As mentioned above – and as he revealed to Digital Journal back in January – March saw the release of the third and final single off Matt Henry’s acclaimed 2013 EP Life by Proxy.
“It’s a really personal song,” explains the constantly-touring troubadour, “and it got a lot of response when we played it live. When we were recording it, it was very close to my heart, thematically, and I was clear on how I wanted to record it and what I did and didn’t want on the track. It’s been a favourite of mine since I wrote it.”
The song wasn’t initially going to be released as a single, but the reaction it has received, coupled with the success it has enjoyed sales-wise (the track has become the most downloaded song off the Anthony Lycenko-produced EP), encouraged Matt to not only release it, but also to make an accompanying video.
He continues, “People really seemed to relate to the lyrics, so it became a single based on that. With Spotify and iTunes, it was clear, even from the start, that this song was a popular one – more popular than the others. Because it’s a slower song, I wasn’t sure that it was going to be a radio-friendly single, but we decided we should do it if everyone else liked it.”
Discussing the origins of the tune, Matt notes, “It was borne out of the fact that I’d played music when I was younger and then stopped playing, basically through absolute sheer terror and fear of being a musician. I’d never sung live in front of people and it was something that I wasn’t able to do until I was 33, 34, when I decided I really had to go and play in front of people if I was ever gonna make it as a singer!
“When I started doing it, I was having panic attacks whenever I went anywhere, but I always felt fine at home, so I decided if I could take the best part of home with me, which was the feeling that I had when I was there, then I would be okay.
“It led to the line ‘home’s not a place, it’s a feeling,’ and if I took the best part of home with me, which was the thought of my girlfriend and her support, then I’d be ‘home every time I was gone.'”
In January, Matt appeared at the Tamworth Festival and for the second year running staged his Late Nite Alt showcase.
“It went really well for about the first five or six days,” he says of the whole festival experience, “and then I started getting a bit crooked because it’s a long week out there and I’d been having late nights. I was doing this Late Nite Alt showcase that ran for three nights and some nights we didn’t end till two in the morning. I’m getting a bit old for that!”
Last year, some major stars of Aussie country, such as Kasey Chambers and Lachlan Bryan, made surprise appearances at the fledgling, but rapidly growing, event (last year it was for one night only) that is to continue in 2016. Did it throw up any surprises this year?
“Yeah, it did. The first night, the second or third act on was Shane Nicholson. Harmony James came and played on the first night too. We had Lachlan Bryan and The Wildes, so that was fantastic – and that kept happening every night.
“Marlon Williams, I think probably he was the star of the whole festival, really, because he’s so enormously talented, and he came and played two nights, very generously. It was packed every night and it was a lot of fun.”
Life By Proxy is available now on iTunes.
A full Matt Henry album should be out later in the year.
For more information on this rising star, visit his official website.
