By Arne Sjostedt
There can be no denying Chris Sebastian is the real deal. After slaying his second take at impressing the country on this year’s season of The Voice, he feels like he has finally been given the right to step out from behind his brother’s imposing shadow.
Like most victories of the personal and professional kind, this is the result of years of hard work. His first appearance on the show was in 2012, and since then he has put in the graft, managing his studio, developing artists and performing as often as he can.
And the confidence that so much stage time and personal growth has given him made sure he was on a strong footing when he fronted up again for this year’s season of the show.
Now how things have changed.
Going from not being able to get meetings with labels, feeling like people weren’t prepared to give him a chance, “As far as confidence and things like that goes, I owe all of that to the slog,” Sebastian says.
“I went from the first season to playing in pubs to five people and learning how to not only deal with that, but to put on the best show for them,” he says.
Today, having toured for the past three years with Peking Duc, Sebastian has learned to back himself and realised he has more to offer than even he thought he did.
“I’ve played in front of pretty much every music festival that exists,” he says.
Since his win, Sebastian has been busy writing and recording “pretty much every day.”
Prior to his victory, Sebastian had mostly written and produced for himself. With doors finally opening, he has been given the opportunity to work with some serious industry professionals.
“That’s been one of the highlights,” he says. “I do my best work when I’m working with other people.”
Celebrating his victory and getting out in front of people for the first time since COVID 19, he is supporting album The Complete Collection that dropped following his victory on The Voice.
Having said that, most of the night will be his own music, though making sure he works in songs that audiences enjoyed seeing him perform on the show.
“I would love to get as many people in the rooms as we can,” the singer says of this run of dates.
“The important thing is to keep the industry going.”
Making sure the format allows complete social distancing, this musician is keen for people to head out and see him do what he does best.
Chris Sebastian plays The Street Friday 23 October. Tickets $49. See The Street for more information