It's 10am in Melbourne and Paul Dempsey is freezing his proverbial balls off. 'I don't remember Melbourne being this cold!' he shivers. 'A proper cold winter's day is what, 12 degrees? But today it's only eight or nine!' It's hardly the sort of opening banter you'd expect from a steely man of rock. But then Paul, who has been frontman of Australian band Something For Kate for the past 13 years, is hardly your typical rock star. Sure, there's the glacial stare, the five o'clock shadow on his chiselled chin and of course, those sharp as flint cheekbones. But attitude, expletives and a whiff of Grey Goose on his breath? Forget it.

Paul has every reason to be in the mile-high spirits. Something for Kate has just put the finishing touches to their best-of-album, The Murmur Years - a 32-track celebration of their 10-year-long career. And on top of this, Paul, along with fellow band mates drummer Clint Hyndman, his best friend since high school, and bassist Stephanie Ashworth, his wife of 18 months, is fresh off a sell-out tour of Europe and The States.

But life hasn't always been so sunshine-infused. Paul, who turns 32 this year, has suffered from crippling depression on and off for most of his life. 'It's just part of my make-up unfortunately,' he says with the lofty detachment of someone who suffers with the odd headache. 'Sometimes it's fine,' he muses. There's a silence. 'And sometimes it's not.'

In 2004 Paul famously suffered a near career ending combination of depressions and writer's block, which delayed the release of his fifth album Desert Lights by almost 18 months. 'Writing is something that can put me on a high when it works. But it can also be the thing that keeps me in a rut when it doesn't,' he admits. 'But you know, I've never been afraid to say I've had a hard time with depression. It's not that rare a thing anymore.'

What is rare, however, is Paul and Stephanie's relationship, a shimmering example of celebrity partnership done well. 'Steph and I have been married for 18 months,' he beams. 'We get to travel and play music together. It's fantastic.' So did they have the high volume, tequilla soaked wedding you'd expect from two of Australia's most famous rock stars? 'Nah, we played some Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Nick Cave. It was pretty beautiful.'

Apparently a wedding band and onstage wide do nothing to deter the sexed-up groupies, although Paul is sanguine about the whole backstage debauchery thing. 'Some people just can't take a hint,' he laughs. 'There's always the odd person who takes the excitement to a whole new level, and I've seen some girls do some pretty strange things, most of which are unprintable. I've been followed into bathrooms and propositioned for some weird stuff. Thankfully most of the time it's just really funny.'

As for him being a target of female affection, he finds the whole idea a bit disarming. 'I can't think of myself in that way,' he says shaking his head. 'Steph and I just collapse in laughter anytime anything like that comes up...'

So, with The Murmur Years set to explode onto the charts, is Paul ready for a bit of quality feet-up time now? After all, a decade of songwriting and stage-diving has got to take it's toll. Hell no. A musician's lifestyle never slows. 'We're about to start a national tour and I've started working on a solo album, which will hopefully be completed by the end of the year,' he says. There's a pause. 'Depending if I work hard or not,' he smirks. We can't wait.