Welcome to Paradise: My Journey
Cody Simpson
He’s young, he’s hot and he’s set to be the biggest thing in pop – 16-year-old Cody Simpson is sending shockwaves around the world.Now, in his first official book, Cody reveals all about his meteoric rise to fame. From the beaches of Australia to touring the world with Justin Bieber, this is a must-have for any true fan.From a young age, it appeared that Cody Simpson's future was mapped out for him. A hugely talented swimmer, he was destined to compete at the highest level, representing his native Australia.But when he picked up a guitar at the tender age of 7, his life changed forever. It was clear to everyone who heard him sing and play that he had a gift, and when videos of his performances were uploaded to YouTube, the world started watching.Suddenly Cody’s life was a whirlwind of meetings with record labels and managers. He had to make a life-changing choice. Would he follow the sporty path that had been laid for him? Or would he take a terrifying risk?Cody followed his heart. And with the support of his family, who gave up everything to move to LA, the gamble paid off. Since then, Cody’s gone on to work with some of the biggest names in music – including Justin Bieber and Flo Rida – played sold-out concerts around the world, released three albums, had multiple hit singles, and appeared on dozens of major televisions shows. It’s been a whirlwind adventure for this 16-year-old – and he’s only just getting started.Jam packed with never-before-seen photos and exclusive gossip about life on and off stage, this book charts Cody’s journey from ordinary kid to superstar. It’s a story of sacrifice, risk-taking, and believing in yourself even when the odds are stacked against you.
Contents
Cover (#u1ba0bbc9-4738-5aad-9ac7-70aa1c8efd7d)
Title Page (#u6c42b0ee-05b0-5715-b4cf-f079940cdee1)
Dedication (#uf500e5ab-a63b-5415-83e2-3c3792e399df)
Introduction (#u20ab017f-4946-5b4e-85f6-eefded281a31)
Chapter 1 Gold Coast Beginnings (#u3951de52-d3a9-5c1b-8948-77ac96bae979)
Chapter 2 Two Loves (#ub6ecd136-6d1b-5db3-a5ec-1aae10e60df4)
Chapter 3 The Making of a YouTube Star (#uc89e292d-c3b5-5b6e-b4bf-4dd47b4fb6d7)
Chapter 4 Hollywood Calling (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 5 The Big Move (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 6 From Surf Waves to Radio Waves (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 7 My Music Family (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 Global Success (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 My Not-So-Glamorous Hollywood Life (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 Finding Paradise (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 On the Road (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 To the Future (#litres_trial_promo)
Conclusion (#litres_trial_promo)
Thank you (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright
About the Publisher
Dedication
I want to dedicate this book
to my family for making me
the young man i am today and
for allowing me to pursue
my dreams. i also want to
dedicate this book to all of
my angels for believing in
me and helping me make my
dreams become a reality.
WELCOME TO PARADISE
I stand behind the heavy curtain, waiting. The energy of the crowd is palpable in the air. The O2 Arena in London is swelling with nearly 20,000 fans. This is going to be the biggest concert of my life! And I can’t wait to get out on stage and give them all I have. I wait to take the stage, and think about how far I am from my beach-town roots in Australia. I am halfway around the world and about to perform in front of a huge crowd. I roll up onto the balls of my feet, adrenalin just surging through every cell in my body. It’s nearly time!
I hear the music starting, my cue. It’s my last moment of calm before the storm. I turn to my security guard Jeff and we do our handshake, like always, before I go out on stage. I take a few steps and feel the heat of the bright lights and the power of the audience’s screams.
‘It’s such an honour to be here this evening! I want to thank my mate Justin Bieber for having me here in London. And I want to thank all these beautiful fans for coming out tonight. Before I get started, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Cody Simpson.’
I have always dreamed big, but I never grew up dreaming of being a pop star. Instead, my sights were set on achieving the highest honours in competitive swimming – Olympic gold medals.
