“This really feels like a second chance for me and I really have the Australian public to thank for that. Not many people in this industry get a second chance and this time around I’m just so thankful for everything.”
Those words are from a man who in the 1990’s was part of one of Australia’s most successful R&B acts. Following his departure from CDB, Andrew De Silva slipped back into society, presumably never to be heard from again.
But after coming through a very terrifying ordeal, an ordeal that nearly ended his life, Andrew decided to step back into the spotlight and open up his world to the entire country.
At the start of the year Andrew had a conversation with friends about re-launching his career on the ‘Australia’s Got Talent’ (AGT) platform.
The feedback was very positive, so he took the leap of faith and turned up to an open audition along with thousands of other hopefuls.
Andrew said there was a lot of fear involved in coming back onto the scene, not because he feared performing again but feared confronting the world with a speech impediment.
“I’m a recovering stutterer, which not many people knew about it,” he said.
“My stutter isn’t a severe thing but it seems to hold me back from doing things and this show (AGT) was one of those things where I thought I didn’t know if I can do this because there was lots of speaking involved. But I shared it with the nation and it worked out well.”
But it wasn’t just Andrew’s stutter that Australia got to know, we also found out about his six month fight with testicular cancer, a battle that changed the way he saw the world forever.
“Having cancer really made me stop,” Andrew said.
“After being in hospital I just felt like not going back to the band (CDB) and I wasn’t sure what my future was going to hold.
“But my songwriting changed after that because I wrote from another place inside of me… I really grew.”
Andrew believes this public display of honesty about his past was the prime reason the Australian public connected with him during the program.
He was ultimately voted as the winner.
“I think as Australians we like honesty and I think on ‘AGT’ I really went for it,” he said.
“I bared everything on the show, I didn’t hold back. I told everyone what I had been doing over the years like singing at weddings and stuff. And this is what can happen sometimes – when you’re hot you’re hot, when you’re not you’re not.”
Last weekend Andrew released his first single since winning the talent show, titled ‘Your Paradise’. The summer anthem was co-written by Andrew and Australian music producers DNA.
“‘Your Paradise’ is about that moment when you meet a beautiful person, not only are they beautiful but it seems like their world around them is beautiful,” Andrew said.
“It is about losing yourself to them and escaping into their world.”
Andrew said not only had the musical landscape changed dramatically since he was last big on the scene some 15 years ago but he himself has also changed as a person and performer.
“Well it certainly feels [like] there’s a lot more music out there,” he said.
“More artists and more songs are being released every week and it’s a faster industry because of the Internet.
“In terms of myself, there’s a few sides to me now. There’s a deeper side that just wants to sing these songs with a guitar around my neck and perform from my heart. But I still have that pop sensibility about me as well and my new single showcases that.”
Andrew said he looks upon his time with CDB fondly but with an eye to the future.
His current sound is an updated version of the pop R&B that defined him during the 90’s and is a sonically mature offering that combines with genuinely soulful delivery.
He also said being back with music giant Sony was the “icing on the cake”.
This Saturday, December 15, Andrew De Silva will be performing his new single along with a few other surprises as part of the St Marys Town Centre Christmas celebrations. His single ‘Your Paradise’ is available now through Sony Music, and his full-length album will be released in the first quarter of 2013.
