Tommy Novak says his time on national television has shone a light on his love of performing. Photo: Seven Network.
A stint on national television has brought far more than fame to one South Coast-born musician.
Tommy Novak grew up in Malua Bay, south of Batemans Bay and never quite pushed himself to commit to music as a career full-time.
But he told Region it was always a wish in the back of his mind as he worked a corporate gig.
In August, he wowed audiences (and The Voice coaches) with his cover of Landslide by Fleetwood Mac during his blind audition.
It was the start of a journey that put him in touching distance of winning this year’s season of The Voice.
“It was finding that courage to put myself out there as an artist … I felt it was something that I needed to do for myself,” he said of his decision to commit to music.
“A lot of people that have known me for a long time, they’ve been saying, ‘Come on Tommy, why did it take you this long?'”
“I had to give it a go and think, ‘Tommy, this is your moment. Let’s give it a red-hot crack.'”
While Yung Milla ultimately took home the top gong, there’s no hard feelings between the two men.
Tommy said a collab with the rapper would be the “absolute dream”.
“The world can see that he is just such an incredible artist with such passion,” he said.
“If anything, standing alongside him, I felt inspired.”
Tommy said he found out he’d made it through to the grand final just hours before he began preparing to tackle Australia’s unofficial anthem – Horses, popularised by Daryl Braithwaite’s 1991 cover.
Coach Richard Marx gave him the assignment, in what Tommy described as a gift.
He’d sung it before, but bringing it to life on The Voice meant adding his acoustic guitar to the full band and bright stage lights.
“It’s a song that everybody loves singing, and I think it’s one of those universal songs that people connect with so easily,” he said.
“I really felt like that was my song to just celebrate my journey, to celebrate the successes, to celebrate all of the achievements … I felt so, so empowered. For me, it was about celebrating.”
It was one of the last episodes of mentoring between the two, with Tommy praising Richard’s ability to “transform himself and adapt” as an artist and their shared love of songwriting.
“For every performance that I did on the show, Richard challenged me to come up with my own versions of the songs that allowed me to express or tell the story in the way that I wanted to tell the story,” he said.
“That is something that I look back on and feel a lot of gratitude for.”
Tommy said his time on the show let him build a true belief in himself as a musician.
“I feel really comfortable about just going out there and setting the tone and the shape of what I want to do,” he said.
“I love doing this so much … What I do know is this is absolutely where I’m meant to be and what I’m meant to be doing.”
While he won’t be on national television for the time being, Tommy promised he was not leaving the stage.
“I’m so in love with performing. For me, I’m just working out how I can do more shows, and get back out there as soon as I can.
“I’m absolutely going to be releasing more music in the near future,” he said.
You can also follow Tommy through his Facebook page and his website.