My love of the water began when I was just a few years old when my parents started taking me to swimming pools and the beach. I started swimming competitively at the age of nine and I had a natural ability, even though I was smaller and scrawnier than the other kids. I was clearly the underdog, but I worked the hardest at our practices and when I went to my first competition with my local swimming club, Miami Swim Club, I won every race. That feeling of winning after training so hard was imprinted on me from that day on. I knew anything was possible if you worked hard enough for it.
That underdog mentality has fuelled me. I never lost that drive. And eventually I even made it to the Australian Schools Swimming Nationals and won most of my events. I like to push myself to achieve new goals. I set high standards for myself. Working hard just feels natural to me. I don’t know how to not be the way I am. Ever since I was a youngster, I’ve wanted to be something extraordinary. I was never content with coming second in a race, or not trying my best. I’m still not. I always push myself to the limit.
Music came to me just as naturally as swimming. My parents introduced me to music early on. Around the house or at family gatherings, my family and friends regularly pulled out guitars and sang along to the classic country songs by Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. I loved to sit with them and feel a part of the music, even before I knew how to play guitar.
Now I’m on this incredible journey. I’ve already come a long way – from the beaches of Australia to the bright lights of Hollywood – and I have a shot to leave my mark on the music world. This book is a look back at my journey here, from the beginning. Like any meaningful achievement, getting to this point came with a lot of sacrifices and a lot of tough choices. I also know that I have worked long and hard to get here. And that might be the best feeling there is: to put in the work and see it pay off when you start achieving your goals.
People always ask: would you rather have a gold medal or a platinum record? My answer is the platinum record. Both require tremendous work and great risk – but, honestly, you can’t share a gold medal. My music is for everyone who has taken this journey with me.
You, the fans, have been there for me every step of the way, and now it’s my turn to give something back to you. I want my fans to understand me and my story. As an artist, it’s hard to show people all of the different parts that make you who you really are. This is my chance to lift the curtain and invite all of you inside my world, to see my journey and the choices that led me here – to paradise.
THE MAKING OF ME
Where we come from can have a huge impact on who we are. It sure did for me. I was born on 11 January 1997, in paradise. Actually, where I was born just feels like paradise: the Gold Coast, an ocean-side city on the south-east edge of Queensland, Australia. I grew up in a surfing culture and that laid-back mentality runs deep in my blood. Even though I’ve lived in Los Angeles for over three years, I still see my Gold Coast attitude coming through in nearly everything I do.
My hometown is closer to Tokyo and Bangkok than it is to Los Angeles, New York, or London. The area exploded in the 1980s as a hot destination for surfers, and just before I was born it became the second most populated area in Queensland, after Brisbane. It remains a major tourist spot; we’ve got a great subtropical climate, theme parks, nightlife, and a rainforest nearby – so naturally people love it. It’s rarely below 50 degrees, even in winter.
While I was growing up, Dad worked as a stockbroker and later owned his own investment company. Mum stayed home to look after us kids. After me, there’s my sister Alli, born just 15 months later. Mum certainly had her hands full with us! She says it was kind of like raising twins, because we were so close together in age. We tended to share everything and even had the same friends as we grew up. I would also look out for Alli, always making sure she was okay. She is my little sister, after all.
And then Tom came along seven years after me. I remember how excited Alli and I were the day he was born. We went straight to the hospital after school to see him. It was pretty cool for Alli and me to have another sibling, another Simpson.
Mum is amazing, so nurturing, and always there, caring for us. We had a nice, comfortable house in a cool beach-side community called Mermaid Waters where, when I was old enough, I could grab my mates and hit the surf whenever I wanted.
My life was always very family-oriented and I really like that. Mum’s side of the family lived nearby on the Gold Coast, and Dad’s family lived just an hour or so north, in Brisbane. We’re extremely close – as close as a family can be.
I saw my grandparents and cousins almost every weekend, and we had regular family dinners. We celebrated holidays and birthdays all together, taking turns at different houses. Both of my grandmas, all of my aunts, and my mum would make dishes and bring them over for holidays, so we’d always have a big feast.
