Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload the podcast last week. Hey guys, welcome back
Speaker 1: to TV Reload. Thank you for clicking and downloading. On
Speaker 1: today's episode with TJ and Tyler, this week's eliminated singers
Speaker 1: from Australian Idol on Channel seven. Twenty years after Guys
Speaker 1: Sebastian pipped Shannonold to become Australia's first Idol, the international
Speaker 1: star making reality TV Sensation has returned to Channel seven
Speaker 1: and seven plus And if you aren't watching, you were
Speaker 1: missing out on some sensational television. Said to be the
Speaker 1: toughest season we've ever seen an Australian Idol. I think
Speaker 1: Kyle Sandalance mentioned that last night we saw the top
Speaker 1: ten go down to the top eight. Today we are
Speaker 1: going to sit down with TJ and Tyler to get
Speaker 1: the goss on what they thought of their time on
Speaker 1: the show. We will unpack why this season has seen
Speaker 1: so many shot departures so far and how the judges
Speaker 1: may be affecting the votes. TJ will unpack his unusual
Speaker 1: style and if John Farnham has actually contacted him about
Speaker 1: his version of the voice. We'll talk about his career
Speaker 1: progression from idol and who is going on the boys
Speaker 1: tour once Idol is finished? Plus everything from what they
Speaker 1: thought of Amy Sharks singing live and if it's okay
Speaker 1: to sing with American accents if you are Australian. There
Speaker 1: is actually so much to unpack with the guys today,
Speaker 1: and they're very genuine boys. So sit back and relax
Speaker 1: as we dive just that little bit deeper into the
Speaker 1: world of Australian Idol. How are you mate?
Speaker 2: Look a lot better than me.
Speaker 1: So what type of sleep do you get after being
Speaker 1: eliminated from Australian Idol?
Speaker 3: None, yes, well yeah, I was gonna say, well, yeah,
Speaker 3: it's this type of sleep that you and yeah, yeah, nam,
Speaker 3: So it's all good.
Speaker 2: It's all good.
Speaker 1: Did you try and get any sleep? Did you lie
Speaker 1: in bed and do? What my mum would say is
Speaker 1: just as long as you're in bed and you're lying there,
Speaker 1: then it's still good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess.
Speaker 3: So, you know, I wasn't sleeping, but as long as
Speaker 3: I hit the pillar and like pretended to sleep, it's okay.
Speaker 1: Well, I just want to say that Post Malone song
Speaker 1: of yours and your version of it was dope. And
Speaker 1: I'm forty four and I shouldn't say the word dope
Speaker 1: because it makes me seem ridiculous, but I feel like
Speaker 1: it's appropriate.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I don't know. I just kind of just winged it
Speaker 3: and people are saying they like it, so that's that
Speaker 3: makes me happy.
Speaker 2: So yeah, it was.
Speaker 3: I mean, I put I obviously put some thought into it,
Speaker 3: but I just wanted to have a different bit of
Speaker 3: edge on it. It was a bit of different vibe
Speaker 3: to it and turned out all right.
Speaker 1: I think I think I heard you say that you
Speaker 1: saw post Malone. Did you see him in a live
Speaker 1: concert at some point?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I saw im, and I saw him at Spilt Milk,
Speaker 3: which is a music festival.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And did you borrow any of his dance moves? Because
Speaker 1: Kyle Sanderalanz was saying that some of your dance moves
Speaker 1: were very Zoolander, But I was actually thinking I could
Speaker 1: see some actual post Malone in there, because he's kind
Speaker 1: of doing some strange stuff while he's dancing, isn't he Yeah,
Speaker 1: he does.
Speaker 3: He does some whack moves and like he's so unique
Speaker 3: in how he does that, And honestly, I just I
Speaker 3: had no choreography planned whatever, just came to my mind.
Speaker 3: I just did it, and that's just what happened. So
Speaker 3: nothing was planned. Everything was honestly just like feeling it,
Speaker 3: just doing what I felt was right.
Speaker 1: Well, I really do you know what? I actually was
Speaker 1: so looking forward to every week, and I don't know
Speaker 1: how I'm going to enjoy the show without you and
Speaker 1: your voice. To me, maybe it's just that's the style
Speaker 1: of music that I'm into, But I don't feel like
Speaker 1: the competition is going to be the same now that
Speaker 1: you've gone. What is up with the voting this year?
Speaker 1: Why are we seeing so many of our best artists
Speaker 1: being booted out of the competition.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I mean it's tough.
Speaker 3: Hey, Like I am obviously in this like locked away
Speaker 3: in this in this world of just like being in
Speaker 3: the studio recording, filming, you know, rehearsing, and it's like
Speaker 3: you kind of distance yourself from the outside world a bit.
Speaker 3: And I think what it is honestly, Like you know,
Speaker 3: I think Trans a great example, Like you know, he
Speaker 3: has this massive sort of support group behind him and
Speaker 3: he's just getting hundreds of thousands of votes. Trans a
Speaker 3: great singer, But like I'm not targeting him, but like
Speaker 3: a lot of people have his like whole followings behind them,
Speaker 3: and it's not necessarily because they can, you know, they
Speaker 3: have the best voice or they look the best.
Speaker 2: Is because they just like people. It's honestly just fans
Speaker 2: of who.
Speaker 3: They are, what they do, how they address. Obviously like
Speaker 3: their voice and all that stuff is accounted for. But yeah, everyone,
Speaker 3: like a very few select people that just have a
Speaker 3: lot and a lot of support behind them. And I
Speaker 3: was kind of getting all my votes from like a
Speaker 3: small community basing and for my family and friends, so
Speaker 3: it was it was a tough compent. It's a tough
Speaker 3: comp because some people just really really loved more than others.
Speaker 2: So but that's just the that's the that's just how
Speaker 2: it is.
Speaker 1: But Tyler, you know, the judges really can influence the outcomes.
