Stan Walker hits the high note: Q&A with Stan Walker
It’s been the biggest year of Stan Walker’s life; he has fought and won the battle against stomach cancer. Now he’s getting back to what he loves, with a 12-date New Takeover tour that will see him performing across New Zealand’s main centres throughout October and November.
Metropol caught up with Stan to discuss his excitement about getting back on the road.
How much are you looking forward to your first tour in five years?
I’m excited. I’ve been waiting for this for so long and now I’m finally actually doing it. I’m on the road this month – I can’t wait!
You’ve had a pretty intense journey in recent times with stomach cancer. How difficult has your journey back to health been?
I guess it was pretty hard at times, but it all went by really fast and I’ve never felt better, to be honest. When it was all happening, it was hard, but it kind of happened really quickly. Now I’m skinny, fit and healthy; I feel real good.
Is this journey something you’re able to channel into your performance?
I guess so. I think I’m more on fire than I have been ever before, for my career, my goals, my flame has been reignited even more. It’s all part of the fuel for performing. I’m more motivated and determined and better than I was before as a singer.
In the beginning you feared never being able to sing again, how important is singing to you and how would that outcome have affected you?
Singing, it’s everything, it’s my be-all, I’m a singer before anything, so it would have affected everything, my whole life. Thankfully my voice came back stronger and better than before.
How much of a difficult decision was it to share your journey through your documentary?
Not really, I was excited to share that experience. I just wanted to share with people how it really is going through that sort of thing.
How has this experience changed you?
I’m skinnier, that’s the biggest change! I can wear anything I want to now (he laughs). It has made me more passionate, more excited, more on fire than I ever have been before.
You released a self-titled EP in March, can you tell us what this album meant to you?
Those are songs that I had written a long time ago, one I had written 11 years ago, four songs were from four years ago; they were all songs that were sitting there and meant something special to me, from ‘breakthrough’ points in my life. I wasn’t intending to do an EP; I wasn’t intending to do anything, but it made sense to have my own music on the documentary and that ended up being a really positive thing; it became what it became.
What do the next 12 months have in store for you?
A lot of work; I love working, love being busy, love getting tired from chasing my dreams, love making music, films, working on new projects, things that stretch me as a creative person and an artist.
How does it feel to have such a strong and diverse following across many ages and to have such a big fan base that are following your journey and what you’re up to?
I always find it interesting that people follow me. I am really grateful. I think a lot of times, I’m me and who I am 24/7 and I’m like really? I’m really grateful and chuffed at the same time. There are a lot of people that have followed me since the early days, since my Idol days. I’ve changed so much since Idol; my music has changed, even this next season of music and film, it’s completely different to the last, yet people follow my journey and I get new fans along the way. I find it really interesting but I’m really grateful.