I’m especially close to my mum’s parents, who I call Nanna and Poppa, as they lived very nearby and I’d stay over at their house regularly. Poppa and I share the same birthday, so we’ve always celebrated together. Nanna makes my absolute favourite dessert, called pavlova. It’s meringue underneath, with sweet foam, cream and fruit on top. It’s like heaven! She always makes it on my birthday and on holidays. That dessert and Grandma’s homemade chocolate delights are things I really look forward to when I go home for a visit.
We’re in opposite seasons to the States and Europe, which means that Christmas is actually during the summertime in Australia, and at the end of December it’s very hot. So around the holiday we’d spend a lot of time outside, surfing and skateboarding, trying out new gifts, instead of nestled by the fire with cocoa. Summer is always so hot that most of what we would do was focused on water and staying cool. Christmas Day was usually spent in our bathing suits – we call them togs – all day long. We would be in the pool or at the beach, then dry off and eat, then get back in immediately. And we tend to serve cold dishes, because it is just too hot for anything else. So we’d have seafood, such as grilled shrimp, and salads and cold ham rather than the traditional turkey with all the trimmings. Another of my favourite dishes at Christmas is Great Nanna’s famous Western Samoan Chop Suey recipe. Poppa was born in Samoa and we have this dish at all our family gatherings to keep the tradition alive.
One Christmas, when I was seven years old, I got a brand-new BMX bike. There’s a BMX track outside my house, so that morning my cousins and I ran straight outside to try it out on the track. I wiped out pretty hard and nearly broke my wrist, so instead of eating our holiday meal at home we spent the afternoon in the hospital getting it checked out.
For my family, it was all about being outside and being adventurous. From BMXing to surfing – we spent a lot of time together in the outdoors. It’s just the Gold Coast culture. Everyone lives and breathes the ocean and surfing. I learned to surf at nine years old. My dad, Uncle John, and even Poppa all surf.
We moved a few times within the Gold Coast, because my parents used to buy apartments and houses, fix them up and sell them. But no matter where we lived, my bedroom always reflected my passions – a surfboard in one corner, a guitar in the other corner, with a big Australian flag on one of the walls and surf posters on the others. I love to be surrounded by the things that make me happy.
My family were always very encouraging. When I was eight or nine, Nanna asked me what I was going to do when I grew up. I answered: ‘I’m going to be really famous and successful, but I just don’t know at what yet.’ Nanna said she got goose bumps when I said it. My family encouraged my big dreams even when I wasn’t sure what my goals were, but especially when I homed in on what I was passionate about.
I feel so blessed that my parents, grandparents, and entire extended family created an environment where we kids could all think big.
My whole family follows my music career pretty closely. They’ve always supported me, and our decision to leave Australia. They are always telling me how proud they are of me. It means a lot to me to know that I have them behind me.
Alli and I have always had loads in common. We spent a lot of time together when we were growing up. We’re probably closer than the average brother and sister. We’ve had our arguments and, like many brothers and sisters, we’ve fought over trivial things, especially when we were young. But we never let it go too far. We wind up feeling bad for each other and it always ends up as a joke. And now, since we moved away from home, we hardly ever argue and generally rely on each other pretty much as best friends.
Alli used to get annoyed because I used to sing non-stop. I’d have a song in my head and just sing it around the house, over and over again. She’d be doing her maths homework or concentrating on something at the kitchen table and I’d walk by singing, and she’d yell for me to stop. Actually, she still gets annoyed at me for doing this!
Our parents were always pretty protective of us. They still are – especially here in the States – and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I really respect my parents and their decisions, and I don’t hassle them about saying no to something. My dad tends to be more laid-back than my mum. My mum is a little quieter around new people and in new situations, while my dad is more open and talkative right off the bat. I’m naturally a little quieter, like my mum, but once I feel comfortable, then I’m more outgoing and open like my dad.
