Royston Noell won Season 1 of the revitalised “Australian Idol” on Channel 7, signed a deal with Sony Music, released his debut single “Invincible” and will get to spend time overseas being mentored and writing new music.
The proud Thanakwith and Wagadagam man told Variety Australia that he, of course, wants his music to do well on the charts, but he also has other metrics for measuring his own success.
“I want to be able to keep crawling up the ladder of the music business here in Australia, hopefully abroad [too], but I’m just really excited for the future and just really keen to get creative and create music because I have so much that I want to say and give to the world,” he says.
He also wants to make sure he is visible, so others – whether they be First Nations people, or queer, or both – can feel seen, represented and inspired.
“I want them to be inspired and just know that we can do these things. They can have these dreams and we can go after them and they can come true, you know? I know from living in such a remote small place that all these big things seem like ‘Oh wow, we can’t do that ’cause we’re not from the city or anything like that, there’s no opportunities here’.
“But I’m a testament that if you wonk hard, it doesn’t matter where you come from. So I just want the kids to know that and just believe in themselves because there’s a lot of talent in communities in remote areas, but there’s a lot of doubt and shame business, in the Indigenous community, big shame. So I just really want to help inspire the communities and the young people.”
Next up, Noell will spend some time at home on Country, before he tries to really crack the local industry and follow in the footsteps of one of his idols, Jessica Mauboy, who first came to prominence as the runner-up of “Australian Idol” Season 6 in 2006, and is now signed to Warner Music.
“I’m so excited to go home and see all the kids, all the Elders, you know, I’m sure all the little kids will be running up to me, and be so excited and I’m just really excited to celebrate with everyone back home,” he said.
“[Then] I’m ready to come back and just really push for the single that’s out now, “Invincible”, and I have the opportunity ti go the America to work with industry people and stuff. So I’m really excited just to be creative and get in the studio and write more songs, because I have so much I want to say, give to the world.”
