NOAH DILLON’S never going to crack it as a Matthew McConaughey impersonator, so it’s lucky he’s got rock superstar written all over him.
The up-and-coming Freo muso portrays McConaughey in the video to his latest single, a back-handed tribute to the impossibly charismatic Texan that’s getting rave reviews from fans.
And while the clip to Mathew McConaughey is a piss-take giggle-fest of scenes from the actor’s movies re-imagined around Freo, the song has a universal message about toxic masculinity that strikes a chord with fans.
“I was in a state where I felt I needed to be strong for the people I was with in terms of the pressure to be more masculine,” Dillon says.
“As a man you were expected to be this, that or the other.”
He says the handsome Texan with the whiskey drawl struck him as the living persona of what he was expected to be.
“Mathew McConaughey was the ultra me.” Dylan says his anti-hero’s promise to be “more like Mathew McConaughey” for his lover is very tongue-in-cheek.
“As your life progresses, it becomes clear that masculinity isn’t that elusive attribute you’ve been striving for; it’s about being yourself.”
The success of the single, which was released last month, has created a dilemma for Dillon; in normal times he’d have packed up the band to capitalise on the exposure with a national tour.
Instead he’s having to hammer the emails from home and pump the phone to maintain the hype.
“It’s the side of music you don’t really sign up for,” he says.
And there’s no doubt he’d win fans with his live performance.
I caught Dillon at last July’s Hidden Treasures festival in Fremantle on the recommendation of folk raconteur Justin Walshe, who said the youngster was creating a real buzz.
Arriving mid-song, my ears were mauled by a barrage of guitar twangs and drums so chaotic I wondered if Walshe had been sampling Nannup’s mushrooms while folking it up down there.
But it was just one of Dillon’s trademark quirky bridges, and as he snapped back into a rock solid indi riff, it became clear Freo had spawned yet another electrifying performer.
“We really pride ourselves on our live show,” says Dillon, who says he’s not afraid of pushing boundaries.
“That’s what I love about playing live; feeling that I could fall over and mess things up at any time.”
Dillon met drummer Jack Hill and bassist Claudia Genovese while all three were at ECU, although not in the same course, while guitarist Sam Rocchi went to the same high school.
He says his big dream is to “tour the world and play to as many people as I can”.
Obviously the coronavirus has put the brakes on that dream for the moment, but there’s a new single coming out in a couple of months and the band’s already working on an EP.
By STEVE GRANT