As a kid, I was pretty shy; it took a while for me to trust people and come out of my shell. So I’d always be sort of hiding behind my mum when I was around new people. But once I warmed up, I’d be running around. Alli would probably say that I’m not really silly around anyone until I have spent a decent amount of time with them first.
But that innate shyness never got in the way of my love of being onstage. As kids, Alli and I would always do little performances together at family gatherings, where we’d make up a dance or I would sing and Alli would dance. We used to go into full costume for these, and my parents and whatever family members were around would sit patiently and watch our little show, clapping and going on like we were the greatest. We liked to film ourselves and watch it over and over again. We loved it! We’d even do our musical performances on my grandparents’ boat, when they took the family out.
Our very good family friends from the Gold Coast, the Baildons, were always around for these shows. Andrew and Karen Baildon are the best friends of my parents, and their kids Yasmin and Flynn are close with me and Alli. We all grew up together and spent most weekends together. Alli, Yasmin, Flynn, and I would put on concerts and perform dances and skits.
I was all laughs when we goofed around at home, but I took school much more seriously, even during grade school and junior high. I gravitated more towards English and creative subjects, but I still tried my best in maths and science. I was generally well behaved in school and somewhat quiet. And I was a perfectionist from an early age. When it came to my schoolwork, when it got to looking too messy or when my handwriting wasn’t up to par, I would erase the whole thing and redo it. My teachers used to get mad at me for that! I guess I was over-thinking things a bit. I just always remember wanting things to be done perfectly.
With Mum and Alli in the Whitsunday Islands.
‘Selfies’ with Tom.
My first date! with Madi Marr.
Baking day with Alli.
Family holiday in the Whitsundays.
Visiting cousin Kai at school.
In the Bahamas meeting the extended family!
With my family at Santa Monica pier.
Early surfing days on the Gold Coast.
Big family gatherings.
Dad and I at the Jingle Ball.
Alli and I on the tour bus.
Dressed to impress at the G’Day LA gala ball.
‘Selfies’ with good mates.
SWIMMING DREAMS
I started taking swimming lessons when I was six years old at the Baildons’ Superfish Swim School. I was immediately very comfortable in the water. I took to it right away. Andrew Baildon, who was an Olympic swimmer himself, saw some potential in me and was a great mentor for me from an early age.
It was only natural for me to want to take it to the next level, and when I was eight years old I signed up under elite coach Denis Cotterell at the Miami Swim Club. Denis had coached my mum and Andrew and many other Olympians and world record holders, so it meant a lot to me to be able to train under him.
When I was young, the swimming team was a lot of fun and a good way to set goals and work towards something.
I think my love of goals and hard work comes from my parents. They always told me it was important to work hard and try your best. And they knew what they were talking about. My mum and dad swam competitively themselves, and they both made it pretty far in the national competitive circuit. It’s remarkable to me that my mum and dad competed at such an elite level! My mum swam in the Pan Pacific Games and was ranked seventh in the world, and my dad was an Australian champion. They both were number one overall for certain events in Australia – Mum in the 100 and 200 metres breaststroke, and Dad in the 200 metres breaststroke – but they both got injured and didn’t make it to the Olympics to represent Australia.
They don’t dwell on what might have been, but I think there was an extra gleam in their eye when I started to pursue the sport. They were clearly thrilled that I was passionate about swimming and reached a competitive level. Their sense of discipline must have sunk in at some point, because even at just nine years old I really put my heart into improving at swimming.
I practised three to four times a week. My races would be just 25 metres, but at the time it all felt very important – and, of course, fun. Two years later, I swam in my first race and won it. It was a big moment for me. I was so proud of myself, and my parents ran over to me after the race to celebrate! I felt the energy of the cheers during the race and the excitement of winning for days afterwards. I still have the ribbon from that first race. From then on, I was hooked!
