Wave Of Inspiration

"The whole EP is just about my life and my life on the Gold Coast – my last single was called Down In The GC. And the actual name [of the record] Relax And Let It Roll is about surfing on the Gold Coast and being smashed on a wave and then rolling underwater; just relax and let it roll – it will pass.”

Born songwriters find inspiration in life's simplest moments, and Dunn keeps that mantra burning bright with his new release. The record is a colourful snapshot of his hometown on the Gold Coast, and even pays homage to his former days keeping the sunshine strip skyline fabulous on first single Highriser.

“I don't do high-rise painting anymore but it's been a big part of my life so I decided to write a song about it as an ode to all the high-rise painters on the Goldy that keep the city looking beautiful,” he reveals. “I've always wanted to write a song about life as a high-rise painter, or a highriser as I call it, but I'd never written any riffs that would suit it. But I recently went to a Lenny Kravitz concert and loved the way he rocked out, so I decided to try and rock out a little more and that's what did it.”

Experiencing new romance has also helped put Dunn in a good place personally.

“It's about how it [love] makes me feel,” he says. “My headspace when I come into writing an album, most of the time I'll write sad songs. But this time around I wasn't sad or heartbroken; I was in a happy place and seeing a really cool chick, and that just showed in my writing. The release is everything that is about me – that's why I live and breathe, which is for writing [songs] and playing the guitar. And to be able to put my emotions, feelings and the way I live my life down on a track – it's everything.”

Incredibly, he brings his layered, tuneful odes to life as a one-man show. Keeping his eyes and ears open to new ideas whenever on tour, the songwriter has built a formidable sonic motherboard, looping guitars, putting heads through subwoofers, all the while using his arms and feet to strum and keep the beat.

“It's all trial and error,” Dunn admits. “But playing songs with John Butler and Ash Grunwald, I try and watch and take pieces from their shows and mould it into something that I can use – you learn something new every time you play. It's very humbling when you're playing a show and you're supporting someone like Dallas Frasca and she just comes out and shows you how it's done.”

With the sun coming up and the temperature rising, the musician is primed for the months ahead.

“Coming from the Gold Coast,” Dunn explains, “it's sort of the same routine every year y'know, winter comes along and everyone is waiting for summer. Then as soon as it starts warming up everybody has got that vibe that they want to go to Billy's Beach House and drink Coronas, and I sort of pride myself on creating the soundtrack for the summer. I spend the whole winter getting songs together so that people can remember summer, and when they remember summer they remember 'Oh, that song!' That's what I love.”