This December will be the first time in 17 years the supergroup will play in Wollongong, in support of their sixth studio album Strange Little Birds.

The album was recorded in “a glorified bedroom studio” in the LA home of legendary producer and band’s drummer Butch Vig.

Vig, who also produced Nirvana’s Nevermind, said the process was incredibly low-key and probably their most “free” record and in a similar headspace to when they recorded their self-titled debut effort in the early 90s.

“Nowadays we typically we open a bottle of wine first and see where the music will take us,” he said.

“I think we’re in a point in our career we don’t feel too much pressure from outsiders.

“We’re signed to our own label now so we only have to answer to ourselves.”

The band is about to embark on a heavy touring schedule of America, Europe, Russia, South America and to our sandy shores.

“I’ve had some pretty wild nights [in Australia] I don’t really want to go into too much detail,” Vig laughed.

Vig admitted he loves Aussie music and is a big fan of Tame Impala.

Meanwhile frontwoman Shirley Manson was behind Sydney band The Temper Trap coming on board as their support act.

“Shirley usually has quite a bit to say who opens for us … I think she’s just sensitive to who we’re going to be sharing a stage with,” he said, noting Manson is the “mouthpiece” of the band.

Recently there were calls for the group to boycott gigs in Israel over the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but Manson silenced the critics.

“People are very, very quick to make judgments and they know nothing, necessarily, about all the facts,” she told the audience at the Amphi Shuni theater in Binyamina.

“But we in Garbage believe completely and entirely in tolerance and kindness and respect. We believe in non-violence, we believe in compromise and we believe in discourse and intelligent debate.”

One of the reasons the group has such a supportive fan base, according to Vig, is because Manson is blunt.

“We have a lot of similar sensibilities and a lot of that is our social political ethics and morally how we think people should be treated,” he said.

Having cemented themselves in the industry, the band seems relatively unscathed by digital downloads taking over and pushing CDs to the wayside with vinyl records.

“I don’t even think people will download in five years, I think they’re just going to stream music,” Vig said.

“One thing that we can’t predict is changes in the music industry. Every 10 to 15 years there’s a new cycle of technology that also affects the business of it and how people consume music and we all need to embrace that.”

He said once Mp3s became available it lowered the value of content and young people began feeling it their right of passage to have them for free.

“They don’t have a problem paying 99 cents for an app ... but when it comes to music they just believe it’s free, and that’s one of the things I think is regretfully a bummer about the digital revolution.”

The Illawarra is a breeding ground for creative talent and while not everyone can get an instant recording deal like Cyrus Villanueva, after he won The X Factor in 2015, Vig said there are still other ways to make a dollar.

“A lot of bands now try to license their music. Twenty years ago that was sort of taboo, like ‘you can’t sell out to the man’ but now it makes total sense because music in film, TV and commercials is hipper than it’s ever been … and a really valid way to bring in some income.”

Garbage play WIN Entertainment Centre, Thursday December 1. The Temper Trap and Tash Sultana supporting.

Tickets through www.ticketmaster.com.au