We had swimming meets every other weekend in the summer, and almost as frequently in the winter as well. As I became more competitive, it became a year-round sport for me. I loved the thrill of racing from an early age. At the meets I also loved messing about with my friends and eating the good food they had at the pool café. My closest friends were always people I met through swimming. I still keep in touch with quite a few of them and they often come over to Los Angeles to stay and hang out with me.
I was a late bloomer and I felt fairly small standing beside some of the kids who had early growth spurts. I think it just made me that much more determined. I’ve always been very competitive, but I’m never a sore loser. I’m always gracious in defeat. I think how a person is when they lose shows a lot about their character.
Going for gold at the Gold Coast Swimming Championships.
Feeling like an Olympian with Grant Hackett’s Olympic medals.
MUSICAL BEGINNINGS
Just as the surf and swimming culture was a passion of mine from the very beginning, music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Whenever we would get together with family and friends, it seems like we always ended up around a bonfire or a dinner table playing and singing along to our favourite songs. We hosted these barbecues and parties with close family friends, and they would bring their guitars and we’d all gather round and sing songs. Everyone would join in and I remember sitting next to my parents, in this big circle, and loving the sound of all of our voices mixing together.
We mostly played country music, classics by Johnny Cash and Hank Williams, and sometimes a little Elvis was thrown into the mix. When I was six, I really fell in love with country music. I loved the sound of the tinny guitars and how the songs were more like stories. There was really a journey unfolding in each one, full of emotion and layers. It set a high bar for me when I began to write my own songs.
My first concert memory is from when I was nine or ten years old and we went to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre to see Keith Urban. The whole family went, along with all four of my grandparents, and I brought a friend of mine, too. We had great seats, close to the stage, and I was jumping and screaming and singing along. I was in awe. I realised then the power of connecting to an audience through music. Playing together had always connected my family and close friends, but now I saw Keith Urban connect to thousands and thousands of fans at once. It was powerful.
Country music was pretty much all we listened to around the house and played as a family when I was young. My grandparents had passed their love of country music on to my dad, and at home he always had his guitar in hand and was always strumming away at some chords or breaking into a song. No wonder I’m always walking around singing!
Of course, I wanted to learn how to play guitar so I could join him. I asked for a guitar for my sixth birthday and my grandparents gave me a quarter-size one. I was thrilled! I signed up for lessons immediately. ‘Jackson’ by Johnny Cash was one of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar. It only had three chords, and those were the only chords I knew. But I played that song all the time. I couldn’t wait to join in on those impromptu jam sessions around the barbecue. And – just like my dad – the guitar rarely left my hands.
Entertaining with Dad, age eight.
My first pretend guitar.
My early efforts at finger picking.
PITCH PERFECT
Swimming and music were my whole world. If I wasn’t in the pool training, I was sitting on my bed practising the guitar and writing songs. Swimming was serious for me, whereas music was more fun, with less pressure. I enjoyed swimming because it was competitive, while music was more of a passion. I was doing it because I liked it.
My parents signed me up for private guitar lessons at a nearby guitar shop. During one of my first lessons, the teacher had me turn around while he played and asked me if I could pick out the notes by ear. He would play a single note – a G, say, or a B or a C – and I was able to pick it out accurately. He was pretty shocked. After the lesson, he took my parents aside for a private chat, and he told them that it was quite rare for someone my age to be able to identify notes like that. That’s when they first realised that I had a natural feel for the guitar and an ear for music. Meanwhile, I was sitting outside the lesson room thinking, ‘What did I do wrong?!’
I started taking lessons on and off over the next few years, sometimes stopping for a while because of swimming commitments. When I wasn’t in lessons, I was still playing non-stop. Even if I didn’t know the chords or what I was doing, I just kept at it. My dad would take out his guitar and we’d sit together plucking out notes to a song until I could play along with him. Alli sings a bit but doesn’t play any instruments, and Tom appears to be interested in music now, but he’s still young, so we’ll see what he gets into. Right now, he is just having fun travelling and being a kid.
