Exclusive Q&A with Dean Lewis
Dean Lewis
The Australian Artist Says Hello To His World Tour.
As Australian singer-songwriter Dean Lewis rides the wave (or maybe we should say "Waves") of the multi-format smash "How Do I Say Goodbye", he says hello to a massive world tour reaching his native Australia, New Zealand, all over Europe and finally Canada through May. While U.S. dates haven't been released yet, Lewis promises they are coming. He recently departed Los Angeles after an extended stay with a special one-off acoustic show at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever that sold out in minutes (and singers Parson James, Anson Seabra, and Hayd were there in the crowd).
The "Be Alright" singer released his sophomore album, 'The Hardest Love', back in November, written and recorded mainly in Nashville, London, and Los Angeles. It follows his 2019 debut, award-winning 'A Place We Knew', an album that introduced fans to "7 Minutes", "Chemicals", "Stay Awake", "Waves", and "Be Alright", the song that earned Lewis status in the Spotify Billions Club, with 3.8B streams. His growing global success is hitting its stride with relatable songs like a pair about the same girl, the heartfelt "All For You", and the more up-tempo "Looks Like Me", which is actually a tune about rejection. "Scares Me" offers a rolling piano theme while Lewis pours his heart out about two people considering separate paths, "Hurtless" is a flashback of a past relationship, and the title track "The Hardest Love", a bittersweet guitar-strummed ballad about a family friend and love in the purest form.
Dean Lewis just played last week in Jakarta, Indonesia, and he heads home to Australia in March with a new batch of songs and witty stories he shares with fans, illuminating his journey through life and love, through bright spots and darker ones. The Dean Lewis connection with fans is unique because he pours his soul into performances, encouraging fans to sing along and creating conversation. Lewis also loves the songwriting process, and his quirks while playing piano or guitar seem only to add character to the live experience. Lewis spoke with IndieWavves ahead of his LA acoustic show about his nerves going into the evening, his brand new Tiesto remix of the hit song "How Do I Say Goodbye", and the constant drive artists seek to find something better and more significant.
IndieWavves: We have to talk about "How Do I Say Goodbye"; it was a standout during your Sad Boi Summer Winter Tour, and it's one of those stops-you-in-your-tracks songs. Did you ever imagine that this song would be a hit or that it would resonate with fans?
Dean Lewis: For me personally, I think it's the best song I've ever done. Things hadn't worked —the last four songs we put out preceding that. And I put out a song before that called "Hurtless" that I thought would be a follow-up to "Be Alright", and it didn't really do anything. So when I put "How Do I Say Goodbye" out, I was like, I don't know what will happen here, but this is the best thing I've got. The thing is, what's weird about the song is the melodies and the chorus; it's so pop and soul —it's so big and epic, but weirdly the lyrics perfectly matched the melody. It all worked and said exactly what I wanted to say, almost like when a puzzle fits together. I knew it was special —the guy who produced that with me told me that his girlfriend said, "that's the song my girlfriend keeps humming the chorus for". And I was like, "yeah, but it's like a really depressing song", and I started hearing that from people. People would always connect to that one, and when I played it live, it was just one of those songs, and it had that little sprinkling of something on it. People would say to me on my team; it's a song about someone. It's really about having to say goodbye; it's not actually about death, but that you might actually have to say goodbye to someone, but they were like, "do you really want to put this out with Covid and all this stuff happening?" It was delayed a long time, but it was always the song that we knew was the best one that I had and weirdly in my mind, the only time that's happened before was when I put out "Be Alright". That's the only other time where everyone on all the teams worldwide was like this is the song. Everyone knew "How Do I Say Goodbye" was kind of the one. It was 2022 when I put it out, a few months ago. It's a world of TikTok now, where you can have the best song in the world if it doesn't connect, but fans connected to it. I think it touched on something that not many songs are written about. I believe, in a way, it's almost easier to connect, but I feel like in that genre of songs, it's one of the ones that really defined it for people.
IW: The song can conjure up so much for many different people. Don't you think the timing of the release is especially perfect? Part of the song's universal appeal is that it makes you appreciate what you have.
DL: My actual fear now that I think about it is, will people listen to this again? I knew people would listen to it once, but would they click repeat? Then I read a statistic on this blog that said people listen to sad songs 800 times and happy songs 150 times. I'm like butchering those numbers, but that was the gist of the thing. So I was like, ok, it does have a chance. And then people just kept listening, and the comments on YouTube —like serious comments— connect the song to people they've lost; it's becoming part of their lives. I have so many comments like, "we played this at my brother's funeral", or "my mother's funeral", or "my dad's funeral", and it's like oh, this song is helping them get through it, but it's also becoming a memory or connected to someone they love. I've been doing this for maybe six years now, and it's one of those songs that connect, and it's going to hang on to people as opposed to come and go as many songs do now. So it's really cool to see this connecting to people and helping people.
IW: This song puts you in a small circle of company that includes Lewis Capaldi, Sam Smith, Adele, and only a few others who have been able to capture something that happens with delicate ballads.
DL: Thank you, I'm just like the more faceless version of them. Weirdly, you see some of these other people, and they really connect the song to, like, the fans, and I think one thing I struggle with is connecting my face to everything I'm doing. But you know, even with this song, for instance, it blew up on TikTok, but it's never me at the forefront, and it's something I've come to accept. I'm a song guy, and I write songs. I have my hardcore fans, but I'm not one of those star artists where people are just drawn in. People are more drawn to me for my songs, and it's really cool to get that, so I appreciate that as well.
