HE SINGS, HE DANCES, HE CAN’T STOP MOVING
FYI Entertainment 31.8.2012
COVER STORY
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NATHAN TAYLOR goes one-on-one with Australian singing and dancing sensation Timomatic about the release of his debut album…
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It feels incredible, it feels absolutely insane!” Those words are from a man who, over the past year, has worked his butt off to get exactly what he wants – and that’s to have his own, very first full-length album on record store shelves for people to buy and embrace. “It’s been a culmination of a year’s hard work and to have it finally out there is amazing,” 24-year-old singing and dancing sensation Timomatic said. It’s been a remarkable 12 months for Timomatic (real name Tim Omaji), who shot to fame as a grand finalist on the 2011 season of ‘Australia’s Got Talent’, before storming the nation’s airwaves with three massive hit singles – ‘Set It Off’, ‘If Looks Could Kill’ and ‘Can You Feel It’. Last Friday Timomatic finally released his debut self-titled album, a moment that he can only describe as a dream come true. “Having my own work out there is what it’s about and to connect with people on that level is perfect,” Timomatic said. “There’s just nothing more I can ask for – it’s a dream come true.” His ride in the spotlight so far has been very short but very fruitful. Timomatic has achieved feats people haven’t in a 10-year career. He’s released hit after hit, toured the world, and supported some of the music industry’s biggest acts including Janet Jackson, Nicki Minaj, Pitbull and Flo Rida. So just what is Timomatic’s secret? The secret he said is knowing what you want and not letting anything or anyone stand in your way to get it. “The secret is knowing the standard that you want to achieve and not stopping until you get it. That I would say would be it,” he said. “I have looked up to accomplished artists like
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Usher, Ne-Yo, Justin Timberlake and others for so long. I think to myself if I’m going to do this, my music has to be at that level or else there’s no point. “Also doing it from a perspective that is original and true to myself – that’s the secret – just not stopping until my music is at a standard that can match up.” Cracking the Australian music market is one thing but cracking the international music scene is a whole other beast. It can usually take years for emerging Australian artists to make the big time overseas but fortunately for Timomatic it took one triple platinum selling single (‘Set It Off’) for his record company, Sony Music, to say he was ready. “From the beginning I’ve always wanted my music to have an international outlook and appeal to it,” Timomatic said. “I feel it’s a natural progression for me to take it out of Australia and try it on the world’s stage. In saying that I didn’t think it would happen this quickly.” Timomatic was literally jetting across the world from Asia to Mexico to Europe following the release of his debut number one single ‘Set It Off’. “It’s been really exciting to see how other countries take to me, but I tell you one thing, I feel that because I dance when I perform I get accepted in a lot more countries because dancing is a universal language and everyone can understand it,” Timomatic said. “Another reason is because my songs are about having a good time. No matter who you are, unless you’re weird, there’s going to be a period in your life where you just want to have a good time and I think marrying those two things together in a live show is what attracted me to it.” It wasn’t just Channel Seven’s ‘Australia’s Got
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Having my own work out there is what it’s about Talent’ that Timomatic made a name for himself in, he was also a finalist on the 2009 series of ‘So You Think You Can Dance’. Timomatic said dancing was always his passion ever since he was a young boy but his attention soon turned to singing when he hit his teens. “I’ve been into dancing ever since I was a kid,” Timomatic said. “I was able to watch dance moves and pick them up very easily. My parents were like ‘what the hell, how can you do that?’ but it all just made sense in my head. “The singing I got into later on. It’s funny because I always had a passion for singing a long time before I could actually sing properly, which was very awkward for my household as you can imagine.
“I started singing when I was 14 or 15 and I only really convinced myself that it was definitely what I wanted to do at 16 or 17. I thought to myself I really need to work hard at this. It was tough for me because the dancing came so naturally and the singing didn’t. I knew I had to go get an education about it and work harder at it, and that’s what I did.” The future looks very bright for Timomatic, as he continues to make a name for himself in the pop and R&B genre. The Nigerian-born Australian hopes to soon take his own live shows around the country, including a visit to Penrith. “I would love to take my show to places that don’t get this kind of thing and give them a really quality show with amazing dancers and amazing lighting, that’s definitely on the cards,” he said.
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FYI Entertainment 31.8.2012
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