Sheldon Riley celebrates Eurovision one year later with release of broody track, INSANE
A year has passed since Sheldon Riley captivated audiences with his powerhouse vocals, delivering a moving performance of Not The Same for Australia at the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Italy. In a well-timed move he is back with new single, INSANE, a brooding track that explores complex themes of unrequited love and the emotional turmoil associated with it.
Sheldon spent over 30 hours designing and constructing an outfit made from over 62 metres of ethically-sourced human hair, demonstrating both his passion and commitment to his art. While that might be an odd idea to the rest of us, Sheldon confides to us that even in light of Eurovision, he doesn’t just want to be someone who just stands on a stage behind a microphone.
Babe, why did it take so long to release a song after Eurovision?
It’s the big question! Being at Eurovision, having the entire world judge who you are as a performer, as a writer, having people tell me that Not The Same wasn’t written how it should have been… INSANE is the first thing I’ve done that is 100% mine, and I’m so deeply in love with this music that I’m creating. So it just took me a second to figure out my next move. And this will be more than one song, this is a very big picture thing. I’m creating a full record, a full album that I’m going to tour with a very immersive experience.
I knew what I signed up for with Eurovision, I know that completely. I’m not creating standard pop… these are orchestral cinematic scores.
It’s full on. And then the visuals are full on productions. I want to work with people that understand me and when I say something that is so ridiculous, we then create it, so I’ve been putting all that in place.
You had the bones of INSANE before you went to Eurovision, right?
INSANE was supposed to be the Eurovision song. I even sung it to the people at SBS, but the thing is when the song’s not ready, they’re not going to choose it. But maybe it wasn’t a good idea for Eurovision anyway. I did Eurovision independently on my own, and I don’t have financial goodness of a label, so from now on I’m going to treat it like that so INSANE can be exactly what it is
Tell me about crafting the music video… and all that hair!
I’ve never loved my body, and I’ve never been a gay man who can play off that because I don’t have that. I’d spent all of my TV days trying to be as pretty as possible to make up for the fact that don’t show my body. The way that you look is what you have to sell as your job, but for the first time I wanted to be messier. I know I do music, but visually, I wanted to be unflattering. There’s no mask, or puffy sleeve to hide the fact that I don’t have a big arm muscles.
It’s pretty gorgeous hair though. It’s all ethically-sourced human hair, and it feels beautiful. It moves beautifully, but it felt disgusting, to be honest. And it’s heavy too. Hair weighs a lot.
Do you remember when Loreen performed Euphoria? All that hair everywhere…
Loreen has inspired me so much. I won’t even lie about it. When Tattoo was released I just felt, ‘this is everything!’ So with INSANE the whole video is one take from start to finish. I wanted to do a head mic thing like Loreen. And the way that the video is, is exactly how it would have been performed at Eurovision–the lighting, the movement. Watching her I feel like my whole branding has been inspired by her.
What about the massive feather hat you wore at Sydney WorldPride?
I’m very highly influenced by the art that I surround myself. I’m also an ‘era’ person and then it was feathers… but now it’s hair, lol. I had a pink era that lasted longer than it needed to. It served its purpose, people got their ‘coloured’ photo for their magazines. I think I got more coverage in the pink than anything else, that’s how much people liked it. And I was like, I hated it!
Did you meet get to meet Kylie at WorldPride?
Did anyone meet Kylie? I didn’t. Her security was top notch. It’s how I expect Loreen to be treated at Eurovision. You won’t see her, she’ll get up perform, and then vanish
How are you spending Eurovision, are you getting up at 5am?
I am… and I’m actually really excited. I get to be a fan this year. It actually felt weird in Italy, to watch Eurovision at night. I’m not a morning person but it’s the only time of the year I wake up with the biggest smile on my face.
Did you give Voyager and Andrew Lambrou any tips?
I did. Focus on trying to remember as much of it as possible, because it’s just the best time. I feel like Voyager are very similar to myself–they’ve wanted this for a very long time. There’re people who have been selected for Australia Decides that didn’t even know what Eurovision was, and it was heartbreaking to watc
Eurovision can be a little like The Hunger Games, it can be so highly strung. If it’s been a huge day and rehearsal didn’t go great, you can be in a bad mood instantly. But if you look like an arsehole, every country is going to tell everyone how much of an arsehole you are.
I think the biggest piece of advice is just to just love it. It’s everything that it is because it doesn’t matter where you place, I mean it does, but you’re loved by everyone that’s there and that’s all matters.
What are your Eurovision takeaways?
It’s completely changed my life. It taught me not to doubt where I’m going. I’m strong, because I know I’m good at what I do because I can’t do anything else. In Australia, the way you dress boxes you into a sexuality and that’s all you are. Let’s be honest, I’ve never given off a straight vibe in my life, but when they tell you Turin is going to have a massive rainbow LCD screen and that we have to not use it…
Look, I’m a massive advocate for this community and I’m an independent artist, but Australia has the biggest standard for why we must prove to people that we are worthy of being at the contest. We have make it as big as physically possible, because our best chances at doing well have always been to create something new. Dami did something like that, Kate too… and they are by far the most memorable performances of our Australian Eurovision journey by far. It’s been said so many times: performances where you just stand there just won’t cut it for Australia. The staging has to cut it and the budget has to cover it.
Anyway, so we aimed to replicate that. I said, ‘okay, well let’s do a three-storey staircase, then in a 40kg outfit’ and the engine goes crazy. My biggest takeaway is that I have no label backing, no nothing. And regardless of where we placed, I don’t really talk about it much, but I’m still so proud of what we did.
Anyone who knows me, knows my journey. I’ve come from nothing, but Eurovision has changed my life. I was so blown away by it, and I’m just starting to think the world of independent artists is starting to really stand up–and it’s exciting to see.
We love covering your artistry here at DNA.
You know, I think what makes your magazine so great is, look at Vogue. It wasn’t until a few years ago that they finally put a male on the front cover. What works, works and sells for a reason. For me, and for many readers, what DNA covers sell is a fantasy. When I was younger, it’s something that I was super shy to even look at. DNA is something younger Sheldon needed instead of perusing the underwear selection at Coles.
I just know that we look at the community as one, but there are so many people in the community, and relate more to than just the hot guy on the front cover. But I do love that he’s always there…
INSANE is now available on all major streaming platforms, with the anticipated debut album slated for release later this year.
