It’s safe to say The Collective will bring a younger crowd to the Clipsal concerts this week. The X-Factor upstarts with some of the most dedicated fanbase (and crazy outfits) will be bringing some pop flavour to the Clipsal tomorrow, and judging from their X-Factor story, things have only just begun for these 5 boys. I spoke with Adelaide’s own Julian DeVizio about their lives following X-Factor and what the future holds for The Collective.
How has life been since finishing X-Factor?
Life has been so crazy since X-Factor ended. We were straight into it with meetings, performances and releasing the single. It’s definitely a different lifestyle to what I was use to being a normal teenager. The biggest change for me would have to be the amount of people that notice you on the street, which has also changed the way I act and look in public. I now know that whenever I’m out in public I am a member of The Collective and I am representing them 24/7.
The Collective were favourites to win, do you feel that coming third was a blessing in disguise, as you don’t have to rush-release an album of covers?
We knew that we were favourites to win, but we never really took notice of it. It wasn’t important to us, we were just focused on performing to the best of our abilities every week. I guess not winning does have its privileges, as we are able to take time in recording our next single and an album, making sure the sound is right for us and that every track is perfect.
You all performed such an eclectic mix of songs on the show, from Madonna to Ed Sheeran, how much of that was a creative decision on the group’s part as opposed to Ronan’s mentoring?
We sang many different styles on the show, which I think was great for us. It showed the audience and Australia that we have a lot to offer and was an great learning experience. Every week we worked with Ronan on the songs, focussing on the way we sang them, the harmonies, and putting our own spin on the song, whether it being a pop, rap, or guitars.
What are you looking forward to most in the upcoming months?
I’m most looking forward to our performance at Clipsal 500 Adelaide, mostly because Adelaide is my home town. It’s always great getting up on stage wherever we are performing, but it’s always a little better when you do it in front of your home crowd.
How much have your live shows changed since leaving X-Factor?
Our live shows haven’t changed much since X-Factor… we sing the songs off the album which we performed on the show, but we do the full versions which is a lot more fun. We of course also now have our single, ‘Surrender’ which is crowd pleaser! We still add that element of dancing that we had on the X Factor. Hopefully by the end of the year we will have our own album, which will definitely change our show.
What’s next for The Collective?
Following Clipsal we will hopefully release a new single which we are really excited about. Later on in the year we would love to release our own album and announce a tour, but we’ll just have to see where this year takes us. It would also be great to open for an international touring artist, someone like Justin Bieber would be perfect. It’s all so exciting and we can’t wait for our fans to hear and see what we have in store for them!
The Collective are performing at the Clipsal 500 tomorrow at 12:40pm, more details here.
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