Speaker 1: If they say that you're too good, people don't seem
Speaker 1: to vote for them. But if they say you are terrible,
Speaker 1: or in fact call you Curmit the frog, then that
Speaker 1: I believe changes the votes. So they've got to be
Speaker 1: really careful about what they say because I kind of
Speaker 1: feel like the judges are controlling this somehow.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the judges have they have a massive say,
Speaker 3: like people say that the judges have an sort of
Speaker 3: effects on this what they do because what they say
Speaker 3: people listen to.
Speaker 2: They are they have the credible source within the show.
Speaker 3: And if they go, oh yeah, no, not your best performance,
Speaker 3: ra Rah, obviously a show I think one way, I think,
Speaker 3: oh that was amazing, perfect in Australia in another way,
Speaker 3: so it's like, yeah, they have a massive say so
Speaker 3: what they can definitely control the show in how they
Speaker 3: comment on our.
Speaker 1: Performances because I believe that if we took away that
Speaker 1: Kermit comment from Trent and we called you Agro or
Speaker 1: of some other puppet, I don't know, kind of feel
Speaker 1: like Australia might have felt like you were unsafe and
Speaker 1: so they would have voted for you.
Speaker 3: I feel like the judges like life our performance and
Speaker 3: I was like pretty mutually like oh yeah, it was cool.
Speaker 3: You know, there's nothing controversial, and it was just sort
Speaker 3: of like your basic sort of comments. And also at
Speaker 3: the same time, it happens if I'd closed or sometimes
Speaker 3: I feel like the show might keep certain people there
Speaker 3: for a reason because you know, they might you know,
Speaker 3: create certain stories or you know, the controversy that they
Speaker 3: want to keep on the show. So you know, I'm
Speaker 3: not saying that I know anything because I don't, but
Speaker 3: it is what it is, I guess. So you just
Speaker 3: got to go to roll with the punches.
Speaker 1: I kind of feel like you're the Matt Corby And
Speaker 1: maybe this is showing my age when I see this.
Speaker 1: Maybe you don't know who Matt Corby is, but I
Speaker 1: feel like you're the Matt Corby of the season. I
Speaker 1: feel like you're the artist that I can imagine already
Speaker 1: being on Triple J, already having a different sound, already
Speaker 1: stepping outside of the idol box because no one even
Speaker 1: thinks of Matt Corby coming from Australian Idol. And I
Speaker 1: feel like that's the conversation we're going to have about
Speaker 1: you in ten years is people will be like, did
Speaker 1: you know that he was on Australian Idol. I feel
Speaker 1: like that's where we're going.
Speaker 3: That's great, I mean that would be crazy. I love
Speaker 3: Matt Corby, mate, He's amazing and I want to still
Speaker 3: pushing to play a show with him. It could be
Speaker 3: true that I think like, in the next couple of years,
Speaker 3: I want to be remembered for, you know, being a
Speaker 3: good songwriter and bringing a good show to your city,
Speaker 3: wherever you live, and I think, like the whole old experience,
Speaker 3: it will be acknowledged, but it might not be remembered
Speaker 3: very well, and it might be one of those things
Speaker 3: like you said, you look at that in the past.
Speaker 3: Tyler's great, but did you know, like like you just said,
Speaker 3: did you know he was actually an Australian id on
Speaker 3: People be like, oh, well, no, I didn't.
Speaker 2: So, but I'm like, I'm.
Speaker 3: Hoping that's that's the player because They're like, I want
Speaker 3: to be playing shows for living, you know. I want
Speaker 3: to go around and play my original set with the
Speaker 3: band and just play to these awesome crowds and wherever
Speaker 3: I go, I.
Speaker 2: Just want I want people to come and just just
Speaker 2: listen and have a good time. And I hope that
Speaker 2: will be my.
Speaker 3: Life stern and I'm already doing it just sort of
Speaker 3: small scale. I hope the scales gets bigger and bigger
Speaker 3: because I just I just live for and hale, like
Speaker 3: especially being on that stage of an idol, it's like
Speaker 3: playing for that crowd and it's just like sometimes you
Speaker 3: just want to cry because you just it just feels so.
Speaker 2: It just feels so good.
Speaker 1: I mean, these shows are kind of like an invitation
Speaker 1: to a career. That's the way that I've always explained it,
Speaker 1: because yes, it shows you that you have an X
Speaker 1: factor to get picked and to get as far as
Speaker 1: you do. But I mean, it's really up to you
Speaker 1: as to what you do moving out of this. And
Speaker 1: I just feel like that transition for you will be
Speaker 1: quite easy, because I mean, idle. You know, they've got
Speaker 1: to do things like let's have a game that we're
Speaker 1: playing with the audience where you know, the judges are
Speaker 1: picking songs for you. That can be a bit of
Speaker 1: a distraction and it can be a bit of a
Speaker 1: novelty where that kind of stuff doesn't really exist for artists,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean in the real world.
Speaker 3: So true, Hey, yeah, And I think that that's because
Speaker 3: you remember, at the end of the day, like it
Speaker 3: is a television show and that they want to enter
Speaker 3: pole and they want there to be controversy. It's like
Speaker 3: that's what's just so different, Like it's not you're not
Speaker 3: in the music industry there, You're not doing that. You're
Speaker 3: like on a television show that's trying to get good
Speaker 3: ratings and get some awesome ads in the lineup, and
Speaker 3: you know, I know that a lot of them do
Speaker 3: care about us and what we do, but at the
Speaker 3: same time, like they're trying to just create a really
Speaker 3: captivating television show. And I think that that for me
Speaker 3: is like one thing that I started.
Speaker 2: To learn, and like I just when I learned that,
Speaker 2: it's like, you know, I.
Speaker 3: Want to go out there and perform like it my
Speaker 3: last performance, and just that's all you can really do
Speaker 3: is just like to speak for yourself. And I don't know,
Speaker 3: sometimes they try to throw a spanner in the works,
Speaker 3: but it's really important for what I try to do
Speaker 3: is be myself. And I watched back to the episodes
Speaker 3: and sometimes instead of smiling and you know, doing that,
Speaker 3: I'm just looking like and need it. But that's just
Speaker 3: because I just tried to be myself. But I try
Speaker 3: to statue to myself because you don't want anyone having
Speaker 3: a false representation of who you are.
