TOUR DIARY: Garrett Kato On How He Won Over European Crowds With Music

Having just returned home from supporting Canada's Jon & Roy 's European tour, Australian-based artist Garrett Kato reflects on his overseas run. 

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Being a quiet singer-songwriter, you very much rely on your audience embracing the music and treating it more like self-reflective moment rather than a big party.

I remember the first show in Hamburg, I walked into a sold-out room of people chattering away in a German as I thought to myself 'Is this going to work? How will they even understand what I'm trying to say?' I received a tap on the shoulder from our tour manager JP and he said, "five mins". The audience was still roaring away as I walked onto the stage. Once the lights hit me the whole room went quiet and 300 eyes turned to me and stared patiently. It was at this point I realized this wasn't Australia anymore.

We played 14 shows in 15 days and most of our time was spent looking out the window of a moving van. I was daydreaming about the life I'd be living if I grew up on a farm beside a mountain in Austria.

The people of this country were so warm but direct and not willing to waste time on unnecessary pleasantries that we often use. I found this to be one of the most interesting and valuable parts of venturing to smaller European cities.

The last show I found myself in the streets of Vienna wandering around with a guitar and a bag of clothes looking at these castles and churches from long ago. Since being Canadian, the novelty of these structures was very inspiring. I love moments that make you feel small and the world so big and vast. I think I could live in Vienna. 

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Kato's new EP, Distant Land, is due out 12 April.