QPAC

Garret Lyon

Five Minutes with Garret Lyon

Wed 23 July 2025

Garret Lyon is a proud Darumbal and Wulli-Wulli man, born and raised in Rockhampton (Darumbal Country), Central Queensland. He has been performing his original music extensively throughout Australia and overseas for more than 10 years while working closely with Indigenous communities. We're proud that he will join us at this year's Biggest Mobs event on 1 August - the epic culmination of QPAC's BlakBeats First Nations music development program. 

We sat down with Garret to chat about what he enjoys most about being a musician, why music is so important to him, and what we can expect from his performance at this year's Clancestry festival. 

What do you enjoy most about being a performer? 
Connecting with the audience. Ever since I was a jarjum [child] all I wanted to do was perform for everyone. To entertain them. Make them smile. So, sharing these gifts, having a story to tell and being able to be vulnerable and perform for people is always such rush. I’m always looking for the next opportunity. 

Tell us some of your performing highlights to date.
Funnily enough a lot of my biggest ones I don’t remember so much because they all happened so fast! As soon as I walk out onto stage it’s like stepping into a completely different universe and you’re just kinda go go go until you get to your last song. At the same time every single moment sinks deep into your bones and you want to stop time in its tracks.

I recently did an 18-month tour of Wesley Enoch’s The Sunshine Club as the character Frank Doyle. That was a pretty eye-opening experience, travelling the country for 18 months, different town every two days all the while doing this super high energy, culturally filled, beautiful work; you had to really stay focused and love the experience. I definitely learnt some lessons on that tour which have helped me understand myself better as a performer. I think the shows that were my own with original music or covers that help me tell my life story are my absolute favourite. It’s pretty deadly to create something from your heart that people enjoy and connect with.

I just did an acoustic concert in Alice Springs to celebrate NAIDOC Week. It was an hour long show of all my originals that I either have never performed before or haven’t sung since I was 18 or so. That was really special having the audience really vibe with my music… The show ended up running 30 minutes over because they kept asking for more songs! 

What are some of the ways you like to relax and rewind?
I love a good movie, whether on the couch or in a cinema, with a jumbo popcorn. I’m a bit of a franchise guy so films like Scream (a bit wombah [crazy] I know), Planet Of The Apes (I have a special connection with my Dad with those films), Jurassic Park and anything Marvel and Disney. Otherwise I enjoy the gym and eating! But music is always around me. At the moment I am back to being a 'Belieber'; Justin’s new album SWAG is on heavy rotation for me at the moment. I’m mostly in my acoustic/country/moody era at the moment which has been influencing my own music. 

If you could share a space with any musician, who would you like to perform with and why?
I wanted to think of a different artist than who I’m about to say but I can’t… it’s JoJo (not Siwa). She’s always been one of my biggest inspirations in terms of being an artist. Her voice is ridiculous, her songwriting is so expressive and raw. She’s definitely an artist I’d love to work with and be mentored by. 

Music is important to everyone, it means so much to all of us, in a multitude of ways. Why is it so important to you?
I have no idea where my love for music initially came from, I just always remember loving it and wanting to sing. I remember just being obsessed with Princess Jasmine's voice in Aladdin and I always tried to sing like that! I think for me personally, I can feel music physically moving through my body as I’m listening to it and that’s with all aspects of it, sometimes I’m moving to the beat but then the lyrics take over and I move through them. Music is also always so inspiring and therapeutic. There’s definitely been times I’ve been put off by music because my emotions are too raw and I’m not ready to deal with it but eventually, I always find my way back to music and it fixes everything. 

Why should Brisbane audiences come along to Biggest Mobs?
FOR THE DEADLY BLAK MUSIC! Celebrating First Nations artists and their original works is always something to be excited for. Everyone’s gonna have the deadliest night full of dancing, singing, and hearing yarns from the artists. 

Listen to Garret Lyon on Spotify below:

Performer Garret Lyon stands on a staircase, pointing to the camera.Pictured: Garret Lyon.

Catch Garett at Biggest Mobs

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