IW: You have the rare ability in your shows to tell stories about the songs, elevating the storytelling with something witty and often adding some context and emotion to the meaning behind the music. Do you enjoy the banter?
DL: I realized very early on when I played "Be Alright" at showcases; when I was trying to get a record deal, no one would sign me. What more did I need to write even when I played that song? I realized that when I told the story for the song about singing the message on the phone, people would lean in, so I really like telling my stories in a weird, anxious, rambling way. People tend to like it.
IW: How did "How Do I Say Goodbye" come to be remixed by Tiesto?
DL: I've always loved Tiesto and don't even know how it came together. They just told me Tiesto can remix the song, and they're like, "do you want it?" And I'm like, "yeah". It's one of those things, now there are so many versions of things, but it's just really cool. No one knows this, but I was a sound guy for a music T.V. channel ten years ago, way before I had a record deal. I was at Universal Music doing an interview with Tiesto, and I had the boom up, and I was holding the boom, but the audio was almost corrupted on my S.D. card, and I told the producer person that I almost screwed up the interview with him. I ended up saving the stuff, but I interviewed him in the past when I had nothing. It's really cool to come back around and do a song with him.
IW: It's great to see the evolution of this song. It will be interesting to hear you perform your songs acoustic, with no other musicians, right?
DL: Just me on the piano and guitar. It will be interesting, and I'm kind of nervous cause I've played with a band for so long. And I do songs on my own, obviously, but I have to try and relearn some, like how do I play these acoustically? But it's going to be fun. I did this for three years before I had a band, just me, so I'm kind of going back.
IW: So you have a massive tour around your home country of Australia and nearby New Zealand; it's summer there currently, which is cool. Then you head across Europe and then to Canada. Any plans for a U.S. return?
DL: We're about to announce the American one; I think it's later in the year. It's just crazy, man; my whole life, I've looked at other artists and felt a bit like if my songs are doing really well, why is my touring a lot smaller than other people's? And it's finally hit a point where I'm doing 10,000 capacity in Cologne, an arena in Australia, an arena in Denmark, and they're all selling out. It's just a pinch-me moment. In America, it's a lot smaller, like in the U.K. and Australia and Europe, the shows are much bigger, and it's kind of weird cause in America, we do theaters. And Canada is surprisingly big for me. America is a tough place, and it's just so big. These shows are so big in Europe, and I'm excited to do them because I feel like I've finally hit the place I've always dreamed of. Getting to play arenas at 10,000 capacity and selling out, it's crazy to me. I'm just really excited to do it this year, and everything is selling out. Three years after "Be Alright", where things slowed down, I thought I'd missed my moment, and then "How Do I Say Goodbye" has given me this second chance, and I really feel it. Now all the shows are selling out, and I think I have more perspective, and I know what comes with success afterward because there's no way to maintain that forever. I could have a song straight after this one, or I might have nothing for a year, but I know that great art always finds a way. So I think I have a more realistic understanding of things and understand that a moment that's here is not necessarily a moment that's guaranteed, and this might be the biggest it ever gets for me. Still, I have goals, have continued writing, and want to keep it growing.
IW: An artist tweeted something about the day after Valentine's Day being weird, and the same can be said for the day following the Super Bowl. A career has ebbs and flows and always has ups and downs. It's interesting to hear about how a big hit impacts a musician's career.
DL: Yeah, and it never stops if you have a kind of mentality of, like, always looking up. Successful people (although I feel like you can't talk about this as much now) generally always look up. It's like the key to unhappiness, but success, at least in my world, has never been being satisfied with what you're doing and constantly pushing yourself. It's the key to unhappiness, it really is, but if you're always pushing yourself and it's never enough because there's always someone doing better than you. I remember I watched Ed Sheeran's documentary, and he was kind of looking up at Adele and said this album better be —and it's like you're Ed Sheeran, you're literally the biggest artist in the world, and you're still looking to beat someone. That's what it takes, I think, but there's no happiness in that, but I feel like you have to get there, and then you can sort of adjust and realize it's not everything, and it's unsustainable to be burning yourself out constantly. So many people probably look at my streams and say you have 21M monthly listeners; that's my dream. And it would have been my dream, but it's always like looking up, and I'm trying to chill that a little bit.
IW: What do you think about Australia as a hub for talent? There are so many talented singers and actors from there right now.
DL: You got 5SOS; you've got Sia. I don't know; maybe we just overrepresent a little bit. Americans love Australians in general. I feel like you don't take us seriously, and it's amusing. I feel like you kind of see us as kangaroo-riding, small town —but I think Americans are endeared by it, and also, you love our accents.
IW: You mentioned you wrote your recent album, 'The Hardest Love', in Nashville, in L.A. on the Sunset Strip, and in London. Can you talk about writing in all these cities that are not your hometown?
DL: Yeah, I did most of my first album in London, and I did this album in Nashville. I got a place in Nashville, so I kind of lived there, but I don't really live anywhere cause I'm touring all the time. Jon Hume is a guy I, like all my big songs, do together. He lives in Nashville, so we did some stuff there, and L.A. I did some of it in London with Nick [Atkinson] and Edd [Holloway]. I love L.A., I don't go out, I just go for runs in the morning, and then I go to the coffee shops, sit in the sun, and then go to Malibu, and I write, and I just love the feeling of everything. I love the sun, and it's just a really inspiring place. And also, the girl I wrote many of my songs about lives in L.A. as well. I just love the vibe here.
Written by Michael Menachem
Photos by Victoria Smith