A Guy thing

It is not an easy experience interviewing Guy Sebastian, not on this occasion anyway. As he chats on his car phone, he seems affable enough, but the reception keeps dropping out, with words escaping from Sebastian’s mouth into space.

The mission is aborted, but we attempt to chat again a few hours later. This time he is in the waiting room of his dentist, about to have two wisdom teeth extracted.

I can call you back the moment I get out of the chair, he offers earnestly, but doing an interview under such circumstances is not such a good idea.

So at the appointed time the next day, Sebastian is found at a Chinatown restaurant. Asked what he is doing there in the aftermath of wisdom teeth extraction, he responds, I am now going to have to have them out in hospital. But I have just finished eating, so let’s talk.

And with that, Guy Sebastian is on and chatting, and occasionally singing too. As he speaks about the songs he will be performing with the Australian Philharmonic Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House in May, he often mentions a song and then sings a few lines.

It has to be said that the sound coming over the phone in its a cappella form is more endearing than annoying, and Sebastian’s voice has strengthened in quality in the three years since he won the inaugural Australian Idol.

The song list Sebastian has in his upcoming shows will be a number of tracks from his past three albums, as well as classics by Elvis Presley, Nat King Cole and The Beatles.

There will also be a gospel section, dedicated to the music Sebastian has been singing in church since he was a boy. Now at age 25, he says this is his tribute to the role it has played in his life.

Gospel music touched my life and it has been a part of my growing up and musical journey, he says. Gospel music taught me the power of music and through music how people can connect their soul to a higher being and be lifted. It taught me pretty much everything I needed to know to win Idol and obtain a platform to launch my own career.

Sebastian has never been backward in talking about his Christian faith. He regularly attends a variety of churches, and has attended the Hillsong Church since moving to Sydney from his Adelaide home.

While some of the hardline sexual politics of Hillsong and other Christian churches have come under question, Sebastian chooses to speak about his faith only from his own perspective.

A church is just a vessel for me to be able to connect with God, and somewhere at the end of the week that I can get refreshed, he explains. I have never come from a place of judgment or putting myself above others, but this [faith] is just something that has helped me so much.

I don’t think I have shoved this down anyone’s throat, and I don’t think God cares if you are straight or gay or have red hair or are black. I think God loves you just the way we are. I am pretty much surrounded by gay people [in music] all the time, so that kind of stuff does not matter to me.

Last year, Sebastian was in the tabloid headlines when he revealed he had been subjected to anti-gay abuse when he had been called faggot and had the word spray-painted across his car.

He said at the time he was offended at being called a faggot and, as a result, some labelled him anti-gay.

I said I was offended when that word is used, and I only meant I have seen the way it offends people around me who are gay and are close mates, he explains. I copped a bit of stuff from some of the gay forums about that [saying he was offended], but I just don’t think that word is appropriate as it is always said out of aggression.

I have also been called of lot of racial things and it is the same -“ that is not appropriate either. No one should cop that kind of abuse.

Because he is a Christian, Sebastian says he is often asked if that also makes him anti-gay. He says with a sigh that is simply not the case.

That is just a stigma that is sometimes attached to faith, but it is obviously not the way God looks down on people, he says. It is more to do with prejudice or just plain ignorance.

Sebastian does admit, though, he is one of the few Idol graduates who has not played at any queer party events, and says that is something he hopes to change.

I will definitely perform at Mardi Gras when I am invited -“ that would be so awesome. I think the girls have been invited because of their disco grooves, and the divas cater perfectly for that event, much more I guess than Angels Brought Me Here, he laughs.

Maybe I need to deliver some more disco in my act so I can get invited next year. My favourite Michael Jackson song is Rock With You, and I would love to see that room moving to that.

And with that, Sebastian is singing again and, it has to be said, hitting all the right notes.

Guy Sebastian and the Australian Philharmonic Orchestra are at the Sydney Opera House on 4 and 5 May. Bookings on 9250 7777 or atwww.sydneyoperahouse.com.