When Bettinson first began VSC as a solo artist, he wasn’t even out of school. At only 17 years old, the reception to his work floored the then teenager, catapulting him in to a spotlight of demand and praise.
Beginning his chat with Beat, Bettinson seems shy, reserved though very well-spoken – until discussion turns to his music. Talking about the album’s impending release, Bettinson is another person. Confidence and a finely honed knowledge of his craft pour out, generated by enthusiasm – or is it relief? “It’s been two and a half years since I’ve been working on it [Revival],” he says.
“It’s really relieving more than anything. We have such a short attention span as a society these days. I was definitely worried because it’s been so long that people will have moved on and don’t really care anymore, but it’s really great to see that people are looking forward to it and have been waiting around for it all this time.”
The fans Bettinson has gathered over recent years have indeed been eagerly waiting for a full album to drop, though Bettington admits he has no explanation as to why his music has been met with such phenomenal and positive reception. “I just do what I do. I don’t try and think about it, I do what’s natural and honest to me,” he says. “It’s hard to put a pin on it – I think different people find different things about it appealing. I have a lot of people say they find it very therapeutic, very calming, relaxing, relatable, things like that, so that’s encouraging.
“It’s very liberating for me,” Bettinson continues. “Making this album and music in general, I find more than anything, it’s important to me to do this for myself otherwise I’d go crazy. To get stuff off my chest, to try out ideas, creatively express things.”
Liberation through music is, rightly so, the most important focus at this stage for Bettington. “This album in particular is about, when I was 18 I was thrown into this industry and was living in LA for a year – it’s a way for me to document the whole journey, the whole experience, the emotion that was attached to the two years.”
And what a journey it’s been. The transition from Australia to a fast-paced city like Los Angeles would be a daunting feat for most, let alone a newly graduated student. “It was hectic for sure,” Bettison says, “It’s a bit of a dog fight over there. I had no idea what I was doing at the time because I hadn’t really played music much before. There were a lot of things I had to read about and go through and understand.
“That’s what the album is about – that whole process. Finding out more about myself, where I want to be, what I want to do.”
It’s interesting to learn that in creating Revival, Bettinson didn’t necessarily answer the questions he had for himself, rather, his experience of writing the album was a way of documenting the experiences of his life as they happened. “I feel like it’s one of those weird things where, because I was writing for this album while I was making it, a lot of the songs are involved in that album making process – the ideas and emotions are from that album making process. The whole concept of the album is about everything that happened for me at the time.
“One of my favourite and probably more meaningful songs is Someone To Stay – I did this mission trip for a month right before I went in to making the album and the idea of the song is of actually being in LA, being in that competitive industry. I couldn’t believe that a place like Skid Row exists given the city is so prosperous – I found that being in a third world country and being there, it’s the same thing across humanity.”
By Anna Rose
