Rapper 360 brings his Vintage Modern tour to Frankston
ON THE eve of his Frankston gig, top rapper Matt Colwell, aka 360, has opened up about his days as a boy soprano, learning to live with crippling bipolar disorder and the competitive world of rapping.
South East
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FOR Melbourne’s Matt Colwell, aka performer 360, rapping is a sport.
“Rapping is a sport in so many ways because it’s extremely competitive in many aspects,” he said.
“For a lot of rappers, they want to be the best rapper in the world. I don’t think that’s something unreasonable to aim for.
“The more you push yourself, the better you become.”
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Colwell’s love of performing started at a young age and in an unlikely genre, particularly given that he is now one of Australia’s premier rappers.
“When I was in primary school I was in the National Boy’s Choir. I was a soprano. I loved performing. It was so much fun,” he told Leader.
Then in his early teens, Colwell started listening to rap and the rest is history.
While his days as a soprano are well and truly behind him, Colwell credits his time with the boy’s choir for giving him the confidence to perform as an adult.
“I didn’t get nervous performing (as a boy) — at that age, I didn’t feel self conscious,” he said.
Colwell noted that he still gets nerves before shows, but once he’s on stage and started the performer is “absolutely sweet”.
He has also developed strategies to help him cope with bipolar disorder.
“It’s a gift and a curse,” he said.
The manic phase, Colwell said, lent itself to creativity and “out there” ideas.
But the crushing lows were brutal and exceptionally difficult to deal with, he said.
“You can find ways to deal with it. I am way better than I used to be. It used to cripple me,” he said.
Colwell said that forcing himself to get up and moving with the adrenaline pumping was often exactly what he needed.
He is performing numbers from his critically acclaimed, ARIA-winning new album, Vintage Modern, as part of a massive national tour that brings him to Frankston.
“I write from personal experience about things I have gone through,” he said.
“The way it comes out is quick. It’s something real and honest.”
But Colwell said the heartbreaking song Tiny Angel — about friends who lost a child — took much longer and was written over two to three months.
“It took me a long time to learn about it and deliver it with the emotion of someone who has gone through it,” he said.
See 360 perform at the Pier, Frankston, on August 25.
For details, click here.
His Ballarat and Bendigo shows are sold out, but tickets are still available for his Geelong show at the Wool Exchange on Friday, August 24. For details, click here
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