Speaker 1: You've been put in advice though, Like I mean, this
Speaker 1: is what I don't think people realize. You know, when
Speaker 1: you're being picked to me on a show like this,
Speaker 1: it is a much bigger beast than I think in
Speaker 1: what people understand and when you're in the vice. It's
Speaker 1: very hard to try to stay true to yourself. I
Speaker 1: genuinely do think we've got a really good understanding of
Speaker 1: who you were, though I think you maintained that. I
Speaker 1: don't think there's anything that you need to be embarrassed
Speaker 1: about at all. I mean, there was probably one dance
Speaker 1: move that I thought, watching back maybe looked a little
Speaker 1: bit strange. But that'll be on TikTok tomorrow, And maybe
Speaker 1: that's the controversy that you need.
Speaker 2: Maybe God, sometimes I should think about what I'm doing.
Speaker 2: But anyway, who's.
Speaker 1: Going on the boys tour? Maybe this is where the
Speaker 1: controversy that's going to elevate you into statum is going
Speaker 1: to come from. As in, like the boys on the
Speaker 1: show remaining, didn't you say last night you're going to
Speaker 1: take the boys on tour? Like we're going to go
Speaker 1: and do an idle tour?
Speaker 3: Oh? So what I mean is like say, I have
Speaker 3: two best friends that are twin brothers and we grew
Speaker 3: up together, and okay, they are the boys, and they
Speaker 3: stood up and had a cheering I think they might
Speaker 3: have been in last night's show. They might have shown
Speaker 3: them with those two boys. So one of them is
Speaker 3: a drummer, and one of them is are guitars and
Speaker 3: seeing we all sing, but so essentially we're a trio. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I'm like the lead singer. When I said that, it's
Speaker 3: like I want to, you know, sad to me just
Speaker 3: going around my guitar to all the countries, I.
Speaker 2: Mean all the the the cities maybe countries. One day.
Speaker 3: I want to obviously bring bring the band and make
Speaker 3: it a real awesome show, like you know, like bring
Speaker 3: the same energy.
Speaker 2: As the idol stage of the Footall Band.
Speaker 3: And I want to do my songs, but I might
Speaker 3: also play, you know, some some of the idle songs
Speaker 3: that I've done, but I want to I want to
Speaker 3: bring that vibe and it's it's definitely the worst. As
Speaker 3: soon as they get home tomorrow, it's going to be
Speaker 3: like put down organizing at every city, which venue, let's
Speaker 3: skept tickets going and get people to come and watch
Speaker 3: in person instead of on a television screen.
Speaker 1: What did you think of Amy Shark's Foreman's I think
Speaker 1: we saw how high it is to sing on that stage.
Speaker 1: By watching someone of her caliber up there, you know,
Speaker 1: you can hear some of that music intonation and some
Speaker 1: of the people were commenting about a slight American accent
Speaker 1: being heard with Amy, and then also people are talking
Speaker 1: about an American accent being heard in some of the artists.
Speaker 1: But what's your comment on Australian artists singing with American accents?
Speaker 1: Is that a crutch that we should try and avoid
Speaker 1: or is that something that just happens.
Speaker 3: Look, in my personal opinion, it's a tough one to
Speaker 3: crack because I don't think I have too much American
Speaker 3: accent with myself, so commenting on people that do, it's
Speaker 3: a tough one to talk about because.
Speaker 1: Could you hear it?
Speaker 4: Though?
Speaker 1: Could you hear some of the American accents coming out
Speaker 1: of the performance, especially this week?
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, I can, I can, yeah, And I can't.
Speaker 2: Like when I think about.
Speaker 3: The contestants from last night, like the ten of Us,
Speaker 3: I can't like to tell you shut off top my
Speaker 3: head who I think doesn't and doesn't. But like you said,
Speaker 3: with Amy, like I think throughout her whole crew, she's
Speaker 3: always had that And I don't know if she does
Speaker 3: it deliberately, and I don't know if you just I'm
Speaker 3: assuming it comes naturally for her.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 3: I don't think she's putting it on. But I know
Speaker 3: a couple of my matest kind of have that as well.
Speaker 3: I don't know what it is.
Speaker 2: It might be who they listen to, who they're influenced
Speaker 2: by throughout their career. But if it works for them,
Speaker 2: it works them.
Speaker 3: Like you know, Amy obviously has an awesome career, and
Speaker 3: there's an audience there that that love what she does, that.
Speaker 1: Loves Maybe it makes her sound more universal, I mean global.
Speaker 1: Maybe you know, the music is more accessible if that.
Speaker 1: If that's the case, EXE, what could you offer as
Speaker 1: advice to people who would want to do this show? Like,
Speaker 1: now that you've gone through the whole experience, do you
Speaker 1: have any advice on how to do it?
Speaker 2: Okay, I guess yeah.
Speaker 3: I ran a couple of the contestants from last year
Speaker 3: and asked for advice, And now that I've done it, honestly,
Speaker 3: I was going into it very skeptical and like very like, oh,
Speaker 3: I don't know if it's the right thing to do,
Speaker 3: But honestly, like after doing it, like I don't see
Speaker 3: any issues in doing the show at all if you're
Speaker 3: an honest like me, I was very like, oh, you know,
Speaker 3: I want to dress like I want I want to
Speaker 3: address myself. I want to play the guitar. I want
Speaker 3: to do the songs that I want to do. But
Speaker 3: then it's like, why don't just try not playing the
Speaker 3: guitar and why do you just try this song? Wan
Speaker 3: need to try away in this And it's like then it.
Speaker 2: Forced upon you.
