Kim Churchill learns resilience and being himself on forthcoming album Dawn Sounds

Not to chase waves or punch out gruelling gym workouts. Churchill's 4.45am wake-up calls were for songwriting purposes.

While the process stands in contrast to the decades of stale late-night hard-rocking cliches about the music business, Churchill found solace in his search for creativity in the wee hours.

Whether he was staying at his sometimes home in Newcastle, on the road in his camper van or hunkering down during COVID lockdowns in a mud brick house near Jervis Bay, Churchill would brew a cup of tea, light some candles and spend three hours playing guitar as the sun rose.

US singer-songwriter Kurt Vile, who also enjoys writing at dawn, subscribes to the theory that it's beneficial due to less people being awake and tapping into the creative cosmos.

Churchill's theory is more cerebral.

"Mentally you're half asleep," Churchill says. "You've just been dreaming and your subconscious has been this picture theatre in your mind for hours and hours and you've been delving deep into your subconscious and when you awake you have a little bit more of a connection to that realm."

"That [logical] part of the brain is still asleep at that time and it doesn't get in the way with all it's pragmatism and logic and what is left is these deeper feelings I haven't put into boxes yet and there's these really honest lyrics."

Those honest lyrics can be readily heard on the singles Fighter, Please Come Home and Come Back Free, which will appear on Churchill's forthcoming seventh album, Dawn Sounds, due for release on January 13.

Resilience, personal growth and becoming comfortable in one's skin are central themes.

"I feel like I'm becoming a lot more like myself and some of the lessons I've learnt have been hard and I've gone through some shitty times, but the benefit of that is we come out more resilient and hopefully with a heap of new-found realisations," he says.

"Come Back Free is all about failure and how important I've discovered failure to be.

"Failure is a mark of a life well lived and by the time I die I want to make sure I've failed heaps and heaps."

COVID was naturally an influence. Since growing up in the NSW south coast town of Merimbula, the 32-year-old has spent most of this adult years constantly touring either Australia, North America and Europe.

His first gig following the onset of COVID was an appearance at Dashville for the socially-distanced Sky Ball in October 2020.

Like a caged eagle, Churchill didn't enjoy having his wings clipped.

"The worst thing for me was a full-on identity crisis," he says. "I'd spent most of my life standing on a stage playing my songs to people.

"That in many ways is the anchor of who I am and who I perceive myself to be.

"For those lockdowns when gigs stopped, I really noticed solid dips in my mental health."

However, Churchill is a glass half-full sort of person. He views the pandemic as a learning experience.

It's also how he reflects on his major label stint with Warner Music.

In the mid-2010s Churchill was primed to become the next breakout indie star following the success of his third album Silence/Win in 2014 and its lead single Window To The Sky.

Warner released Churchill's 2017 album Weight Falls, featuring the polished singles Second Hand Car and Breakneck Speed, and marketed it heavily.

Weight Falls subsequently debuted at No.6 on the ARIA charts.

"It was a really cool experience," he reflects. "I made a lot of friends, learnt to be comfortable in front of the camera. I learnt to promote myself really well, I learnt to promote my music and how to package it all in a way it would sell.

"A lot of things that I can now do myself in a cottage industry fashion."

But the biggest lesson Churchill took from the major label experience was that it wasn't him. These days he's self-managed and happier for it.

"Fame, and chasing fame and trying to focus in on album sales and getting songs to platinum status, all that was inhabiting artistically and mentally and just for my life," he says.

"I live in a camper van and I travel around playing gigs off a stage that slides out from under my bed. That's the life I wanna live.

"I need a little bit of fame, enough to sell tickets for shows and get a bit of gratification and enough to get paid to keep going.

"But essentially what I value the most now is a really decent feeling of human connection between myself and an audience."

Churchill has already began the album tour for Dawn Sounds, which is the biggest of his career. The 44 intimate shows will carry him through to late March.

"Working with a major label and getting a little bit confused and disorientated by the grandeur of it all, that helped me learn the things I truly value and get back to it," he says.

Kim Churchill plays: The Citadel, Murwillumbah (Nov 26)

Coffs Food and Wine Festival, Coffs Harbour (Nov 27)

Grand Junction Hotel, Maitland (Nov 30)

Harbord Hotel, Freshwater (Dec 1)

Smiths Alternative, Canberra (Dec 2)

El Horses, Nowra (Dec 3)

Brass Monkey, Cronulla (Dec 4)

Nowa Nowa Recreation Reserve (Dec 9)

Ocean Sounds Festival, Phillip Island (Dec 10)

The Space, Warrnambool (Dec 16)

Anniversary Fest, Heybridge (Jan 7)

Marakoopa Café, Mayberry (Jan 8)

Narrawong Mechanics Hall, Portland (Jan 14)

Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine (Jan 20)

Noodledorf Brewing & Distilling Co., Koroit (Jan 21)

Heritage Hotel, Wollongong (Jan 26)

Drifters Wharf, Gosford (Jan 27)

Blacksmith Providore, Yarrawonga (Jan 29)

Theatre 44, Broken Hill (Feb 12)

No. 5 Church Street, Bellingen (Feb 16).