Mia Dyson

Following the release of her fifth album Idyllwild, Australian Mia Dyson is back from the US and taking her record around the country. “I’m really excited to be coming home and playing these brand new songs for whoever comes to see them,” says Dyson. “It’s going to be wonderful, it almost feels exotic now to be coming back to Australia because I spend so much time overseas, so I’m looking forward to seeing family and friends and bringing this album home.”
The tour will be a bit longer than originally planned with Dyson adding extra dates along the way, including some more regional shows.
“It’s wonderful to get to go to some of those regional and sometimes out-of-the-way places,” says Dyson. “It’s great playing in the capital cities, and of course you have to do that, but some of my favourite shows can be those tiny off the beaten path kind of places.”
For many Aussie fans this tour will be the first chance they get to hear Idyllwild live, a record where Dyson feels she really pushed herself and was much more open to experimentation.
“I feel with this album we took a lot of risks and I stepped outside my comfort zone and explored and experimented in the studio with guitar sounds, styles and productions and used the studio as an instrument as well,” explains Dyson. “I’m really proud of this record and the risks that we took and it was great to have such positive feedback.”
It’s not the only time Mia has taken risks while in America, with perhaps her biggest risk being a move to the US in the first place four years ago.
“It was really difficult and I’m so glad that I stuck it out because now I can say I’ve built this incredible musical community which has totally expanded my horizons,” says Dyson. “The challenges of living in another country regardless of whether it’s for music or anything else has really forced me to grow up and learn and discover strengths I didn’t know I had. I can highly recommend it.”
Despite spending a lot of her time overseas, Mia still has a lot of musical connections here in her home country, which is handy when you have to leave your usual touring band in America.
“I have an Australian band and a different band to my American band, which is fun for me because both bands are kick-arse but they are very different,” says Dyson. “I get to reimagine the songs, but also feel confident that because I play them a lot I feel I’m ready to get out there and perform and I know my Australian band will pick it up and have their own interesting approach from the song.”
With five albums worth of songs to pick from for her upcoming shows Dyson certainly isn’t lacking in material, but it’s her current album which will get the most attention during her upcoming tour this October.
“I’m definitely going to be playing a lot of the new stuff because it’s really exciting playing stuff that’s fresh and new,” says Dyson. “Of course, I’m going to be playing a bunch of older stuff too, and I think the show has become more and more dynamic and exciting.”
When&Where: Harvester Moon, Bellarine – October 9 & Old Hepburn Hotel, Hepburn Springs – October 12
By Zach Broadhurst