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Interview and Photos by: Orchee Sorker | October 3, 2023 | Nashville, TN
HAZZE MEDIA chatted with Dean Lewis at Brooklyn Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee. Dean shares his tour experience, the process behind his latest single “Trust Me Mate”, his daily philosophy he lives by, and his plans after tour.
How are you doing? How has tour been?
I'm great. Tour's been amazing. Today's been a bit brutal because there's so many things we're doing before the show. It's been just the best tour ever. A year and half ago, we did a tour in America after COVID and everything was really low. The tickets were low and I was like, “Oh my God, is it all over?” Now, “How Do I Say Goodbye?” blew up again. To be able to come back and to play to like a thousand people every night has been just the best. It's been amazing.
Since it’s been about two weeks of tour, what has been the most meaningful fan interaction you’ve had?
So many people have been coming up after the shows and telling me about how “How Do I Say Goodbye?” has impacted them. Someone asked me for a tattoo of my new song “Trust Me Mate” last night, which was very cool because the song just came out. A kid came up to me last night and said that his dad died two years ago and he was like 15. He said this song had changed his life and was so appreciative. It was a very special moment.
Why is it called The Future Is Bright Global Tour?
It’s something I say to my fans all the time. I just always think that if you keep moving forward, things get better. It's a philosophy that I have. Even if sometimes life sucks, it's just something I say to my fans.
Your latest single “Trust Me Mate” came out about a week ago. Honestly thankful for this timing and it has helped me. I have seen some of your reels and posts about the meaning behind it but wanted to hear about how that song came to be?
After “How Do I Say Goodbye?” and looking back at everything, I only really want to write songs that really mean something to me. Something that I've dealt with in my life. These periods in my life where I've been on top, and then on periods when I feel like everything's over…attaching my worth to success and failure. I've had such highs and lows in my career and life that I wrote this song about having friends that can pull you up when you're feeling low, remind you who you are, even remind myself who I am. It's also a little bit about other friends that I've helped up, and people who have been battling addiction. It was just a big combination of all those things.
I saw that you co-produced it with Jon Hume. Did you write it here in Nashville?
We wrote it in Los Angeles. We wrote “How Do I Say Goodbye?” in Nashville a few years ago.
Do you think this song is different from anything else you’ve written before?
For me, I want to own the box. People will tell artists to go write something completely different, but I want to create a signature sound that sounds like me. So, I've gone more into that. I haven't written a song about this particular subject before.
I also watched the music video. It was beautifully done and I felt like all the emotions were captured. What was the process behind the video? Did you come up with a storyline or did the director take the lead in that? Was the fire in the beginning CGI? Was the firetruck shot real?
Basically this is what happened…they couldn't find any music video directors for me. They said we're going to have to film the music video in like a month, and I said there's no way I'm going to have anyone. I called David Kushner because I loved his video. I said, “Do you know anyone who can film a video next week?” He gave me the number of the Altar8 Studios who did his video. I called Landon from Altar8 on the phone and I said, “Can you do a music video next week?” Then, I sent the song, and they sent back the concept. It blew my mind because they're so incredible and came up with something meaningful. We planned it over the weekend and we filmed it the next day.
Yeah, it was CGI. The firetruck was real. That was me running. That was very dangerous actually.
What is one life motto/advice you live by?
I'm trying to work on detaching effort from result. You can put all the effort in and you succeed or you fail. Or you put no effort in and you don't care. I'm trying to put all the effort in, suppose writing a song, but then letting go of how it does. I have this fundamental belief in my life that great art finds a way. Doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be the biggest song in the world, but it might be. It might be big in Denmark. But if you make something great, whatever that is, it will find its own little path. So that's my philosophy.
People usually ask, “Who inspires you?” but wanted to flip the question and ask “Who do you hope to inspire?”
To be honest, I write songs very selfishly. I just write them for myself. I don't write them for anyone. The moment you write a song for someone else, you can hear the fakeness in it. I just hope that people like it. I hope I'm inspiring other singer songwriters. I had a guy last night come up to me and ask me how to write songs. He was writing songs, but was asking “what do I do next?” I gave him some advice. Hopefully, I'm inspiring some people…some young male singer songwriters and helping them.
What’s next? What can fans expect after the tour? Do you have any upcoming music or projects?
I've got the album's going to come early next year. I've got so many songs, I'm not going to stop releasing them. I'm so excited right now, I just want to keep rolling!
Thank you so much for your time! Hope the show goes great tonight and you have a phenomenal time in Nashville!
Thank you!
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