In 2007, The Drones have done nothing to dispel their reputation as one of the hardest working, not to mention one of the most successful, rock bands in Australia. The four-piece kicked off the year with the Big Day Out tour, before repairing to Europe for a four month slog around Europe.

According to drummer Mike Noga, this most recent European tour was the most taxing yet. More shows and more travel were compounded by a series of mishaps, much of which was poignantly recorded in their online tour diary.

“Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I’m sure you’ve read…robberies and muggings and broken equipment and broken psyches. It was a tough one this one,” he says.

The tour diary details illness in Austria, a breakdown on the autobahn, the tragicomic incompetancy of tour manager Gorka and claims to an alarming 26,748 kilometres travelled by road.

On the flip-side, stellar performances in surprise spots like far-flung Tromso in Norway, a warm reception in France and a musical reunion with Australian rock stalwarts the Dirty Three in Rome redeemed the Drones’ European sojourn.

The band kicked off the tour in April on a high note, playing at the All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival in the UK, curated by the Dirty Three.

“That was fantastic,” says Noga. “It was one of the best weekends I’ve ever had. It was just a big party, you know every band there, almost every band, was Australian, so all our friends were there, plus we got to see some of our favourite bands. We got to see Alan Vega from Suicide and of course Nick Cave and the Dirty Three and Scientists…if I had to pick a line up I’d probably pick that line up too.”

Having recently landed back on home soil, the Drones are set to take to the road again for a national tour, accompanied by west Australian band Snowman. Noga expects this run of shows to be easier than the recent European stint.

“Easy in the sense in that the travel’s easy and we know everybody and there’s no language barrier, and we always have a good time you know and it’s quick, it’s fast, it’s over in a few weeks,” he says.

He is also looking forward to playing with Snowman.

“They were on the Big Day Out tour with us on the last Big Day Out, and we became good friends with them then. They’re fantastic, I love them. I thought they were one of the better bands on the bill. I think it’s a good combination of bands, us and them. We’re very different but some kind of similar vein going through the whole thing.”

The band will be promoting their new Live in Madrid DVD, released by Munster. The Drones’ electric live show was recorded in early 2006 in Spain, where they enjoy a strong following.

“Spain is always pretty good for us,” says Noga. “I don’t know what is about Spain but they seem to be obsessed with Australian rock’n’roll, so that’s always pretty good…most of our connections to Europe are in Spain, we’ve got lots of friends there, and they love their Australians, so it’s good.”

The Drones’ Australian tour winds up on October 27 at the Corner in Melbourne, and the next day the four band members fly to the US for more touring.

As well as playing in the Drones, Noga keeps busy with a variety of side projects. He released his debut solo album in 2005, and while in Paris recently managed to squeeze in a couple of solo gigs.

Noga also fronts Melbourne almost-super-group the Gentlemen of Fortune, with Pat from Dallas Crane, Gus from the Vandas and Graeme from Machine Translations. The band has recorded a number of tracks, and is waiting for a rare moment when all band members are free to release an EP.

“It’s a hard band to be in, and we love each other so much, the Gentlemen of Fortune, and we never get to see each other,” he says.

Despite all this practice at song-writing, Noga is happy to leave to main song-writing duties in the Drones to vocalist and guitarist, Gareth Liddiard.

“I’ve written a few but I’m too scared to give them to Gaz! He’s very open about it – if you’ve got a song, then let’s play it…But you know, I don’t want to go up against Gaz, he’s pretty good…Maybe on the next album I will. In fact I think I’ve got one that could be good for the next album.”

The Drones kick off a gruelling month long tour around Australia on September 28 at the Bakery in Perth.