FULL CHAT: Robbie Mortimer - Central West Music Star

The Stock Root Music Festival is coming to Dubbo on the 20th. Robbie Mortimer, one of the headlining artists, talks about his experience at Way Out West Fest in Queensland and his upcoming performance in Dubbo. He mentions that he likes to change up his setlist but will bring a high-energy show. Robbie has a strong following in the Central West region and is grateful for the support. He shares his journey into music and how his latest single, "Blow The Speakers," has been well received. The song represents his mission statement and the theme of finding something that makes sense in life. Robbie encourages people to attend the festival and see the great lineup of artists. Tickets and more information are available at stockroot.com.au. The Stock Root Music Festival is coming to Dubbo later this month on the 20th and one of the headlining artists Robbie Mortimer joins us this morning. Cheers for coming on the show mate. Thanks very much for having me, I can't wait to get out there. You were out at actually Way Out West Fest in Queensland recently, how did it all go down? Yeah it was amazing mate, I love, you know, I've got a really lucky job where I kind of get out to go and see some beautiful parts of the country and meet some awesome people and yeah, Way Out West Festival in Winchin was one of those opportunities, so it was a terrific experience for me. Can people expect to hear some of the same hits at the upcoming festival here in Dubbo? Not to spoil anything yet though? Yeah, I'm trying to kind of change up the set list every time we kind of play and to see what works with the crowd and obviously, you know, getting I guess a good connection with people as well, so you know, we'll change things up a little bit but the crux of it will be we've got a formula that works, so we're going to rock it out and bring a big higher country energy show to Dubbo. 100%, I mean you're up in Queensland, you're coming down to Dubbo, where are some of the other places that you've toured? I'm obviously born and bred in Orange, so I've spent most of my time in the Central West region and I've got a great following there, a great group of friends and people that have come around to a lot of my shows in the Central West, so I've spent a lot of time up and down the coast the last couple of years promoting my music and just getting out and you know, this year is no different, I'm spending a lot of time on the road this year and I can't wait for it, it's my favorite part about being in the industry. You were saying you've been around the Central West a lot, how do the Central West crowds now get behind your music because you're well established? I'm very lucky, I've spent a lot of time, you know, in the grassroots of Central West, I'm very lucky to have a good following, I've spent most of my musical career, you know, doing shows around the Central West in places and I'm very grateful for the support I have, I have people that have been there from the very start of my career and up until, you know, just recently supporting me with my new single that I've just put out, so I love the Central West, I'll always be a country boy from Orange and that region, so I'm very, very honored to have the support that I have from, you know, from the wider Central West community. You were just talking about some of the grassroots out here in the Central West, take it back to me, what is your story of originally getting into creating music? I guess I always kind of, I grew up in a household that was very much encouraged to do whatever we wanted to do but you know, as long as we did it properly and you know, I tried a couple of different avenues, a couple of different paths, you know, with sport and I was a school teacher and all this but it always just came back to music, it was all, I've always written music since I was young and got on, I guess, this sort of musical journey and it's just been, it's just been a thing that makes so much sense to me, so I'm very honoured to do it, you know, my full-time job and becoming an established artist here in the Australian country music scene and everything I guess I've learnt has come from my upbringing in the country, so I'm very excited for what's to come with it as well. You say you were a school teacher, you didn't teach music by any chance, did you? I actually didn't, no, I stayed clear from it, I wanted to keep enjoying music, I didn't want to be teaching recorder or something like that, I turned me off to it, so I stayed clear of teaching music and I just kept that for, you know, something that I knew I wanted to do professionally one day. Just hold there a sec, Robbie, I'm going to take a break, we'll come back, I want to touch on how far your career has actually come because obviously it's had quite a beginning, it's gone a fair way and some of the stats that I've seen from your streaming services that you've put up have just blown the figures out of the water, quick break mate, we'll come back, touch on that. It's 2FM, your home of Dubbo's best music from the 80s, it's an hour for your Thursday morning, we're speaking to Robbie Mortimer, who's one of the headlining artists of the upcoming Stock Root Music Festival coming to Dubbo at the Lazy River Estate. Your career has come so far and it's had a grassroots beginning, but some of the figures I've seen, you're blowing records out of the water for your music stats on streaming services recently. Yeah, we've had some really good numbers and people kind of really getting around the new single Blow The Speakers, it's been really, really well received by, you know, not just people in Australia but, you know, all over this world, the kind of sounds that are trending on social media and how to get a really good following and people just connected to the song and honestly, when you write something like that, I guess you have hopes for a good intake of people consuming your music, but sometimes you just don't know and this song really, I guess, blew expectations out of the water and set a high standard of what I want to be doing. To touch on Blow The Speakers, I saw some clips I think of the music video online, it looks incredibly cool. What was, to summarise, what was the start to the end of actually making that song? I guess, for me, as I mentioned, I've been on a little bit of a journey the last couple of years and I wrote this song in terms of, you know, really wanting to create this high energy, it's like a mission statement to be honest with you, so I went home for a couple of years after writing music and coming back and I wanted to lead out with something really strong and powerful and show people this is who Robert Mortimer is and I think this song goes that, you know, the song has themes of, you know, a kid leaving and chasing his dream and then, I guess, the main theme of the song is everybody in life is searching for something and once you find it, don't let it go and for me it was music, so, you know, living that life unapologetically and as a matter of fact to get to it, it's turning it up so loud that you blow the speakers because you found something that just makes sense. That's absolutely brilliant mate, well cheers for coming on for a chat this morning Robbie, it sounds like a hell of a time ahead when the festival comes to town. I can't wait and I'm really, yeah, really appreciative of the Dubbo community for getting behind it, you know, make sure you do, it's a great opportunity for you to, you know, see a great line-up and a good day of country music with an international act as well in Dan Davidson. Today not to be mixed, so I encourage you to go and get your tickets and, yeah, come and support us, we're looking forward to getting out there in Dubbo. A hundred percent, absolutely, well cheers mate, thanks, much appreciated. Get on you guys, have a good day, appreciate your support. If you'd like to see Robbie play live as well as Dan Davidson, the Bushwhackers, Max Jackson, Ashley Dallas, a list of absolutely brilliant artists at the Stockroot Music Festival later this month, you can go ahead to stockroot.com.au for tickets and for more information. You're on Zoo's Breakfast.