Melbourne artist Dan Sultan says his latest album, Blackbird, helped get him out of a rut during a period when he wasn’t inspired to create new music.

Sultan took out a host of gongs at this year’s National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMAs) held in Darwin on Friday night.

“I just wasn’t writing and wasn’t very motivated or inspired to write,” he said.

“I had to make a few changes and change a few things up to get motivated and get inspired again, and I was in a bit of a rut for a while, so once I did that I found that everything flowed on from there,” he said.

Blackbird was named the best album at the NIMAs, while Sultan also won the best national song for his tune The Same Man and also took out the award for best cover art.

Asked about the motivation for his album, Sultan said there were a lot of love songs, which he liked the write.

He said he and his band were enjoying their several months on the road as part of a national tour.

“We are having a lot of fun.

“We enjoy playing together and we are enjoying the record that we have made,” he said.

Sultan’s music career gained prominence in 2007 when he won a Deadly Award, and in 2010 he won two ARIA awards, including being named Best Male Artist.

He has also acted, being given a starring role in the film Bran Nue Dae.