Speaker 3: They just say try it because obviously they want you
Speaker 3: to be comfortable. They're not all horrible humans, They're like,
Speaker 3: they're all very very kind. I personally have learned so
Speaker 3: much about myself, Like I didn't This is my first
Speaker 3: like Chemical POMPEII, I had no guitar and that was
Speaker 3: the first time I've been on a massive stage without
Speaker 3: a guitar and by myself. I can only have a
Speaker 3: band with me, like the being behind me and the
Speaker 3: best band in Australia. And it's like, I've learned so
Speaker 3: much about myself. I didn't know I could do that
Speaker 3: and I've never tried, but now.
Speaker 2: And I could do it. So one thing is I've
Speaker 2: learned a lot about myself, and two is like.
Speaker 3: I mean, I've gained an amazing sort of following as
Speaker 3: well that of people that are interested, genuinely interested.
Speaker 2: In what I do and me as an artist.
Speaker 3: And I think I've gained a lot of positive things
Speaker 3: from this show. At this stage now, I haven't experienced
Speaker 3: anything negative. I mean I haven't been able to serve
Speaker 3: for a while. That's the only negative thing I think about.
Speaker 3: And you're away from your family and friends, you get
Speaker 3: a bit isolated, and that side is tough. Honestly, it's
Speaker 3: just it's just like amazing exposure and good experience and
Speaker 3: the learning experience, and all you got to think about
Speaker 3: is contracts and stuff like that. Just make sure you
Speaker 3: read the contracts through. You know, you are signed with
Speaker 3: management and Sony.
Speaker 1: If you win, well maybe you also have Kyle sandy
Speaker 1: Lands mobile number and you can go one of those
Speaker 1: wild Coachella to us that he was talking about.
Speaker 2: That'd be great.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean you get to on a pass super
Speaker 3: we're in like a yacht with the Kyle that that
Speaker 3: was cool. So you get to do a lot of
Speaker 3: cool stuff. And I mean it is stressful. You got
Speaker 3: something like I found out I was through on Tuesday
Speaker 3: and then on Saturday I had to perform a new
Speaker 3: song again. So like you've got to be mentally prepared.
Speaker 3: Don't do it if you play five gigs and you
Speaker 3: think you're having all right voice and you know you're
Speaker 3: just just coming into it. I think, just just give
Speaker 3: yourself a bit of time because it is a lot,
Speaker 3: and you need to know how to manage yourself once
Speaker 3: you're out of the show, you know, because there's no
Speaker 3: one holding your hand once you're out. You need to
Speaker 3: know how it all works. And I've been doing it
Speaker 3: since I was sixteen is about six years now, and
Speaker 3: I think that's how like the six year experience has
Speaker 3: helped me kind of push through this. And you know,
Speaker 3: I'm not devastating on leaving because I get to work
Speaker 3: on myself.
Speaker 2: Now, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: Well, guys, Sebastian's reached out to Ripley to mentor him.
Speaker 1: Maybe there's another artist in Australia that's going to want
Speaker 1: to mentor you, and mentorships are so important as well.
Speaker 2: I'd love that. That would be really really cool.
Speaker 4: I hope I.
Speaker 2: Hope someone does.
Speaker 3: I've been sort of run solo managing and promote myself
Speaker 3: for the last six years, so it's like to have
Speaker 3: helping hand.
Speaker 2: It always be nice.
Speaker 1: Just get Shannon Nol to do it, because we could
Speaker 1: bring that rivalry back, you know what I mean, like
Speaker 1: everyone would find that's a good rivalry. Who do you
Speaker 1: think is going to win?
Speaker 2: Like one person? I'll give you my top three?
Speaker 1: No, no, no, I just want who you'd think is
Speaker 1: going to win, not who your best friend is or
Speaker 1: who is the best boys or has the best personality.
Speaker 1: Who's going to take this out?
Speaker 3: Honestly, I think I've been seeing a lot of buck
Speaker 3: it's a girl's year, it's girls.
Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot of the All the Girl was just amazing.
Speaker 2: You know. I think it's a topic.
Speaker 3: I think it's between I think it's between Amy and
Speaker 3: I can't figure on it.
Speaker 2: I think it's one of those two girls.
Speaker 1: Okay, we'll take that from you. The last question I
Speaker 1: asked is something that everyone gets asked when they do
Speaker 1: my podcast, and that is what's something from behind the scenes,
Speaker 1: something we didn't get a chance to see. If your
Speaker 1: time on Australian Idol kind of like it behind the
Speaker 1: scenes secret I guess from you.
Speaker 3: Behind the scenes secret, I don't know, but it's pretty
Speaker 3: out there a like honestly, like it's like you're there
Speaker 3: at the studio all day and then your home and you're.
Speaker 2: Just full asleep because you're so tired. I guess.
Speaker 3: I mean before I sund Chemical, who I saying Chemical?
Speaker 2: This lighting?
Speaker 3: This lighting League came crashing down on me, on me
Speaker 3: and Amy. So that wasn't that wasn't That wasn't fun.
Speaker 3: But honestly, that was because an audience member was leaning
Speaker 3: on something like it's like it's no big deal, like
Speaker 3: it's okay, but that I think that kind of threw
Speaker 3: me off my performance for Chemical a bit.
Speaker 1: But that just rattles that would rattle me.
Speaker 2: It's okay, everyone was okay.
Speaker 3: No one was like, no one was bally injured or
Speaker 3: anything like that, and it was just it was.
Speaker 2: Just an accident. That's something that happened perform my performance
Speaker 2: and no one knew.
Speaker 3: But you just got to It's like that show like
Speaker 3: even if you get you know, something happens, you just
Speaker 3: got to play through it.
Speaker 1: A It's like even if your pants catch on fire,
Speaker 1: you're going to keep singing.
Speaker 3: So it's like, all right, sorry that happened, but yeah,
Speaker 3: you got to sing next and there's yeah, so it's
Speaker 3: all good.
Speaker 2: So it just cop it to the head and keep going.
Speaker 1: Well, mate, I absolutely loved you on the show and
Speaker 1: I actually loved chatting with you today. I'm certainly going
Speaker 1: to be in your audience and seeing what you do
Speaker 1: with this. I'll keep my eye out for your name
Speaker 1: and a festival or wherever you're performing. I just want
Speaker 1: to wish you the best of luck with this whole thing.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much. The tool will be announced sooner.
