reshaping his catalogue.
#australianmusician #kimsalmon
Veteran Australian musician Kim Salmon remains as prolific and creatively restless as ever, juggling multiple releases and live projects while preparing for his ambitious new “Surreal Science” shows. Speaking with Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips, Salmon admits he's currently “stressed to the max” pulling everything together but recognises it as the kind of all-consuming creative moment he'll ultimately look back on with pride.
At the centre of his current activity is a string of interconnected releases. A new live album from The Scientists, The Definite Article, captures a particularly strong 2017 Brisbane performance. Salmon sees it as both a snapshot of the band at that time and a reflection of their original mid '80s spirit, complete with period-specific elements and arrangements that have since evolved.
Alongside that comes the reissue of Hit Me with the Surreal Feel, the debut album by The Surrealists, a raw and spontaneous recording born out of necessity. Salmon recalls capturing the material quickly in a rehearsal room on a borrowed four-track recorder, intentionally embracing a loose, “flying by the seat of its pants” approach. The result, he says, documents not just the songs but the process of musicians actively figuring them out-an element he considers just as valuable as polished performance.
Adding to the mix is a new single, “Freudian Slippers,” from his Smoked Salmon project, drawn from an upcoming album of reworked or overlooked material. The track itself emerged from playful word association during a writing session, though Salmon notes it subtly reflects a personal period in his life. More broadly, he acknowledges a recurring challenge for artists: audiences often gravitate toward older material, leaving newer work to “slip through the cracks”, which is one of the reasons he continues revisiting and reshaping his catalogue.
#australianmusician #kimsalmon
