ARIA Award winning Illy to perform at Dally M Awards
ARIA Award winning muso Illy won’t be taking sides for rugby league’s biggest game of the season.
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ARIA Award winning muso Illy won’t be taking sides for rugby league’s biggest game of the season.
From Melbourne and with Storm knocked out at the weekend, Illy refused to pick a favourite between grand final teams Sydney Roosters and the Canberra Raiders.
“I am Switzerland in this one,” the muso explained ahead of performing at rugby league’s annual Dally M Awards tomorrow. “I have to stay neutral.”
The Dally M’s will see Illy perform his new single, Lean On Me, live for the first time.
Broadcast on Fox Sports, the event will be held at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion with the best in rugby league set to walk the red carpet for the annual event.
“You can’t really get caught up in who is in the room,” Illy, born Alasdair Murray, said when asked if he was nervous to perform the new track live. “I don’t fuss over that. We know how to do our performance, that is what we focus on. It is about us doing our thing.”
Lean On Me is the first taste of new music from Illy ahead of the release of his sixth studio album in 2020.
It is a very personal track, inspired by a friend going through a tough time. With that in mind, he chose to minimise his appearance in the video clip.
“I felt like if it was me performing in front of the camera for the entire time, I felt funny about it because it would make it about me,” the Papercuts singer explained.
Careful not to give too much of his friends story away, Illy revealed the past year had been tough and that he had battled depression.
“I went and spoke to someone,” he said. “I took an active role in getting better and I think it is important to be comfortable talking about it, which I am but it can take a while getting to that point.”
Illy has been a pioneer of Australian hip hop and has two ARIA Awards to his name from a total of 13 nominations.
“It is all gearing up for a big 2020,” he said. “I’ll be touring over summer at the festivals and there will be a new album.”
Originally published as ARIA Award winning Illy to perform at Dally M Awards