The Curse of Idol-ness

Editor of About Christian Music, Mark Tulk, caught up with Matt Corby at Easterfest recently and managed to pull the Australian Idol runner-up away from a hoard of adoring teenage girls just long enough to find out how he was shaping up post-Idol...

Mark Tulk: Matt, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with me today! First up, how does it feel to have a big banner right there over the street with your face on it?

Matt Corby: [Laughter] Dude, that's the worst ever when you come into a town -- like it's only happened twice -- but you arrive somewhere and there's your name in really big letters... one of the first things I want to do is climb up the tree and tear it down! But yeah... you know, it's very embarrassing actually. But it's up there and it's gonna stay there for the weekend, so that's all right. I can deal with that.

Mark Tulk: As you know, AboutChristianMusic.com is concerned with asking some pretty big and often unanswerable questions like 'what is Christian Music?'. Off the top of your head, what do you think it is, or perhaps, should be?

Matt Corby: I think it's more up to the person themselves you know. Christians express things in their own way and in their own style and genre. There's actually so many forms of 'secular' Christian music... if you get what I mean. Like you've got your whole 'hardcore' scene, you've got your acoustic scene and then there's the epic bands like Switchfoot and U2... I suppose Switchfoot are more blatantly Christian, they're more obvious, but there are bands like U2 that have these religious undertones that are very strong, but it's still 'secular'. It's a really broad question, but it pretty much comes down to the artist and their take on their relationship with God and their relationship with their music.

Mark Tulk: Having done Australian Idol, was it easy to be a Christian in that environment?

Matt Corby: Yeah, it was fairly easy 'cause you were with a whole bunch of other people who also needed their own space, so you have quite a lot of time to yourself, and that sort of almost forces you to become dependant on your own beliefs and -- because you're away from church -- not be upheld just by that structure... you know, you get to be really involved with your own relationship with God. It becomes a whole lot more personal. It was really good. It was really interesting to see what happened with my relationship and how it was strengthened and stretched... it was great.

Mark Tulk:You said at the public press conference earlier that you were doing some writing yourself. Where do you think your own material will fit? Will it be marketed as 'Christian' or 'Secular'?

Matt Corby: I think it'll be one of those Sufjan [Sufjan Stevens] things, where he's very much in the secular world but stands so firmly to his beliefs. Hopefully one day I can get to his standard! I'm still not quite sure yet... still figuring it all out, so it's going to be interesting to see in the next couple of years what happens.

Mark Tulk: With all the attention you've received, how do you cope with that personally? Your life must have changed a huge amount... how do you cope?

Matt Corby: Dude, it's been really hard for me 'cause I'm naturally very shy. That sounds weird 'cause I'm a performer... but I don't have heaps of friends... I'd actually rather hang out with myself in a room with my guitar than go to a party, so it's weird when these people come up to you on the street knowing so much about your life -- even more than you sometimes! I had a few people come up to me the other day and they asked me how my girlfriend was... and I was like 'what!?'. 'How do you know about that?' So it's kinda crazy and it's very hard to deal with sometimes 'cause you just want to be left alone I guess. But I think it's the price you pay.

Mark Tulk: So would you say you are happy with the position you're in now, post Idol? All of this media attention has happened reasonably quickly... do you have any regrets?

Matt Corby: Definitely, you know. If I was happy with the position I'm in now, I wouldn't be trying so hard to change.

Mark Tulk: What do you mean, specifically?

Matt Corby: Musically... the impression I give off musically. A lot of people seem to have a very wrong impression of me musically. That competition [Idol] was a covers competition -- a karaoke competition really. All we had to do was sing covers... I just went and played the game and tried to fit into every genre I could. I think people had a pretty warped vision of my style 'cause no-one had heard my own music. I've played a couple of my own songs this weekend and some people have hated it, some people have said it was all right. It's very refreshing to play my own stuff and go 'this is what I'm about, this is my style'. So there are regrets 'cause there are many false impressions and that's something I'm fighting to change.

Mark Tulk: Going back to all the media attention you've received... do you think that's made you suspicious of people now? Like do you find yourself thinking 'maybe this person's being nice to me 'cause they just want something from me, or just want to be associated with me in some way'?

Matt Corby: Yeah, I found that after the show I became very cynical, especially concerning certain relationships I had with people. I am very suspicious of some of my mates. Soon after I'd done well on the show it was like 'dude! how's it going, let's go out and have coffee'. But, you know, it's pretty easy to sense who's genuine or not. I'm really glad that I'm somewhat discerning with stuff like that. And with like media, I just don't do it at all anymore. I haven't done an interview in four months.

Mark Tulk: Man, thanks so much for doing this! I really appreciate it!

Matt Corby: No, that's fine, it's all good. Just 'cause everything I say is always misconstrued or twisted to make me look like a jerk or an idiot... so, you know that's just how the media rolls. So my advice to anyone reading a gossip magazine would be to not believe anything that is said... not one word of it 'cause it's all just a bunch of... stuff...

Mark Tulk: Does that make you angry? Where are you with it now? What do you feel when you read something that's totally incorrect?

Matt Corby: It used to get me really riled up. I once tried calling a magazine and a newspaper and Channel Nine actually. I was so angry at them! 'Like, you can wreck someone's life by doing this, I'm just a kid!'. I was ready to get my guns out! No, not really, but you know... I used to get really upset and Mum and Dad used to get really upset as well. And it was a really hard time, 'cause the media could think you're being fake... that's just like a given, 'cause a lot of artists will be really lovely to the media, but in reality they'd be quite the opposite. So they're probably pretty skeptical of artists and people that come through... like 'he's probably really a jerk'.

Mark Tulk: Like, 'he seems nice, but...'

Matt Corby: Yeah, that's right! So, they use their own discernment and it's not always right. I used to get really riled up but I just don't read it anymore. If anything's written about me, or someone's said something about me I just cop it on the chin and just keep going. I try not to look at it.

Mark Tulk: As far as where you'd like to go with your music... your career... have you thought much about that? Ideally, where would you like to be in a few years' time? You're still only seventeen, is that right?

Matt Corby: Yeah. I'd really love to be writing, not just for myself but for other people. And hopefully just have a bit of credibility... 'cause the thing with Idol is that it strips you of your credibility in a sense. There's this Australian standard that you have to do things a certain way and if you don't follow that, it's almost like you're an outcast. A lot of 'Idols' feel that way, even though they're amazing singers. Take for example Guy Sebastian... I'm really good mates with him, and he can literally sing anyone under the table... he's such an amazing singer. Probably one of the best in Australia at the moment. But he just doesn't get the recognition that he should 'cause he was from the show. And he's been trying hard for five years to break that mindset people have, but it's just really frustrating 'cause people just can't see it for what it is. But that's all right... it's all a journey I guess.

Mark Tulk: Any plans to tour at all?

Matt Corby: No, nothing at all really. I'm keen on getting some tracks written and just having something that I'm proud of out there, in hardcopy. That's about it really, which is cool... so I'm aiming for that. Nothing as far as gigging or anything like that. I'll do the occasional gig, and I love playing festivals like this [Easterfest]-- it's been so much fun.

Mark Tulk: Okay, now one final question. You may have touched on this already, but do you think that, for everything Idol has done for you, it's been worth the cost?

Matt Corby: This is going to sound funny, but I'd say definitely not! If you're really good enough, like if you're a good enough artist, song writer, singer... you get there. So I don't actually think it is, but that's just my opinion.

Mark Tulk: Thanks again for your time Matt!

Matt Corby: Thank you, it was great talking to you!

www.australianidol.com.au/matt-corby-profile.html