Phil Jamieson is best known for being the frontman of rock group Grinspoon. Here, the 49-year-old discusses the important women in his life, his battle with drug addiction and how he’s found love the second time around.

My maternal grandmother, Nell Clucas, lived on a farm west of Wauchope, NSW. She owned every Agatha Christie book. I was a voracious reader, which she encouraged in the hope I’d be a writer. I’d watch Sale of the Century with her and we’d eat mince on toast. She was a beautiful soul who lived into her 80s.

My paternal grandmother, Carol, was a seamstress who smoked menthol cigarettes and sometimes I’d lift one, unbeknown to her. She had a nylon-string acoustic guitar and I learnt to play John Williamson songs on it.

I’m the eldest of four children and very close to my mum, Ros. She taught the piano. Mum is in her 70s now and hosts fair trade parties, sourcing items from Nepal to sell, with the profits going to Third World countries. She’s filled with love and kindness.

Mum met my dad, Will, at the Carlingford Baptist Church Youth Group [in Sydney]. He was a singer in a Christian prog-rock band called Good Grief and Mum was in an a cappella group. I was raised in organised religion until I was 15 and played guitar with my mother in church every Sunday.

I have three younger sisters: Fiona is 46, Angela is 40 and Neroli is 38. Fiona is a high school drama teacher, Neroli is a primary school teacher, and Angela is a dance teacher. By the time Angela and Neroli were born, I was moving into the tricky teens. I left home at 17 and it’s only in the past 10 years that we’ve all become closer.

Fiona and I were in bands together in the ’90s, though; we sang covers of the Baby Animals and the Violent Femmes. She also appears on Grinspoon’s 2002 album, New Detention.

I was a diminutive kid with no confidence and my first kiss was with a girl who was way out of my league. It was this incredible moment where I thought, “Is this real?” She became my first girlfriend. We dated for four years and listened to the Cure a lot.

My celebrity crush was Drew Barrymore. I found her beguiling: she was a child star who’d had struggles, and that was an interesting story to me.

I moved to Lismore [in northern NSW] for university with my school friend, Mim Carroll. She was my gatekeeper to discovering cool music, such as Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth, and lives in LA now.

I dated Megan Fletcher from 1995 to 2003 and she was very supportive of me trying to be a musician. She got me into the riot grrrl music of Bikini Kill and we started a band – I played drums and she was on bass. Megan is the reason I started wearing make-up in Grinspoon video clips. She went on to work as a stylist in New York.

One of my closest female friends is author and TV presenter Yumi Stynes; I went hiking with her for her 50th last year. We first met in the ’90s and have always been in each other’s corner.

I met Jules [Julie Fitzgerald] in the early 2000s and we married in 2007. We’re now separated but have two beautiful children and I consider her to be one of my greatest friends. Our daughter, Lyla, who’s 21, took the photograph which appears on my new album cover. Our son, Tom, is 19.

I ended up becoming the poster boy for [methamphetamine] addiction [in 2007]. That’s helped other people but, ultimately, it’s a private journey. I got myself off it almost 20 years ago.

A friend, Jade Skelly, got me to read David Lynch’s meditation book, Catching the Big Fish. I used to think you had to get f---ed up to write songs, but in his book Lynch says you catch the biggest fish when clear-minded.

I’ve been in a relationship with Anna, who works in fashion, for the past 12 months. I feel lucky and happy again.

10Charlie by Phil Jamieson is out August 14.

Get the best of Sunday Life magazine delivered to your inbox every Sunday morning. Sign up for our newsletter.

Jane Rocca is a regular contributor to Sunday Life Magazine, Executive Style, The Age EG, columnist and features writer at Domain Review, Domain Living’s Personal Space page. She is a published author of four books.Connect via X or email.