Speaker 2: I will promote it on my social as well.
Speaker 3: So I want everyone that enjoys what I did to
Speaker 3: come to a show, you know, like I just wanted
Speaker 3: to have party with everyone and just have fun and
Speaker 3: share some songs and have a good time.
Speaker 2: So yeah, thank you so much for having me brother.
Speaker 1: Amazing, amazing, so good. Really happy to be able to
Speaker 1: have that chat with Tyler this morning and talk to
Speaker 1: me about his Australian idol journey. Plenty of the one
Speaker 1: packed there, much like TJ, who's coming up next. We're
Speaker 1: going to talk about he's rearranging of John Farnham's song
Speaker 1: You're the Voice, which would have been pretty daunting, amongst
Speaker 1: other things. To sit back and relax and enjoy part
Speaker 1: two of today's chat. I am such a big fan.
Speaker 1: I think you did such a great job on this show.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much. That really means you're.
Speaker 1: Probably the most original artist that we've ever seen on
Speaker 1: Australian Idol. I have to ask you, how did this
Speaker 1: opportunity come up for you?
Speaker 4: I got hit up last year being like these auditions
Speaker 4: and I was like, I don't know, they don't know
Speaker 4: this shows for me, and then I ended up like
Speaker 4: doing it. You know, my talk to my family of
Speaker 4: course about like is this the right show? Should I
Speaker 4: go on a show I got a talent or the voice,
Speaker 4: you know? And then it was like, ultimately this seemed
Speaker 4: like the best place to showcase my talent.
Speaker 1: Well, I kind of do think that's a great spot
Speaker 1: to start, because I always wonder why people choose certain shows,
Speaker 1: and I do think that Australian Idol does suit you
Speaker 1: better because you know, with the voice, we're relying on
Speaker 1: a specific we're relying on them turning a chair for
Speaker 1: a voice, where with this show, I feel like we're
Speaker 1: allowing people's personality to come out and for audiences to
Speaker 1: get to know your character a little bit more. So,
Speaker 1: I think you've done the right job. I think you've
Speaker 1: picked the right show.
Speaker 4: Thank you. Yeah, And like this was a place where
Speaker 4: I could go against the cookie cutter image of like
Speaker 4: you just come on the show. You start off your song,
Speaker 4: are slow, and then admitt and then you're belt at
Speaker 4: the end, which is usually what the top twelve is
Speaker 4: at the stage at least. And I feel like I
Speaker 4: was happy that I was more than that. I was
Speaker 4: an artist who came on ben wheneveryone else was arresting.
Speaker 4: I was spending my time like planning my set design,
Speaker 4: doing my stage part, my lighting, talking about what outfits
Speaker 4: are one aware, and then talking to the band. You know,
Speaker 4: I was involved in those practices and so much more
Speaker 4: than just singing for me, So I'm happy I got
Speaker 4: to shake stuff up and just bringing completely unique thing.
Speaker 4: I feel like I'm the first to do this on
Speaker 4: your own, and I hope I'm not the last. I
Speaker 4: can't wait to see the next self producing girl come
Speaker 4: on and she just does everything, you know, like, I'm
Speaker 4: excited for that.
Speaker 1: I think you're a trailblazer because I think you have
Speaker 1: opened the door for people who might have thought that
Speaker 1: the idol isn't for them. I want to know what
Speaker 1: sort of music you grew up listening to and what
Speaker 1: sort of it had inspired you, and the reason why
Speaker 1: I ask you. This is because we saw you sort
Speaker 1: of blowing up pop songs. We saw you blowing up
Speaker 1: versions of pop songs on this show, so it felt
Speaker 1: like you knew all of these songs. But I it
Speaker 1: still made me wonder what you'd grown up listening to,
Speaker 1: what sort of music you like?
Speaker 4: I like everything, and I tell people I will listen
Speaker 4: to anything that's not Satanna quassia music because I just
Speaker 4: love every single genre I come across. I grew up
Speaker 4: with the with the very fruit salad like mixture when
Speaker 4: I was a kid. You know, my parents used to
Speaker 4: play We start off listening to Kirk Franklin in the morning.
Speaker 4: Then we'd be listening to Bonjo with an Ac DC,
Speaker 4: then Bob Marley, then Tupac, then Beggie. Then we're going
Speaker 4: way to decide or listen to like country. So there
Speaker 4: was like never just one like artist I was listening to,
Speaker 4: like all my references and from in a suerio session,
Speaker 4: I'll be like, yeah, now give me like a guitar
Speaker 4: like Kirk Cook, but now I want like since like
Speaker 4: Kevin Parker, you know, like I go back now round
Speaker 4: like Kanye, you know, like I never just sit with
Speaker 4: one thing and I was like, what was how come
Speaker 4: everyone doesn't matter what journal you listen to? Why do
Speaker 4: you like listening to each one of the like each
Speaker 4: artist from that genre has a song which surpasses the
Speaker 4: word genre. And that's because they were in the same
Speaker 4: boat and ars where they grubb listening to everything, and
Speaker 4: they added elements from like different genres. You don't realize
Speaker 4: this is a listener, but you've been tricked. There's drums
Speaker 4: from country, and there's the man's from rock, and then
Speaker 4: there's vocals from hip hop in this song. And that's
Speaker 4: why every single person likes it. And I feel like,
Speaker 4: growing up, I always wanted to make music like that,
Speaker 4: where you're four years old, you've come out of your
Speaker 4: mom's boomb and you love it, or you're at your
Speaker 4: deathbedd and you're still loving it like and I feel
Speaker 4: like I brought that to the show. I was flipping
Speaker 4: songs that were for like the oldies and bringing it
Speaker 4: to the new, younger generation. I love music, and I
Speaker 4: love being able to listen to everything and put it
Speaker 4: into sounding palatable for everybody.