When I took lessons, I went weekly, but I still didn’t practise regularly. It was more of a fun hobby and my focus was on swimming. I would teach myself a lot by ear, and I went online to look up chords and fingerings and figured it out from there. My lessons started out focused a lot on music theory, genres, and composers, and notation, but I didn’t always like it. I wanted to play my favourite songs by Keith Urban and Johnny Cash, and I didn’t always care about the theories and correct techniques. So my parents spoke to the guitar teacher, and he agreed to let me bring in my favourite songs and structure the lessons around them. This way of learning kept me interested in playing and made it much more fun.
I wrote my first song when I was eight years old, and it was called ‘Further Away From Me’. Well, actually, I wrote my first song when I was six, and it was about putting diapers on a chicken, but I would prefer not to be remembered for that one. ‘Further Away From Me’ was a bit better than that. It was about the feeling of drifting away from a girl, and not being able to keep the relationship going. It was a mature song for my age! I played it for my parents when it was finished and they thought it was good, but a little too mature. They wondered about where I was getting my inspiration. But the truth is, I have been into girls for as long as I can remember!
When I start doing something and see that I’m good at it, I want to keep going. I started writing more songs and playing them for my family, who encouraged me. That’s when I started to develop the confidence to play in front of different people, including our family and friends when we all got together.
The process of writing a song developed naturally as I was learning the guitar. I spent a lot of time teaching myself when I was in between lessons. Making up melodies and adding words felt like a natural next step. I would start with some chords that I learned in lessons, and from there I would go online and look up how to play other chords and notes. Once I had the chords I thought I needed, I would just start singing tunes to it. Writing the lyrics was always the last thing I did. I still use pretty much the same process. I really enjoy just playing guitar and humming a great melody. Now, once I have that down, I record it on my phone, and then start working on the lyrics.
Songwriting has become an important way for me to express myself. As I’ve got older, and experienced some exciting and confusing situations with girls, I’ve found it a powerful outlet for me to work through my feelings. When I think I have a good story, I’ll write a song to it. And sometimes the opposite happens – I’m just playing on the guitar, and I’m coming up with a cool chord progression, and then the song develops from there.
My songs can be very personal and, being a bit shy, I only played my original songs for my family and grandparents. I didn’t even play them for friends. My family encouraged me 100 per cent and as time went on I started getting the confidence to play in front of different people. Eventually I worked up the courage to play some of my own songs when we were all gathered outside at one of our barbecues.
It felt good to be a part of that creative, musical circle of adults. A good family friend, Brett Penwarn, is a terrific guitarist and singer. He was also our family doctor. Alli and I are close to his kids, too – Jasmin and Brayden. He always came over for jam sessions, and I looked up to him quite a bit. I always thought he was an amazing musician and, when I was really young, I would sit next to him with my little guitar and watch him play. I stared at his fingers and tried to learn from him. I would call Brett one of my mentors in life.
Soon after I started lessons, I was able to come in and pick up some of the same songs and riffs that Brett was playing. It felt amazing to really be a part of those moments! Of course, everyone around me was so impressed that I could pick it up so fast, so naturally that felt pretty great. And now, when I go home for a visit, we still have those jam sessions and sometimes I take the lead. Of all my musical experiences, playing really well around the barbecue can still be among the most fulfilling.
By the age of eight, I had outgrown my first guitar and needed a bigger and more professional one. I went to this guitar shop in town with my dad, and we were just browsing. I picked up a guitar I liked and started strumming on it to get a feel. Dad encouraged me to really play it and sing something with it. I had the Johnny Cash song ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ in my head, so I started playing and singing. The employees and guitar teachers from the store – and some other shoppers – stopped and started to listen, eventually gathering closer. I just kept playing as they grouped around me, and when I finished, everyone applauded.
That was really my first performance in front of an audience that wasn’t my family. And it felt pretty great! One of the guitar teachers there specialised in country music, and he approached me afterwards and asked if I wanted to have lessons with him. So I did.
