Emerging talent within the Aussie soul scene Don West is bringing his unique school of charm and sepia-tinted vocals to a stage near you.
Touring across Australia to celebrate the release of his self-titled debut EP, West will be setting stages alight across Brisbane, Byron Bay, Sydney and Melbourne – and even making his way to Europe, in a Copenhagen performance that will see him sharing a stage with pop voice of the moment, Chappell Roan.
Calling in from the east coast, he is as smooth and breezy over the phone as he is onstage. Speaking of his upcoming full-length album, as yet untitled, “I’m very excited about it,” he says. “I just tightened the screws at the start of the year.”
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Recorded in the middle of 2024 with a close friend of his, shut off in a makeshift studio for two months in the depths of a particularly miserable winter, making the album was something of a bleak experience.
As a result, he admits, “There are a lot of dark songs in there. It’s very different to the first EP, but there’s also some good energetic stuff. I’m just excited to get some music out; to keep the wheels turning, if you will.”
Speaking of his early inspiration as a musician he emphatically underlines, “I’ve always loved soul.” He was raised on a healthy diet of blues music, due to the influence of his brother, for which he expresses some gratitude.
Were it up to his father, Don’s tastes would have cantered toward more mainstream touchstones such as AC/DC. “Thank goodness for my brother,” he adds wryly.
One of the most significant guideposts of his early musical education was Marvin Gaye. “I remember listening to one of his live albums. It was insane,” he reflects. “You can hardly hear the music because it was just women screaming throughout the whole album, which I thought was pretty cool…”
Much of Don’s speech follows this ponderous, lyrical style, often concluding sentences with elliptical pauses. It echoes his invitational performances. Both in speech and in song, Don West is incredibly cool.
As to his breakthrough gig this August, performing at the Syd For Solen music festival, Don has his “very hard-working agent” to thank for that. “I’m excited,” he admits. “Never been on a lineup like that.”
The artists he is performing alongside are those he has seen before and greatly admires, leaving him “honoured to be on the same poster” on the upcoming European summer circuit. “It’s a good look,” he says of sharing print space with Chappell Roan. “Good optics.”
Born and raised in Sydney’s northern beaches – “Manly Beach, to be exact” – Don’s upbringing has been a major influence on his music. Indeed, it’s where almost all of his writing takes place, either on the couch in his living room or under the sun in the local park.
“My manager loves to call my music a sub-genre of soul, and that’s called ‘coastal soul’. It reminds you of the beach and the sunshine, you know, its appeal. It’s such a vibe…” Another pause. “Yeah,” he adds reflectively.
Besides his burgeoning career as a soul singer, West is also signed as a talent to IMG Models, a pairing of career pathways he says balance one another out. Rather than having to audition for jobs, he says, “They just go, ‘You’ve got this. They want you.’”
As such, the dual role as model-musician does not represent a significant scheduling clash. “One helps the other, you know; one gives the other a leg-up. It’s a bit of fun – usually music-related shoots or campaigns… Keeps the boredom away.”
The simultaneous career pathway in modelling has not directly influenced his unique onstage persona. A compelling presence at 6’4”, broad-shouldered, and with a full mane of long, glossy brown hair, Don oozes cool in every space he performs.
His distinct personal style – vest tops and high-waisted pants – is not one that has been shaped by his background in commercial modelling, he insists. “It’s just me. I don’t really think about it; I just wear what’s comfortable, what makes me feel confident. I wear what I wear and that’s it.”
Continuing an ascendant rise within the Australian live music scene and beyond, Don West emerged – and has remained – purely and simply himself.
To see Don West at the Curtin on March 17, grab tickets here.
