X Factor winner Reece Mastin on Wolf in the Woods national tour with Michael Paynter
AFTER spending a year in the chart wilderness, The X Factor winner Reece Mastin believes he has found the answer and declares he is back.
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After spending a year in the chart wilderness, Reece Mastin is finally chasing his rock dream.
While the 19-year-old Mastin’s early post-X Factor win singles — including Good Night and Shout It Out — were chart-toppers, his venture into the pop rock territory of 5 Seconds of Summer and The Vamps left fans cold.
Mastin’s last single Girls (Around The World) managed a disappointing peak of No. 59.
“What 5 Seconds and The Vamps do may be classified as rock on radio but there’s a big difference between rock and pop rock and I am trying to go a bit more to the dark side of things,” he said.
“I have struggled in the past to be really, really proud of what I was doing because I knew what I wanted to do.”
Mastin has given his Lil Rockers fans a taste of his brand of guitar-driven music via the free download Wolf In The Woods, ahead of a national tour to road test new songs.
“People wouldn’t believe me if I kept trying to do pop and when we did this release, a lot of the fans said ‘Thank god,” he said.
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Australian rock’s first family is also helping the 19-year-old singer and songwriter to navigate the next phase of his career, with Mahalia Barnes and her husband Ben Rodgers often performing in his band. Rodgers has also become one of his trusted co-writers.
“There’s no official title for what Mahalia does; she’s taken me under her wing and I have squirmed my way into the family,” he said.
“And Jimmy gives me the kind of advice you just couldn’t buy. It’s reassuring when these people say they believe in you.”
His No. 1 supporter remains actress girlfriend Rhiannon Fish who he started dating two years ago after she co-starred in the Shout It Out video. Mastin joked that it had been a slow process to win her over to his musical tastes so he could control the car stereo playlist.
“She gets first say and she is brutal,” Mastin says. “I have brought songs home to her and she has no problem telling me if she doesn’t like it.”
Joining him in his band for the Wolf In The Woods national tour is The Voice finalist Michael Paynter, who Mastin says is already competitive with him in rehearsals.
“His voice is close to someone like John Farnham while I just belt it and hope something comes out,” Mastin said.
“The whole session we were trying to one-up each other and I love that, someone on stage making me try to sing better.”
The Wolf In The Woods tour kicks off in Perth on September 27 and includes a show at The Metro in Sydney on October 3.
For all dates, reecemastinofficial.com
Originally published as X Factor winner Reece Mastin on Wolf in the Woods national tour with Michael Paynter
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