His name was Cash Backman, and he used to be a country artist in Australia. He’d even had a number one song. I worked with him for a while and it was really cool to learn from someone who had reached that level. He was teaching me a lot of country songs, which my dad liked a lot.
During that time I also began to listen to more mainstream pop music, like Justin Timberlake and Chris Brown. I always wanted to learn how to play songs by these guys on the guitar, but I was cautious about telling Cash that I wanted to change my style musically – for good reason, as it turned out, because when I eventually did, he wasn’t that supportive.
One Sunday he took me along to one of his performances at a hotel about an hour and a half away in Lowood. He was going to invite me onstage with him, and I prepared four country songs to play that night: Johnny Cash’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and ‘Jackson’, John Denver’s ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’, and Hank Williams’s ‘Hey Good Lookin’’. I was nervous in the days leading up to the concert, but I channelled that energy into practising, again and again.
My parents drove us out to the concert, and my whole family was excited for me. I was quiet in the car, just getting myself psyched and ready. It was pretty crazy that I was out there doing that! There were about a hundred people in the audience, and I couldn’t wait to get started so I could put an end to the feeling of anticipation. But my nerves all melted away once I walked up onstage. As soon as I got up there and felt the energy from the crowd, I just relaxed and played my heart out. The crowd seemed to go for it, and it was a lot of fun! It didn’t change my desire to learn other kinds of music, though, and I kept pushing the boundaries. Cash still only wanted me doing country. So, eventually, we went our separate ways.
My next teacher, Ram Sefer, is a really well-known instructor who specialises more in rock and pop music. He was much more open to ideas. Right away he asked me to bring in a song that I wanted to learn. I used to choose one from some of my new favourite artists like Jason Mraz, Jack Johnson, and Justin Timberlake, and he would help me work through it. Then I would bring in some songs I was writing and we would collaborate on those. He definitely helped spark my interest in writing songs and he gave me a lot of confidence. It really encouraged my music to the next level. I will always be grateful to Ram for his support.
Recording my single ‘Pretty Brown Eyes’.
Launching into Justin Bieber’s Believe tour.
Soundcheck and rehearsals on the Paradise tour.
COMPETING AT THE NATIONALS
At nine years old, after I’d been training and competing with my local swimming team, my mum thought her old coach Denis Cotterell might be able to help me get to that next level. He’s one of the leading coaches in Australia, having coached many former Olympians. It was really an honour to get to meet him. I was invited to swim at his prestigious club, the Miami Swim Club. It’s an amazing facility, with two Olympic-size outdoor pools and a team of respected coaches. Swimming is a big sport in Australia, naturally, since it’s part of the culture, and one that we tend to do well in at the Olympics.
Denis saw the potential in me. I worked with other coaches there, but he took me under his wing, coaching me and looking out for me over the years. He’d pull me to the side during practice to give me extra pointers. It’s crazy to think about how far I could have gone with swimming. Denis really believed in me and thought I could qualify for the 2016 Olympics if I found the time to train.
I loved swimming as an outlet for my competitive nature. Even in training, I was always pushing myself to outwork the kids around me, especially the kids that were older and bigger than me. I was still smaller and skinnier than the other swimmers I was competing against. I knew I would have to work that much harder than a bigger guy to achieve my goals. And so I did. I still carry that underdog mentality with me today.
I competed in my first Australian School Nationals when I was ten years old. It was held in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, on the southern coast. I flew out there with my team, and we had a great time goofing off and sharing in the excitement on our way to the meet. This was the next level for me. It was a five-day event, where I swam several different races each day. It was a big deal for me, and of course I was nervous, but I usually try to turn nerves into adrenalin, to fuel me to stay sharp in an event and swim my hardest.
The Nationals competition is held annually for all schools in Australia, across all sports. It’s the culmination of a whole year of racing and events. Before being able to compete in them, I first had to place in my events at the local meets, and then at the State competition to make the cut. From my results at the State competition, I was ranked first or second in a lot of events.
