Rising indie-folk star Didirri hopes his music is like a good chat with a sad friend.
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But with delicate sensibilities and a penchant for writing sombre songs, he has batted away suggestions he’s got a gloomy disposition.
“I woke up one morning a couple of months ago and I had this phrase in my head which is ‘music is for moving people or making people move’, and I’m really not making people move.”
“It’s songs from the heart, and I don’t shy away from the difficult topics.
“People will come up to me and ask me if I’m a sad man, and I always say no, but music is kind of like a healing process for me.
“When I’m happy, I just don’t want to make music.”
With a coveted spot at the Grampians Music Festival early next year and a string of sold out shows in capital cities and overseas gigs behind him, he’s been touted as the next big thing in Australia’s music scene.
Hailing from Warrnambool, Didirri was classically trained in piano from the age of four, but didn’t enjoy it until he was older.
“I absolutely detested it for a bunch of years, but at some stage it kind of tipped over,” he said.
“Lots of performers sort of have the same view that you kind of start making music because it’s the only time your brain shuts off.
“I realised I could spend a long time in front of the piano without thinking or worrying about anything.”
His EP will be out next year, with songs about Frida Kahlo and odes to his exes.
New music isn’t the only project taking up his attention, with his touring hobby paying dividends.
“People ask me at shows a lot what I do to meditate or calm down, and I’m a knitter,” he said.
“The way it goes is that my mates usually buy me wool and ask me to make something, and on my long flights I just sit there and knit.
“It’s a constant achievement, so I’m encouraging all those boys out there that think it is a particularly feminine thing to do. It’s amazing and very practical.”
With the Grampians Music Festival just around the corner, he’s said it’s a “really fun line-up”.
“Ruby Fields has been smashing it, and I’m also a bit obsessed with Polish Club’s social media at the moment.”
“They made an 90s-style infomercial which is very funny.”
“The Grampians is like an old holiday spot of mine too, so it’ll be nice to get out there again.”
Didirri will also perform at the City of Ballarat Summer Sundays on January 21.
AT A GLANCE
- Grampians Music Festival will take place on February 2-4 next year.
- Located in the Grampians National Park at Halls Gap.
- Headlined by Polish Club, Tired Lion and Ruby Fields.
- Tickets cost between $175 and $195, plus booking fee and GST. A Friday only ticket is $30+BF and GST.