After six years away from Australian stages, #1 Dads is heading home. The solo project of Tom Iansek will embark on a 17-date national tour this October and November, celebrating the release of his fourth album, Every Little Fire, due out on 16 October via Pieater.
The tour marks more than just a long-awaited live return. It also introduces a new chapter for Iansek, who has spent the past few years relocating from Melbourne to the UK, building a family and navigating the upheaval that comes with starting over. Those experiences sit at the heart of Every Little Fire, a record that embraces imperfection, leaving in breaths, shifting tempos and unpolished performances to create an album that feels intimate without sacrificing its emotional weight.
Rather than touring with a full band, Iansek will perform solo, stripping #1 Dads back to its essentials. The format promises to place the focus squarely on the songs, drawing from Every Little Fire alongside favourites from a catalogue that stretches back to 2011’s Man of Leisure, through the ARIA Award-nominated About Face and 2020’s Golden Repair.
“I’ve thoroughly missed Australia and I have really missed being on the road,” Iansek says. “I’ve missed the pre-show nerves, chatting to people after shows, the Hume, coffee and car tunes, finding the best place to eat. This tour is special as I’ll be performing by myself, which is fairly new to me and certainly new to #1 Dads.”
For more than two decades, Iansek has quietly established himself as one of Australia’s most respected independent musicians. Best known as one half of the multi-award-winning Big Scary and No Mono, he has also become an in-demand producer, lending his understated approach to records by Maple Glider, Kate Miller-Heidke, The Paper Kites, Ruby Gill, Lisa Mitchell and many more. As #1 Dads, however, Iansek’s songwriting comes into even sharper focus. Animated by intimate arrangements, lyrical honesty and his unmistakable gift for melody, the project has become a touchstone for thoughtful Australian indie pop, earning a devoted following through its sincerity rather than spectacle.
Debuting with Man of Leisure in 2011, Iansek expanded the project with the ARIA Award-nominated About Face in 2014 before returning with Golden Repair in 2020. Every Little Fire continues that progression, emerging as his most personal work to date. Produced and mixed entirely by Iansek, largely in small rooms and a DIY bedroom studio, the album favours authenticity over perfection, preserving breaths, subtle imperfections and spontaneous performances that reflect the circumstances in which it was created.
Running through regional centres as well as capital cities, the tour reflects Iansek’s desire to reconnect with audiences beyond the usual circuit. For an artist whose songwriting has always thrived on intimacy, the smaller venues and solo format feel like the natural setting for songs that reward careful listening.
Tickets for #1 Dads’ Australian tour go on sale Thursday 6 August at 9am AEST, with Every Little Fire arriving on 16 October. Go HERE for tickets.
