The plight of the many Australian idol contestants who fall from grace after the conclusion of the show is well documented. There seems to be something about the intense public attention and instant celebrity that frequently proves too much for many ordinary Australians who become contestants.
It would appear that Matt Corby too has felt this struggle. The 25 year-old singer-songwriter today released his hugely anticipated debut album Telluric some nine years after appearing on Australian Idol, after finishing runner up to Natalie Gauci on the 2007 edition the reality television show.
Now Corby has revealed in an interview with News Corp that going on the program is a decision he regrets. Years later the decision to audition for the show sits with Corby as “big fucking mistake”, and in the interview he says that the struggle to forge his own identity post-idol was bigger than most could have seen from the outside. “I took all the negatives out of that (Idol) and thought ‘Bugger, I’ve ruined everything.'”
“I realise it didn’t really matter in the end. (But) there’s always been a public perception thing with doing a show like that, it stops people from letting themselves like what you do because it’s tainted by that,” he added.
The eighth track on the Telluric is titled We Could Be Friends, and takes direct aim at the reality TV show with lyrics including, “I’m a child star contestant on a show too overrated,” suggesting the show gives an overstated sense of worth to its contestants.
Corby also revealed to News Corp that as a result he has never really felt like he belonged to the music scene in any way, “I went on Idol and completely jeopardised myself from actually being in a music community.”
The news may come as a shock to many, given the manner in which Idol launched his career and how Corby has, especially in recent years, become one of Australia’s most loved performers. Clearly though, it hasn’t been anything remotely resembling a smooth journey, with Corby writing an entire album prior to this one before trashing it completely after returning from a tour of America in late 2014.
Then he started again, and recorded what he considers his second album in a remote wooden house near Berry on the South Coast of NSW, in a space that allowed him to swim, eat, and record at his leisure. “The house was in the middle of nowhere so I didn’t have to worry about making noise”, says Corby.
Telluric literally means “of the earth”, and despite his past struggles sees him find a bold and organic new voice, one that perhaps finally he will be happy with.
Matt Corby is touring the country to celebrate the relase of Telluric in April and May.
Matt Corby – Knife Edge
Matt Corby Telluric Tour 2016
Tuesday 12th April
Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Wednesday 13th April
Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Wednesday 20th April
QPAC Theatre, Brisbane
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Thursday 28th April
Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Sunday 1st May
Palais Theatre, Melbourne
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Monday 2nd May
Palais Theatre, Melbourne
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Thursday 5th May
Riverside Theatre, Perth
Tickets: Ticketmaster
