MASTER percussionist Jim White has spent four decades building a reputation as one of the most inventive drummers of his generation, shaping the sound of Dirty Three, Xylouris White and countless collaborators from Bill Callahan to Cat Power. 

Now, at 63, he is stepping into new terrain: as lyricist and vocalist on his second solo album, Inner Day, due October 24 on Drag City.

White admits it’s a surprising turn, even to himself. 

“I thought, what the hell am I doing writing lyrics and putting them on a record?” he says. “But they just came out - the first song ‘In a Day’ was written like that, in one sitting.”

The album builds on his 2024 debut All Hits: Memories, but this time keyboards rather than drums often set the foundation. 

“The first record came from hearing the tones and overtones of the drums and matching them,” he explains. 

“The second one often started with keyboards - drums became almost an afterthought.”

Two tracks feature his singing, including the lead single Inner Day, accompanied by a video by Tran. 

“Inner Day is about veils and how the unconscious doesn’t follow the waking person’s clock,” White says. 

“It doesn’t follow the external so-called laws of temporality.”

Even when White steps away from the kit, rhythm remains his guiding principle. 

“I think of the drums as a melodic instrument as well as rhythm. Everything is rhythm and melody,” he says. 

“When I play, sometimes I’m making something up, and the next moment I’m a listener, hearing myself and everyone else. You’re in the flow of it.”

White’s tools are chosen with care: vintage Gretsch and Ludwig kits, some dating to the 1920s, with hand-tanned calfskins sourced from a Wisconsin specialist. 

“I like the old kits,” he says. “They have a character you just can’t get from new gear. There’s a hundred sounds in every hit if you want them.”

That philosophy carries into his performance. 

“I don’t want to nail a version down. If we do it the same every night, it won’t be the same,” he says.

“The key is making it fresh. People say I don’t hit the drums, I paint with them. “Maybe it’s about movement, texture, pulling out different sounds.”

After decades of touring and recording, White still finds vitality in playing. 

“Playing music feels very unproblematic, one of the healthiest parts of my life – moving your arms and legs around, making sound,” he says. 

“When I open up my drums, it’s like seeing an old friend.”

His approach owes much to early influences like Ipswich drummer Jeffrey Wegener of the Laughing Clowns. 

“When I saw Jeffrey play, I thought – that’s the excitement you get from jazz, but in a completely different way,” White recalls. 

“His approach to rudiments was a really big deal for me. It made me double down on learning that stuff.”

The mentorship was hands-on. 

“When I was 18, Jeffrey came down into our share house after a gig and gave me a book – Stick Control. I learned my rolls from that.” 

While White insists he doesn’t play like Wegener, the lesson stayed: “He showed me an exciting way to apply rudiments. That stayed with me.”

As ever, collaboration remains central. 

White worked again with co-producer Guy Picciotto on Inner Day, praising his ability to refine ideas: “He’s very articulate. He can hear what works and brings ideas back that might otherwise be lost. It’s a rewarding process.”

This year also brings the debut of the Jim White Trio, with Picciotto and Colleen Burke, who performed for the first time in Switzerland recently. 

Back in Australia, White has reunited with Kuepper to tour their recent album After the Flood, re-imagining songs from the Saints, Laughing Clowns and Kuepper’s solo catalogue.

For White, that collaboration carries personal resonance. 

“I learned to play the drums on chairs in the lounge room, along to The Saints’ Ivor Hay and Wegener,” he says. 

Seeing the Laughing Clowns at 18 was “life-changing”.

Now, decades later, he’s on stage with Kuepper: “I used to think I could never play songs those guys did, but now I feel like I’m celebrating them – Ivor and Jeffrey are part of me, they’re in my body. 

“When Ed and I play, sometimes it’s songs I first learned drums to. That’s in my body forever.”

From youthful practice sessions on chairs to international tours, White has remained restless, refusing to settle into one role.

With Inner Day, he emerges not just as a master drummer but as a songwriter unafraid to risk vulnerability.