Welcome to Paradise: My Journey

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.