EXCLUSIVE: Garrett Kato Announces Australian Tour To Celebrate EP Release

Canadian-born, Australia-based singer-songwriter Garrett Kato releases his latest EP today and to celebrate, theMusic.com.au can exclusively reveal he will be heading out on tour later this month.

Kato will play six dates across the country starting at Mojo's Bar in Fremantle on 20 March before he heads to Nukara Music Festival and then plays shows in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide through May.

Speaking to The Music, Kato said S Hemisphere "is a goodbye letter to North America".

"The songs were written about the changes and challenges I faced in creating a new life on the other side of the world," he shared.

“S Hemisphere is reflective in a way. [It] is about the most polarising time of my life, moving from Canada to Australia. So many changes happened. I met someone here, fell in love, and got married. Ten years later, I have two kids, a house, and all of these things. I made this life out of nothing. I think about how I ended up here, what I gained, and even what I lost by moving away from family.”

To celebrate today's release and tour announcement, The Music asked Kato to take us through the EP track by track. Check it out below and scroll down to theGuide for all the tour details. 

1. Control

“The inspiration for Control was the basic idea of letting go. So many times in my life I would question why things occur the way they do. Some find comfort in Gods while others find safety in a salary with benefits. I’m learning to be comfortable with the simple idea we can’t control our own existence. The unknown is scary, but can often unveil the deeper meanings of life.” 

2. Life Time 

“It’s a celebration. When I met my girl for the first time, I had this feeling like, ‘I’m going to be with you for a long time.’”

3. Breathe It In featuring Julia Stone

"Breathe It In featuring Julia Stone is about meeting someone when you’re messed up. Julia and I carved out a narrative of a couple's deteriorating life together from substance abuse, ultimately coming down to a choice: the substance or the relationship.”

4. Holding On To You

“The track is about letting go of something or someone. The verses I wrote on my iPhone while I was rather intoxicated. This method rarely works for me since I’m usually quite particular with my words, but in this instance the words almost felt like paint on a canvas with a more ambiguous meaning. It still had captured the emotion and feeling I was searching for.” 

5. Take It Slowly 

“This song is the oldest of the collection. It’s in some ways about many things, but I had my daughter in mind when writing it. Life is an ever-changing landscape of emotions and challenges, but if you’re lucky your family grows with you. Starting my own little family I began to realise this more.”

6. 68

“It’s hard to know what the right thing to do is in life. What we value and what’s truly important in the long run can be misleading. This song follows a story of two people who can’t keep it together despite doing seemingly what’s right for them.”

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The Music readers have exclusive access to pre-sale tickets before they hit the general public. Click here to access with the pre-sale code word "kato".