The Newcastle indie-folk artist prefers to operate when the iron's hot, when his motivation is peaking. And so it was in February when he began work on his debut solo album, Born Tired, in a spare room of his Waratah house.

It followed a period of inactivity where Ballico didn't play guitar for a year.

"With music it just comes for me in waves," Ballico said. "It'll hit me and I'll have a rush of enthusiasm where I wanna make music, put it out there and play shows and then I'll go 18 months without wanting to touch the guitar.

"I had that period before February where I had 12 months where I didn't pick up the guitar, and when I did, I didn't enjoy it.

"When it hit me again and I had the enthusiasm and enjoyment of it, I just wanted to hit it out and not spoil it."

The 26-year-old has been performing around Newcastle for nine years, but is best known for his folk-comedy band Yeah Nah with Sam Cupitt and Ryan Cox, who released the song The Ballad Of Joey Johns in 2017.

While Yeah Nah was an enjoyable experience, Ballico said it caused him to place his solo songwriting on the back burner. So for Born Tired the mission was clear; can I finish this album completely alone?

"It was kind of a challenge I set for myself," he said.

"What I did before was really collaborative in that I brought the songs to other people who fancied them up with other instruments.

"I started off not knowing if I'd be able to do it myself and I was out to prove myself wrong."

Born Tired's lyrical themes are based around the pressures of being in your mid-20s when full-time work dominates your life, but there's also more emotional moments like Giovanni, which tells the story of Ballico's grandfather who emigrated to Australia from Italy.

Born Tired is released next Wednesday.

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