Regardless, the Northern Illawarra resident continued on with The Oil’s Australian tour from a seated position on stage, but the healing process continued long after.

This downtime post-tour meant the multi-instrumentalist and songwriter was at a “loose end” with time to fill. A slower pace during recovery not only healed the tendon but led to the resurrection of one of Moginie’s side projects, The Family Dog, often seen performing at the now defunct Bombie Bar in Coalcliff.

The group – consisting of Moginie, Kent Steedman, Paul Loughhead and Tim Kevin – have been together on and off for around 12 years but were on hiatus prior to the leg incident.

“I reviewed 12 years of random Dog recordings, or shards of the lost historical documents as we preferred to call them (we record a lot for recreational purposes),” Moginie posted on his Facebook page.  “[We] found them anything but excruciatingly dull.”

A bit of polishing and the shards were transformed into a new album, Alas Folkloric. It’s just been released through Sony and a tour on the way – including Anita’s Theatre in Thirroul on November 30.

“The initial [analogue] recordings were done at my mum’s place, in a shed out the back,” Moginie told the Mercury. “We’d just get together like a little clubhouse, like a bunch of car thieves all hunched around the drum kit.”

There was no real aim for the group to make these recordings, more the sessions were fun jams which Moginie felt was heard from their sounds.

“You’re not too focused on it, you’re doing it for the fun of it and you can hear this sort of joy of it,” he said. “The record’s quite dry sounding and quite guitar [heavy] and rocky.  

“But that’s the sort of record we wanted it to be so we can just play it live – it’ll probably sound quite similar and spirited.”

Alas Folkloric is also released on vinyl because it’s the best medium to preserve music, he said, and also the sound of the Dog “really lends itself well” to the medium.

“It’s just alive in the studio and off-the-floor kind of record really, with some psychedelic touches,” Moginie said.

The Family Dog isn’t the only pie the songwriter has his hand in, lending himself to many side projects throughout his career – like Shameless Seamus (his folk pseudonym), The Break and the Electric Guitar Orchestra.

“It’s a great thing for me to be able to play with my friends in whatever the format is … I think I need my own festival with all the bands that I play with,” he laughed.

The Family Dog plays Anita’s Theatre in Thirroul, on November 30. Tickets via www.ticketmaster.com.au 

Other dates include Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Ballarat, Brisbane, Maroochydore, Byron Bay, Newcastle, Adelaide, Perth, Fremantle.