Speaker 1: I think everyone watching the show could see that you
Speaker 1: took risks as well, which I think makes these sorts
Speaker 1: of shows more interesting for us. As opposed to just
Speaker 1: getting up and singing song after song, you gave something
Speaker 1: of a variety. I think, what song did you enjoy
Speaker 1: the most singing on this show? And is that the
Speaker 1: sound that we're going to be seeing more of when
Speaker 1: you release your music?
Speaker 4: Like the one I enjoyed the most was definitely my
Speaker 4: audition because I had the most input at that stage
Speaker 4: because I got to choose the song every round. I
Speaker 4: got way more like input in terms of how I
Speaker 4: wanted it to sound because I was making the beat
Speaker 4: and everything. But that was the first and only time
Speaker 4: I really got to choose what I performed, so i'd
Speaker 4: be more of that alternative R and B sound. I'm
Speaker 4: not a hip hop but I don't know when they
Speaker 4: started branding me as that. I was like, I've never
Speaker 4: said that make hip hop. I make alternative R and B.
Speaker 4: So I feel like that audition and and you're the
Speaker 4: voice you'll see me bounce between the two. As an artist,
Speaker 4: I want to make You want to make music that
Speaker 4: you can drive to late at night after you've been dumped,
Speaker 4: and you can cry too. And I also want to
Speaker 4: make music that you can play as a football team
Speaker 4: before you get onto the pitch feeling out.
Speaker 1: That's a variety. I mean, how scary was it? You
Speaker 1: just mentioned John Farnham and singing that version of the voice.
Speaker 1: That must have been kind of scary to do in
Speaker 1: front of Australia, considering that it is, you know, the
Speaker 1: unofficial Australian anthem.
Speaker 4: It was exciting. It's a song that deserves to be
Speaker 4: heard by the new generation. And so many people my
Speaker 4: age and younger hate that song. They're just like, I
Speaker 4: don't like it when my parents play that, Like, you know,
Speaker 4: the old people are getting too drunk at the barbecue
Speaker 4: when that song comes on and you're ready to just
Speaker 4: leave me. You're ready to leave the cookout.
Speaker 1: And already mom and dad enough.
Speaker 4: Yeah, when you hear that a Metallica and the CDC someone,
Speaker 4: you're just like, all the kids are leaving, you know.
Speaker 4: They want to listen to a lot nas X and
Speaker 4: all that whatnot. So I was like, you know what,
Speaker 4: I want to trick my generation and to listen to
Speaker 4: the song that deserves to go past generations to me
Speaker 4: add things they like, I know, they love it away.
Speaker 4: So they love sneers, They love all these new sounds
Speaker 4: and I love John Farlom. I've watched out documentary so
Speaker 4: much and seeing what he had to go through to
Speaker 4: convince people, and you went through exactly what I went through.
Speaker 4: I was like, I'm going to go through what you
Speaker 4: went through to give your song the respect that it deserves,
Speaker 4: because it disserves to continue being played on rotation. I
Speaker 4: like both versions. I love this.
Speaker 1: I just want to know how long it took to
Speaker 1: get that arrangement, because you know you did so much
Speaker 1: to change it and I don't know, but this goes
Speaker 1: to show how much I'm not a singer. I feel
Speaker 1: like for me, I would do that arrangement and understand it,
Speaker 1: but then once I'd start performing it live, I'd somehow
Speaker 1: start slipping back into the original arrangement of that. You know,
Speaker 1: how long did it take to pull all of that together?
Speaker 4: It took I'm not going to lie. It took ages.
Speaker 4: I did not sleep that week, I did not get
Speaker 4: any rest. That was the version I performed was version
Speaker 4: seven point four. I do I work in versions, and
Speaker 4: I'll go up to like eight, I'll go one point
Speaker 4: one point three point eight and this is like, this
Speaker 4: is let me explain how it goes I make the version,
Speaker 4: I send it to music team. Music teams like, nah,
Speaker 4: I say, send it back their version. Nah, I sent
Speaker 4: my new version. We go back and forth, we sit
Speaker 4: down together, the we have a writing sech We're like, okay,
Speaker 4: we're a version of five now, and we can't please everyone.
Speaker 4: I remember I'm needing, like I can't please everyone. What
Speaker 4: can I do to make it palatable to the young
Speaker 4: generation but also respect the older generation. I'll keep the
Speaker 4: choruses the same, but everything else I'll change up. And
Speaker 4: I was like, okay, cool. Version six came through and
Speaker 4: I'm working on them, like, this might sound stupid. How
Speaker 4: about I can I can give more respect. Let's add
Speaker 4: the bagpipes. So I add the backpipes and I sampled them.
Speaker 4: I remember Will's face as he plays it how it is,
Speaker 4: and I sample it and pitch it up make it
Speaker 4: sound a little bit weird because I'm a producer. I
Speaker 4: remember his face being because he's like the world champion
Speaker 4: bagpipe player and he's like, what are you doing to
Speaker 4: my play? You can see that look on his face,
Speaker 4: and I'm just like, it's crazy looking. At the first version,
Speaker 4: which was a Kevin Parker Taynam Powler like slowed sonic
Speaker 4: version with like acoustic guitars, was campfire energy, post malone energy.
Speaker 4: It was real slow, but it wasn't performable. And then
Speaker 4: go into this black skinhead type seven point four version
Speaker 4: which is formerable and has way more energy. So it
Speaker 4: was a very crazy journey.
Speaker 1: It felt like putting on leather pants and going to
Speaker 1: a club. For me, that's what I thought, you know.
Speaker 4: Yeah, literally, I was like, I don't know if this
Speaker 4: was like if everyone's going to like this. There's a
Speaker 4: marker for people who are going to like this, there's
Speaker 4: the people who are going to be like, who does
Speaker 4: he think he is?
Speaker 1: Well, no one wants to see me on leather pants,
Speaker 1: but I still think it's very worth taking the risk.
Speaker 1: Did you hear from John Farnham? Did you hear anything
Speaker 1: from John or John's family about your version?
