By MEGAN OGLE
WELL-KNOWN Australian singer, songwriter and actor Wes Carr has left the hustle and bustle of the big smoke behind as he settles for a more simple life in the coastal town of Coolum.
Ready for a sea change, Carr, wife Charlotte and son Willow relocated to Coolum from Sydney late last year and haven’t looked back since.
“We love it up here. I’ve been up here a few times on tour, I love the place, and I have a few mates up here, too,” Carr said.
Wes said the move to the Sunshine Coast was spontaneous but was the right thing for his young family.
“For a long time, creatively and everything, I’ve felt Sydney wasn’t really home. After a lot of travelling and touring, I felt like I didn’t belong there anymore,” Carr said.
“Especially when you have a little man, you sort of become more insular and simpler. Being in the middle of Sydney it was hectic, you just feel like you’re going crazy.
“It’s just been the weirdest thing, this whole move has been so creative and everything has been such an advantage for our lives and enriched our lives so much it’s like that old slingshot, you know, Sydney was like the pull back until it got so intense, something had to give and we just sort of blew.”
It was fate for the family to plant its roots in the relaxed coastal town as Carr wrote his latest smash hit from his home studio, Hummingbird Studios, inspired by the feelings of finally having found his “home”.
“It’s funny because Home was originally written for a TV commercial, for Kenwood, which my friends were in,” Carr said.
“My friend Gemma Lee, who was a director, rang me up and said she needed a song in an hour.
“I said OK and I voicememo’d this song, and it was Home, and it all just came out within the hour.
“I was pretty much being surrounded by the topic of the song in my life anyway so it all fell out pretty quickly, all the best ones do, that’s what I’ve found.”
The Kenwood advertisement was broadcast during popular TV timeslots where Home’s catchy tune and relatable lyrics soon caught the attention of many viewers.
“Before I knew it there were radio campaigns trying to find out who sings the song on the Kenwood ad.
“There were people trying to Shazam the song but they couldn’t because it wasn’t released yet, so sort of by popular demand I had to get it together and release it,” Carr said.
“I had a lot of major labels contact me and try to sign me but I said no, I wanted to do this independently.”
The family may be enjoying a slower paced lifestyle but both Carr and Charlotte’s professional lives are as busy as ever.
With the benefit of a home studio, Charlotte, a food and health blogger and co-author of Bubba Yum Yum: The Paleo Way for New Mums, Babies and Toddlers with celebrity chef Pete Evans and nutritionist Helen Padarin, has continued work as a voiceover artist and is currently working on a new cookbook in between beach dates with Willow.
Carr has also been busy having released his latest single and setting up Spirit Songs, an online creative coaching course and preparing for his role in Australian concert drama Rolling Thunder Vietnam later this month.
