
Guy Dent is an unconventional Brisbane musician carving out his own path, blending a clear love for music’s iconic hits of the past with his own unique flair. A life-loving presence, you might catch him working at the airport or being the centre of attention during song dedications from Jeremy Neale and the Not On Your Rider crew at The Triffid’s always-entertaining monthly music trivia.

With the release of his debut five-track EP, All About Me, Guy’s larger-than-life persona, sense of humour and fun bursts through in every song. We had a chat with Guy about his music, his inspirations, and the stories behind All About Me—from drink driving mishaps to boat adventures and that Ed Sheeran resemblance. True to form, he brought the same wit and energy to the conversation as he does to his songs.
Congratulations on the release of your debut EP, All About Me. I've not encountered such a wide array of lyrical topics across five songs in such a long time. How does this reflect on you, as an artist and a songwriter?
Yes, my songs are a total mixed bag. People often ask me what kind of music I write, and honestly, it's a tough one to answer. I've written everything from heavier rock to instrumental Celtic folk jams in 6/8 timing - it's all over the place! I can imagine record companies having a collective brain hemorrhage trying to figure out how to promote my stuff - who's the target audience here?! I'm currently working on a song with a rap verse, because why not? All joking aside, I've got major respect for most genres of music, as long as they have great musicianship.
Please tell us a bit more about the creation of your EP, the recording and any challenges or happy victories you encountered in the process?
Well, I’ve had a small home recording studio setup for the last eight years or so. It’s been so inspiring, knowing that I can go into that room, plug-in and create anything that comes to mind. I can’t say I’m the most computer savvy person out there. I use Cubase as my studio software and I do feel like I’m only using about 15% of its potential! I record all the instruments, tracks and vocals myself, getting them sounding as good as I can with my limited knowledge. I then take my finished track plus all the raw audio files to my producer, Greg at GBass Studios to make them sound professional and Spotify ready. As music history has proven, having a good producer is everything.
Is 'Look Like Ed', a song about you looking like one Ed Sheeran (can't unsee that now) to a potential love interest, a true story?
It’s a funny story. How “Look like Ed” came about? I had about four instances where someone approached me and said they thought I was Ed Sheeran! The first time was at a crowded restaurant! If you listen to the first verse of the song you’ll hear the story! Also one time at a dog beach a lady approached me and said she thought I was Ed Sheeran. Another time at a swimming pool where a girl swim over to me and said “We saw you here yesterday and thought you were Ed Sheeran! We were going to take a photo” also another time at work! Are people blind or what?! But it makes for good songwriting material!! So I had a few drinks when I was at a friends place. I had a guitar in hand and I just started telling the story and it developed into this song. ]The lovely female backing vocals in this song is by the immensely talented Megan Barnes. So far this is the only time I’ve ever had anyone sing or play on any of my songs. Maybe I’m a bit of a control freak over my creations but…. “you do you”as the song says. P.S. There will eventually be a music video to this song with puppets in it! So stay tuned.
With nautical themes on 'Out Here' and the mention of the vessel itself on 'Float Your Boat', can we call you yacht rock?
Yes, there is certainly a nautical theme running through a few of these songs. That’s basically because I did two cruises back to back in January/February last year. I’d never been on a cruise before so it was an interesting way to observe and people watch. I met a girl on board on her first cruise as well. She actually said, “Out here, where you gonna go?” I’d actually took some half written songs with me on the cruise to work on, in case I got inspired, and that’s what happened! 'Float Your Boat' is a bit of a “what-if” story? I had a very short romance with a beautiful girl that I met on board. Unfortunately she lived in Sydney and neither of us really wanted a long distance relationship. But the story of the song is what could’ve happened if we had of pursued that relationship and what the eventual end of the relationship would’ve been like. Well, from my perspective anyway. To tell you the truth, I LOVE yacht rock! Some of the best songs by the best bands with great musicians in them—Toto, Hall & Oates, Fleetwood Mac to name a few. I’ll put my captains hat on any day.
When contemplating the seemingly menacing lyrics "Where are you going to swim to, honey?" on 'Out Here' and your drink-driving admissions on 'OK To Drive', one has to contemplate - are you a bit of a bad boy of rock music?
Bad boy of rock music? Or you could say a wolf in sheep‘s clothing? 'Ok To Drive' is a little bit heavier than my usual genre. But I found some really good guitar effects that inspired me to come up with this crazy story of a man stuck in the '80s going out to get supplies and getting caught drink-driving. The story is best told in the music video that goes along with this song. In fact, I also love doing music videos. They're so much fun to make.
I love that you sample a phone ringing on 'Telephone', was it a challenge to write and produce a song at the accurate tempo?
'Telephone’ he’s probably my favourite song and the one I’m most proud of. I’ve always wanted to write a song with telephone sounds, they’re so rhythmical. To get the telephone noises, I actually rang someone and hoped they didn’t answer. I just held my phone up to a microphone. It worked a treat. Including the “This phone has been disconnected” bit at the end of the song, which I think finishes it perfectly. Getting the rings in time wasn’t a problem actually. I just cut and paste the wave files and placed them in time with the beat. I all so love the first line of the song— “Well Bell invented the telephone in 1876, he didn’t go to that effort for you to not answer it” —one of my favourite lines I’ve written I think.
What's the plan for Guy Dent longer term? Will you play live? Is there an album in the works?
In the long-term I just want to release more music and make some more music videos. I’ve another EP in the works that shouldn’t be far away. That one will be a bit of my back catalogue. Will I ever play live?…Hmmm! Well if my experiment to clone another four Guys pans out successfully, then yes, I’ll certainly start a band. But seriously, I’d love to get a band together to write and perform original music. It would be my dream come true!
GUY DENT'S DEBUT EP ALL ABOUT ME OUT NOW INDEPENDENTLY
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