His passion for soul music was sparked by listening to his dad’s old records as a kid. We watched him on our screens throughout his musical journey to win Australian Idol in 2003. Fast forward 11 years and Guy Sebastian is the only Aussie male artist to have ever achieved six number one singles and two number one albums in chart history, with numerous ARIA nominations and platinum sales throughout his career. It’s no surprise that he has been labelled one of Australia’s best success stories, not to mention the recent release of his 8th studio album ‘Madness’ and national arena tour to follow.
I was lucky enough to chat with Guy Sebastian about his career, new album and upcoming tour in 2015.
Your career has boomed since your appearance on Australian Idol in 2003, did you ever imagine you would have this much success?
Not at all. I was a fairly sheltered kid from Adelaide, a weird looking kid that didn’t really belong in a photo, let alone an album cover. I always wanted to be a muso, I thought maybe I would be behind the scenes writing and producing for other people or something. I knew I liked to sing, I guess I just didn’t really have that confidence that I would be a well-known person or anything. My dream was to sing at the local Carols by Candlelight and I thought “Gosh, if I do that I’ve made it!” There’s so many people I’ve worked with and met, it’s just one big blur for a weird little Bogan kid from Adelaide.
What does it feel like to be releasing your 8th studio album ‘Madness’?
It feels amazing. It’s out of my hands now. I think for so long I’ve been a control freak and very pedantic with the process of creating this piece of work and piece of art that I’ve stewed over for the last two years and every nuance and little detail I’ve gone over. There’s so much work that goes into it. It’s a bit scary but I’ve done as much as I can do and I’m proud of it.
What has been your biggest inspiration for Madness?
It’s really just about stopping to smell the roses and not getting swept away by the busyness of life and just to appreciate life and find the beauty in the mundane.
What makes this album different from your others?
I think it’s probably the most soulful album I’ve done. I guess growing up you start to feel different things and start to experience different emotions and your song writing becomes a bit deeper. I feel like my lyrics are definitely much more thought provoking now and I’m really enjoying singing these songs and enjoying the soulful nature of it.
You also have your national tour happening in 2015, what can your fans expect from it?
It’s my first arena tour for starters and I’ve never been in venues this big which mean there’s really not a lot of limitation as to the scope of production. For me, I feel like I’ve made quite an epic sounding album as far as how dynamic it is, there’s loads of big horns and big beats and big strings. For me to replicate that live would also replicate it visually in an arena. I’m just really excited about it.
To get your copy of ‘Madness’ head to iTunes, Google Play, JB Hi-Fi or Sanity. The Madness tour will kick off in February 2015 playing Wollongong, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. To get your hands on tickets to one of six shows, head to guysebastian.com for more details.
