Mackay musician Matty Surha honours late mother’s legacy to battle ‘hardest time of my life’ after 2019 passing

Mackay musician Matty Surha is honouring his late mother’s legacy in an effort to battle ‘hardest time of my life’ with personal tragedies pushing him outside his own zone.

Matty Surha performing at The Dispensary, 2021. Picture: Matty Surha

Mackay’s newest music sensation has overcome an introverted personality to honour the legacy of his late mother through the expression of performance.

Matty Surha was raised in a household with guitar-playing father David and music-teaching mother Kate, who both influenced Surha’s decision to begin playing the guitar.

“At family get-togethers my parents were the parents that played music,” Surha said.

“Mum taught me everything at the start, she played live music as well and had that musical understanding and ability to teach because of her background.”

As an Indigenous Australian, Surha performed cultural dancing as a child, but his introverted personality stopped him from playing music live.

“When I’m by myself it’s pretty hard to get in front of a crowd, but when it comes to cultural dancing I managed to block everything out and the nerves went away,” he said.

“It was performing with other people that really helped, but when you’re on stage you’re by yourself, so it’s pretty nerve-racking.”

In 2019 two of Surha’s biggest influencers, Kate and cousin Richard, passed away within four months of each other.

“That was the hardest time in my life,” Surha said.

“I’ve always wanted to have the opportunity to be really confident in how I perform, but at that time I faced some barriers.

“After they passed I started looking at it in a different way, I thought to myself ‘what have I got to lose’, so I started to take singing lessons for about a year.”

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Surha’s singing lessons gave him confidence in his ability to perform, with the chance to honour his mother’s legacy a motivating factor for getting on stage.

“After my first performance I felt really good about myself, it gave me a big confidence boost to get on stage,” Surha said.

“Once you get up there you feel fine, and now I’ve been doing it a while I’m just enjoying doing it.”

Surha has only performed acoustic covers of songs for now, but said he hoped to write and perform originals in the future.

“I’d love to write my own music and share my own story, but it’s pretty tough to open up and share experiences,” he said.

“I’m an open book, but if it’s really deep and personal I’m not too sure how I’d feel about letting everyone in.

“It’s a talent in itself to write and share poetry.”

Surha’s next performance is on Friday at Moss on Wood.

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Originally published as Mackay musician Matty Surha honours late mother’s legacy to battle ‘hardest time of my life’ after 2019 passing