By Justin RouillonMonday 11 Feb 2019Guests and ArtistsReading Time: 2 minutes
When you meet Brisbane singer Nathan Fawcett for the first time, you have that uncanny feeling that you’ve somehow known him forever.
He’s a genuine bloke, and you’re struck by his thoughtful and quietly spoken nature. However, under that quietly spoken nature belies a huge voice with something to say.
His voice has all the raw power and grit of a young Joe Cocker. A comparison could also easily be drawn with Bear Rinehart of the band needtobreathe.
Nathan Fawcett performing live with his band.
Nathan’s first memory of music is of the tribal harmonies he heard growing up in the villages of Papua New Guinea. Born to missionary parents, Nathan recalls his weekends spent in remote parts of the country as his dad built churches. “I loved that genuine worship, where it didn’t matter what you had, or who you were, and that was a really good foundation for my music.”
“There would be 6 or 7 part harmonies which would blow your mind, it was like an explosion of colour and vibrance!”
His latest single is Shoreline, which has been heavily influenced by the rhythms and harmonies Nathan heard growing up. “Over the past couple of releases I’ve been moving more and more to this style, rather than a traditional band style. I had to really find myself as an artist. Just getting more experience performing live you really start to fashion your own sound and not try to be like anyone else.”
The song is a call to step out of our comfort zone and walk boldly off the shoreline and out into the waves. It’s a reference to the biblical narrative of Peter stepping out of the boat with Jesus. Nathan says “the waves are somewhere where it’s a bit unknown, and sometimes stepping out can be a bit daunting, especially if it’s a big step.”
Nathan wants to change lives through his music.
“This song was really about my last year, stepping out into my own sound, stepping out into something that I wasn’t sure if people would relate to.”
Over the last 12 months Nathan and his band having been doing more church based gigs, with Nathan often preaching as well as singing. Nathan says he loves it, even though it is quite different from the traditional places he’s used to performing. “It’s a different audience, but it gives you a really good space to speak into peoples lives with your songs.”
Nathan performed his next single ‘Simple Love’ in the 96five studio. Check it out below, and listen to the podcast in the player at the top of the page.
You can keep in touch with what Nathan is up to at www.facebook.com/nathanfawcettmusic/