My whole family came with me to the Nationals competition, which helped me feel comfortable. A couple of friends from my local club also made the Nationals squad, so it was great to go with them. I was the youngest on the team. As always, I felt like I had a lot to prove to keep up with my team-mates. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Before a race, we would be lined up in a holding room, waiting for our turn to walk out to the pool deck and take our positions. I would bring music and lose myself in some of my favourite songs. To race, we would all wear the Fastskin suits, which are knee-length swimming trunks that glide through the water better than normal swimming togs. While waiting, we would have on the big, warm team coats that look a bit like what boxers wear. And sometimes we would wear Ugg boots to stay warmed up for the race.
When we’d finally move from the holding room out onto the pool deck and get down to our suits, the adrenalin would really hit me. I’d climb onto the starting block and adjust my suit, then my goggles. I’d go over the race in my head, visualising every stroke and turn. I can still hear the judge telling us to take our marks and feel my muscles tighten as I bend over and grab the block. The whistle would sound, and I’d hit the water. And the rest would just happen. I knew what I was doing, and what I needed to do to win.
I’d push myself to the limit as I’d race towards the final metres. And when I’d slam into the touch pad at the end, I’d immediately look up to see my time and my place. One of the best feelings in the world is looking up to see that I’ve won. At the Nationals competition, I had the fastest time in the 50-metre butterfly and 50-metre freestyle for a ten-year-old. I won all the races – gold medals in all of my events, in every stroke!
The Australian Nationals have a medal ceremony like the Olympics. It was a truly amazing feeling when they called my name and I stepped up onto the podium, onto the middle, tallest level. It’s so gratifying to work really, really hard at something and have it pay off or to be recognised for your efforts.
On the flip side, when I came second, I would feel so disappointed. To be honest, I was never totally happy unless I won! I know that sounds harsh, but it’s a standard I set for myself. I don’t like to stand on the second tier – especially when I know I could have done better. I don’t like to leave anything out there.
I competed in the same competition the following year, in which I ended up with the same incredible results. When I was 12, I went to the Pan Pacific School Games, which is an even more intense and prestigious competition because it’s not just Australia. More than 30 countries compete, including New Zealand, Canada, Guam and others. There I won three gold medals, two silvers and a bronze.
Swimming had all of my focus and energy. I was working really hard to reach my goals, pushing myself each and every day. I loved it. When I really thought about my future and what I wanted for myself, I hoped I could reach the Olympics. I knew that anything is possible if you work hard enough for it, and I felt like I was so close to living my dream.
A champion!
Checking the results at the end of my race at the Queensland Championships.
Racing my favourite stroke, butterfly.
SECRET STAR
Even while I was swimming competitively, music remained very much a fun hobby and creative outlet for me. So, when I posted my first video on YouTube, it happened by chance. I was 11 years old and there was a talent show portion of an end-of-year assembly at my school. A family friend and great friend of my sister named Nusi McCarthy had entered the talent show to sing Jason Mraz’s song ‘I’m Yours’ a cappella. I wasn’t planning to perform that night, but I offered to play guitar with her and we made it into a duet. It was fun to play for my friends at school for the first time. But it was nerve-wracking, too. I was grateful that I wasn’t alone and had Nusi up there with me. The whole thing was very casual and small, though, so that made me feel more comfortable about performing. Her mum filmed the performance, and when I saw the video, I thought it was pretty cool. So I made a YouTube account and posted it online. It got a couple of hundred views and I was thrilled!
I asked my parents if I could post more videos on YouTube, and they were reluctant at first because of safety concerns. I was never allowed to have a MySpace page or even an email account. But after a few months of me bugging her, my mum started to come around. She let me sign up for MySpace and continue using my YouTube account as long as she was in control of them and could check any messages. Once she was satisfied that it was secure and safe for me to use, she even started to help me with filming and would get excited when people liked the videos.
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