Speaker 4: Not yet, but hopefully I do. Like whether he likes
Speaker 4: it or doesn't like it, at the end of the day,
Speaker 4: I made you feel something, you know, and I feel we'll.
Speaker 1: Get him on the phone now call him. I grew
Speaker 1: up my dad was good friends with John Farnham, so
Speaker 1: he had a holiday house next to our house out
Speaker 1: in the country, and I was so young when I
Speaker 1: met him the first time that I didn't care about fame.
Speaker 1: I didn't care about someone being popular, so I used
Speaker 1: to call him Johnny Fardam. I think I was four
Speaker 1: and my dad was driving over to John's house one
Speaker 1: day and he said to my brother, and I have
Speaker 1: one of you kids called John Farnham John Fardham to
Speaker 1: his face. Then you're not getting any pocket money.
Speaker 4: And that's a big deal when you're a kid. Ocker
Speaker 4: money is your lively.
Speaker 1: I now think back to it and I think about,
Speaker 1: you know, how big he is, and that I would
Speaker 1: spend at that time with him. It all just seems surreal,
Speaker 1: doesn't seem like it really happened.
Speaker 4: That's the thing is, like you have no idea who
Speaker 4: someone is, especially as such a young age. When you
Speaker 4: look back, you're like, oh my gosh, I was literally
Speaker 4: with the living, breathing.
Speaker 1: Legend, legend loving. The judges went on a real rollercoaster,
Speaker 1: I think with you, and you know they they were
Speaker 1: obviously talking to you and giving you constructive criticism, but
Speaker 1: Marsha kept talking about you needing to sing more. What
Speaker 1: what did you take of Marsha and that particular critique.
Speaker 4: Well, it's hard to sing more when I'm being given
Speaker 4: rap songs and then being expected to sing them like
Speaker 4: every week, and I'm like, guys, I'm not a I'm
Speaker 4: not a rapper. I'm not a hip hopper. Imgal Turnavi
Speaker 4: Rom made it clear my audition that this is my style.
Speaker 4: But then you get our email of what song is
Speaker 4: singing and it's a rap song, and I'm like, cool,
Speaker 4: do you know what's going to happen. I'm going to
Speaker 4: have to do work my butt off to make this
Speaker 4: Singapore and even if there's only so much you can
Speaker 4: do to a rap song to make it Singapore. And
Speaker 4: then I'm going to get feedback from the judges saying
Speaker 4: you need to sing more, and I'm like, well, it's
Speaker 4: not it's not my fault.
Speaker 1: It kind of well like at times they didn't know
Speaker 1: what to do with you.
Speaker 4: No, that's the thing, and it helped me realize that
Speaker 4: I was trying to be put into a box, and
Speaker 4: a box that makes sense for mainstream when I'm not
Speaker 4: that kind of artist, like you said, trail bread blazers.
Speaker 4: A word I've been hit with so much on this
Speaker 4: journey is that Australia is a little bit behind when
Speaker 4: it comes to the music industry and what we do
Speaker 4: compared to the global aspect. So my goal is to
Speaker 4: be the first and the only teaching that.
Speaker 1: Like.
Speaker 4: I love my uniqueness. I feel like my goal is
Speaker 4: to make it globally and then bridge that gap for Australia.
Speaker 4: I'm want to come back and then help make those
Speaker 4: opportunities here. I really feel a burden in my heart
Speaker 4: to really bridge that gap between Australia and the international market.
Speaker 1: You know, Teaj I was talking to Tyler earlier about
Speaker 1: the use of the American accent within singing, and it's
Speaker 1: really interesting. We can hear different accents and a lot
Speaker 1: of your music. What's the decision making process when it
Speaker 1: come to some of those intonations? Are you sometimes trying
Speaker 1: to sing with an Australian accent? Are you sometimes trying
Speaker 1: to sing with an American accent?
Speaker 4: Like?
Speaker 1: Is there a decision or a conscious understanding of what
Speaker 1: you're doing with your accents? At times?
Speaker 4: I think it's just because I listen to a lot
Speaker 4: of them both, like Australian and American music. Plus my
Speaker 4: normal accent is like a weird I've got my dad's
Speaker 4: American accent. And then of course I grew up in Australia,
Speaker 4: so either way and like those different wangs come in
Speaker 4: and out. But I'm also very like subconsciously aware that
Speaker 4: the more American need like accent is what goes around
Speaker 4: globally because America sets the standard musically when it comes
Speaker 4: to like the accent. When you hear that, you're more
Speaker 4: likely to listen to it. Sometimes it can be a
Speaker 4: turn off when you have like a hardcore British accent
Speaker 4: or qie or harcore Australian accent to the world. To
Speaker 4: us it's normal inspire. But because I want to be
Speaker 4: a global artist, I have to be of course like
Speaker 4: aware of those things.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of you know, press should be on
Speaker 1: these shows and sort of you mentioned this as well,
Speaker 1: about sort of being a square peg being fitted into
Speaker 1: a circle hole. I don't think that's the right saying,
Speaker 1: but anyway, I think you understand what I'm trying to say.
Speaker 1: What do you think about other artists next year being
Speaker 1: in a similar position to you, being a little bit
Speaker 1: left of center but still being something quite extraordinary. Is
Speaker 1: Australian idol the right place for those young people to
Speaker 1: go and take their work.
Speaker 4: It wasn't before me, but now after me, I feel
Speaker 4: like it is considering. I made it to the finals
Speaker 4: doing what I do. I walked through this door so
Speaker 4: I could stand right the doorway and keep the door open.
Speaker 4: And I hope to see little girls next year who
Speaker 4: are like, yeah, I'm an all rounded artist, you know,
Speaker 4: like just doing what I did. I want to see
Speaker 4: a whole generation of people coming and following my footsteps.
Speaker 1: And I was actually going to wear my hair in
Speaker 1: two separate top knots, you know, EJ style, but I
Speaker 1: thought I'd be done for cultural appropriation. But I'm definitely
Speaker 1: I'm definitely going to do it at some point, maybe
Speaker 1: in the privacy of my own home.
