In a world of musicians garnering fame and fortune all before they are legally allowed to get behind the wheel of a car, it’s always refreshing to hear that some overnight success stories take 10 years to build.
With over 7 million albums/EPs sold worldwide and 14 billion streams to date, Sydney-born songwriter Dean Lewis is undoubtedly one of Australia’s biggest exports. Yet, he will be quick to remind you that it wasn’t always that way.
Growing up with a video game controller in his hand rather than a guitar, Lewis represented Australia in Halo 2 at the World Cyber Games in 2005 before a DVD of a live Oasis gig prompted him to retreat into a world of songwriting. As the boyish-looking musician spent his early twenties attempting to write his very own Wonderwall, he was knocked back by over 30 different record labels.
Dean Lewis 2024 Australia Tour
- Oct 30 – Newcastle, The Civic Theatre (Sold out)
- Oct 31 – Brisbane, Riverstage
- Nov 2 – Sydney, ICC Sydney Theatre (Sold out)
- Nov 3 – Sydney, ICC Sydney Theatre
- Nov 5 – Hobart, Mystate Bank Arena
- Nov 7 – Melbourne, Rod Laver Arena
- Nov 8 – Melbourne, Rod Laver Arena (Sold out)
- Nov 21 – Adelaide, Adelaide Entertainment Centre
- Nov 23 – Perth, Kings Park & Botanic Garden
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“No one replied to me… I was keeping an eye on other musicians who weren’t great and I thought, Is that me? I was trying to figure out if I was good or not,” he says.
As the knockbacks continued, Lewis picked up a job in television to make ends meet and ironically began to work with the exact musicians he was trying to emulate. “I’d experienced being a sound recordist, where we’d be doing interviews with famous people and I was behind the camera and treated as if I was invisible.”
Not willing to give up on his dream, Lewis moved into his grandmother’s spare room to focus on his music career and in 2016, his persistence garnered the attention of Island Records.
Under the guidance of a major label, a career that had been stuck in stagnation for years suddenly began to gain traction, with his debut single Waves peaking at number 11 on the ARIA charts. Yet, if it was Waves that introduced Australia to a melodic and vulnerable songwriter, it was Be Alright that sent him stratospheric.
One of the many songs he had written in his grandmother’s house, the raw ode to infidelity presented Lewis to a global audience, topping the charts in numerous countries alongside going 5x platinum in the United States. Lewis’ debut album The Place We Knew followed, later winning Album of the Year at the 2019 ARIA Awards.
As he attempted to build on the success of his debut with the more pop-orientated The Hardest Love, Lewis struggled to garner the same attention. It wasn’t until sleeper hit How Do I Say Goodbye started gathering momentum that he could breathe easy again. “It’s a very interesting feeling. I remember when Be Alright blew up and things dropped off, I wasn’t getting anyone calling me back,” he says.
“My second album started flopping and then How Do I Say Goodbye came out and the phone started ringing again. People can disappear really quickly and it’s a slippery slope when you attach your self-worth to art that really is subjective.”
Now with his third album Epilogue soon to be released, Lewis has returned to a more acoustic sound that filtered through the arrangements on his debut.
“I think I did go a little more pop on The Hardest Love. It was more of a focus now to go back to a more raw sound and be more genuine. Those songs have always been the ones that connected with me.”
As a pop artist signed to a major label expecting hits, the fear of failure will always be present, yet Lewis tries not to let it affect his music. “I go between feeling pressured and trying to make what resonates with me but luckily, I am commercially driven a little bit. Just not in the sense of wanting to succeed at all cost.”
Still one of Australia’s most beloved artists, Lewis will spend his spring embarking on a mammoth east-coast tour, culminating in a two-night run at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena. “I’m very nervous about the shows. But the thing that’s worked for me in the past is I just go out there, tell my stories and try to be me.”
At 36, Lewis is aware the audience he commands could one day disappear, but for a songwriter who has spent so long dreaming of the moment he finds himself in, staying present is his biggest aim for now.
“I know this doesn’t last forever and I’m just so proud of everything. After all these years, I’m doing the biggest shows of my life. You don’t always have to be thinking ahead.”
Dean Lewis will be playing at Rod Laver Arena on November 7 and 8. Get your tickets here.
