Nicholas Brown goes one on one with Brian Peel for a special interview.
How and where did it all begin for you? What drew your interest to the music industry?
The very beginning for me was when I played a lead role in our school musical Antshillvania (which was set in an ant hill). I realised that the stage was for me and that I felt quite comfortable in a black leotard. My professional music career began when I was 8 years old in a boys choir called The Young Sydney Singers. We got to perform at the Entertainment Centre many times, on the Ray Martin show and we were the go to kids choir for hire in Sydney for album recordings. It was the first time I was in a studio and the first time I sang on TV. We even sang with Olivia Newton-John at the Entertainment Centre. Learning to harmonise at such a young age was such a blessing. Most of the songs from our repertoire I still remember – the religious songs in latin were particularly beautiful – Quando Corpus, Ave Maria etc. I feel very lucky to have learnt such challenging, beautiful music at such a young age. I was friends with the man who was our choir master up until his death last year – Paul Bateman was his name and he was an incredible man that dedicated his life to music and teaching. I miss him. He was always a great believer in me and was the first person to give me a leg up in the entertainment industry. There’s something very special about growing up in a boys choir. Boys can be so innocent before their voices break – before they turn into awkward teenagers and then shitty men. It’s a special time and I’m grateful to have had that time singing in harmony with other like-minded kids who were passionate about music.
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