Speaker 4: I'd love to see you do. Hey, if Prince Flegg
Speaker 4: could do it Star Wars that I feel like you
Speaker 4: could easily pull it off.
Speaker 1: At this point of the competition, who do you think
Speaker 1: is going to win? Not who you think is maybe
Speaker 1: your best friend or even who has the best voice,
Speaker 1: Like who do you think is going to walk out
Speaker 1: of Australian Idol as the winner of twenty twenty four?
Speaker 4: And I've been asked this question a lot, and I
Speaker 4: feel like for me. It's between Amy and and Dylan.
Speaker 4: I feel like Dylan is the most Dylan and Amy
Speaker 4: are the most consistent.
Speaker 1: I think you're right.
Speaker 4: I was well rounded and in terms of like the
Speaker 4: population who watch Australian Idol, that's what they're looking for,
Speaker 4: you know, They're looking for that person who can take
Speaker 4: you on a journey and then bout at the end
Speaker 4: and keep you engaged. So I feel like those those
Speaker 4: two are differently the ones too.
Speaker 1: I feel like they're going to make it to the finale.
Speaker 1: I feel like that's what we're gearing ourselves up for.
Speaker 1: I think people will riot if that doesn't happen.
Speaker 4: People will riot, people write it wouldn't relliant image and that.
Speaker 4: I strongly thought Imagen was going to win this show.
Speaker 4: I was from the day I met her, and just
Speaker 4: because of her vocal technique, she's definitely was the most
Speaker 4: skilled vocalist out of all of us.
Speaker 1: It's just proof that there's more to this particular type
Speaker 1: of competition than just a voice, do you know what
Speaker 1: I mean? Like, there's there's a lot going on. I mean,
Speaker 1: Marshall was saying in the media yesterday, you know people
Speaker 1: are voting, this is a lot of votes that are
Speaker 1: coming through and people are voting for the artists that
Speaker 1: they want to win. But there's other variables when it
Speaker 1: comes to this type of a competition. And also you
Speaker 1: know when Idol was originally in Australia and it came
Speaker 1: out in twenty twenty two, you know, we've come a
Speaker 1: long way I think since then and the way in
Speaker 1: which the types of people who vote for shows.
Speaker 4: Like this one hundred percent. People need to understand that
Speaker 4: it's called Idle, not Australians thinger, it's about who as
Speaker 4: an artist. The whole point of this show is to
Speaker 4: find the next big artist. So it's easy for a
Speaker 4: label to do it. It's so hard for a label
Speaker 4: to turn an amazing singer into an artist because it's
Speaker 4: like the singer doesn't even know what they do. They
Speaker 4: spend their whole lecture singing covers, so they don't even
Speaker 4: know what they want to do, They how to address themselves,
Speaker 4: they don't know how to write. Or wasn't this year
Speaker 4: one made the top twelve? So you crazy? Was that
Speaker 4: you had a a bup of artists? You have people
Speaker 4: or everyone had their own full package of different things
Speaker 4: that they were offering. So I was like, it's so
Speaker 4: easy or able to pick any one of us and
Speaker 4: we could start dropping it.
Speaker 1: Tough competition, that's for sure. I think last year feels
Speaker 1: like young talent time compared to this. Before you go,
Speaker 1: I have to ask you, what is something from behind
Speaker 1: the scenes, something we didn't get a chance to say.
Speaker 1: Tyler actually just said that a light nearly fell on him,
Speaker 1: which I thought was interesting for one of his performances.
Speaker 1: When you walk away from this experience and you look back,
Speaker 1: what's something from behind the scenes that you'll remember.
Speaker 4: How hard working everyone is. I'm so grateful to the
Speaker 4: crew and the team that I worked with to be
Speaker 4: able to turn around my crazy ideas in three days.
Speaker 4: It was like ridiculous. I don't like to have this
Speaker 4: kind of production. Insane. No, I never really got to
Speaker 4: see what I did behind the scenes, Like when everyone
Speaker 4: else was literally resting, partying and everything, I was in
Speaker 4: my hotel room working on my live arrangement, tapping up
Speaker 4: my stage, pot typing up what I want, styling wine,
Speaker 4: tapping up all of that, and then having meetings with
Speaker 4: every department, Like I never got to rest o what's what?
Speaker 4: Like I had to work four times as that as
Speaker 4: everyone because I didn't have a voice like everybody else,
Speaker 4: and because I wasn't getting the single songs I could
Speaker 4: show off my voice. So yeah, I wish people had
Speaker 4: gotten to see that sign and got into meet the
Speaker 4: people who deserve their credit, Andy the sound guy, and
Speaker 4: you know, and Andy the girl who styled me, and
Speaker 4: all those different people in Erica and Leally like Mitch,
Speaker 4: so many dope people that people wanted to get to know.
Speaker 1: This well, I think you're just so amazing. I think
Speaker 1: we've only just seen the tip of the iceberg with
Speaker 1: what it is that you can do. I think Australia
Speaker 1: is going to be in your audience for a very
Speaker 1: long time. I thoroughly enjoyed watching you take these risks
Speaker 1: on this show. I think that the show themselves should
Speaker 1: be very happy that we've been able to say a
Speaker 1: new story. And yeah, I think you should be very
Speaker 1: proud of what you've done to this show.
Speaker 4: Thank you. I'm just so happy that I got to
Speaker 4: do something for the dreamers. Like all I've been saying
Speaker 4: all the week is literally dream big enough to take
Speaker 4: out of your small town so you can become big
Speaker 4: enough to feed them, and stop saying is just something
Speaker 4: I want to live by. I just want to inspire generation.
Speaker 4: I want to become an artist who just does more
Speaker 4: than perform and make music, like I genuinely keep telling people,
Speaker 4: I want to build hospitals. I want to make a
Speaker 4: clothing brand and put clothing people who come afford them,
Speaker 4: and just do so much more, Like this is so
Speaker 4: much bigger than me, and I hope I just really
Speaker 4: make a positive impact on the span. Oh.
Speaker 1: I think you will. I think you will.