Interview by Adrian Hextall
After decades honing his craft in private, the Australian singer-songwriter bursts onto the scene with an album evoking rock’s golden era, proving melody and killer solos never went out of style. Meet the man who sold his house to bet on himself and the enduring power of hard rock.
There’s a certain frequency, a specific sonic resonance, that hits seasoned rock listeners squarely “in the feels.” It’s the sound of well-crafted songs played with passion, blending arena-ready hooks with genuine heart. It evokes smoky clubs and sun-drenched festival fields, a time when melody was king and guitar solos were non-negotiable narrative arcs. It’s a frequency that’s been increasingly rare in the mainstream chatter, often drowned out by algorithm-approved homogeneity. And it’s precisely this frequency that Mario Vayne, a seemingly ‘new’ voice from Queensland, Australia, is broadcasting loud and clear with his debut album, ‘The Moment‘.
Meeting Vayne, you’re struck by an infectious enthusiasm tempered with the quiet confidence of someone who knows they’ve finally arrived at their intended destination, even if the journey took longer than planned. His music, showcased recently at an intimate London listening event and now captured on ‘The Moment‘, immediately sparks recognition for fans raised on late ‘70s and early ‘80s rock radio. Yet, it possesses a freshness that defies simple nostalgia.
“What’s blown everybody away,” Vayne muses, his voice carrying the warmth of the Queensland sun, “is that my writing has never changed. A lot of this stuff, I’ve been writing since I was 16 years old.” He pauses, a smile playing on his lips. “Then you get the timeline where you get a modern-day producer to produce something that may have been released in the ’80s, right? My old producer when I was in Texas, he said it reminded him of a band like Journey, so we thought, ‘Nah, let’s shelve it till 2024 and use a modern-day producer, see what it sounds like.’ That’s probably what it is.”
That’s quite the shelf life. Thirty-five-plus years is an eternity in music, a period during which Vayne, despite crafting song after song, felt the time wasn’t right. “My brother’s been hounding me for a long time,” he admits. “And I never really thought it was time. It’s weird. It’s a strange thing. I really didn’t feel it was my time or it was time for me to do it. I think I was going through the crossroads in music… music is always there, so in the end, it was my children that inspired me.”
This long gestation period began in a household resonating with the rhythms of musically inclined Italian parents. Vayne’s earliest sonic education came courtesy of his Auntie’s carefully guarded ‘70s vinyl collection in Fremantle, Western Australia – a place also known as the final resting place of AC/DC legend Bon Scott, who grew up just a suburb away and became another early influence. “She was washing her hair and I used to sneak in there,” Vayne recalls with a chuckle. “I was probably only around nine, ten years old. The first one I remember thinking about the other day was ‘Rockin’ All Over the World’ by Status Quo. That was the very first one I heard and I thought, ‘Man, how do you get that sound?’”
His formal guitar lessons skewed towards the clean tones of John Denver, a stark contrast to the burgeoning rock sounds catching his ear from Quo, Cheap Trick, The Sweet, Little River Band, and The Babys. Yet, this grounding in accessible melody perhaps inadvertently laid the groundwork for the immediately radio-friendly nature of The Moment. While those ‘70s giants formed his foundational influences, Vayne is quick to point out that his own creation isn’t a direct imitation. It’s filtered through his own experience and, crucially, a decision made early on.
“Everybody asks me, ‘Oh, what influenced you with writing and with the guitar and stuff?’ Well, the truth is that I told myself when I was 11 years old that I would never learn someone else’s song on the guitar. I would only play my stuff,” he reveals. “I wouldn’t listen to a lot of stuff, but I would only play my stuff. And I think that’s probably why when you hear the sound, it sounds fresh.”
Fresh, yet familiar enough to spark comparisons. Tracks like the driving ‘Trust’ possess a fist-pumping anthemic quality that wouldn’t feel out of place on an early Bon Jovi record. The explosive guitar work in opener ‘Diary of a Heart’ might evoke the fiery fretwork of George Lynch in his Dokken prime. The intro to ‘Diamond’ carries a distinct Kiss-like swagger, something Vayne readily acknowledges. “I love Ace Frehley,” he enthuses, before adding, “Paul Stanley is one songwriter and a singer that I really admire. Probably one of the greatest frontmen… but he had that soul in his voice. It was different.”
This appreciation for soul and authenticity runs deep. Vayne laments the current musical landscape, where he feels variety and effort are often lacking. “Nowadays, it kind of sounds the same,” he sighs. I suggest that perhaps “There’s far too many musicians that think a vocalist and an acoustic guitar is all you need and a loop pedal. There’s almost no effort involved at all. It’s too easy.” He holds up Queen as the ultimate benchmark: “When I think of the complete package, I think of Queen. Every song sounded completely different, but it would sound like them… Where is another band like that going to come from? In this day and age, I don’t think they’ll let it. Whoever’s controlling it just won’t let it in.”
Getting ‘The Moment’ heard in this congested digital space feels, to Vayne, like “climbing Mount Everest in your undies, mate.” It’s a far cry from the days when labels acted as curators. “Anybody can put their stuff on Spotify, right? It’s so congested. It’s so difficult… You could have the best stuff, and no one will ever hear it. That’s the reality.” His solution? Radical belief and self-investment. The journey to record ‘The Moment’ began unconventionally – flying to Texas during the height of COVID (“I got an exemption from the government… five people on the plane”) to work with Grammy-winning producer Chuck Ebert. The project was later brought home and finished with Sydney-based producer Simon Cohen, a partnership Vayne describes as vital chemistry found by chance. The commitment ran deeper than just airline tickets and studio time. “We sold our house,” Vayne states plainly. “That’s how much we believe in it.”
That belief permeates every track on ‘The Moment’. The album title itself reflects the deeply personal nature of the project. “It’s funny because the album is called ‘The Moment’, but it’s like every song on this album is a moment of my journey. It’s like a diary, man.” Crafting that diary into a cohesive album sequence proved a challenge. “I couldn’t work out the order,” he laughs. Enter mastering engineer Steve Smart (Michael Jackson, etc.) who wisely declined the task, leading producer Simon Cohen to step in. “I wanted someone to just grab it and have no bias… he was looking at it from a balance kind of aspect. When he sent it to me, I thought, ‘Man, that’s perfect’.”
The final running order kicks off with the undeniable punch of ‘Diary of a Heart’ (“Explosive,” agrees Vayne, “we both thought of that opening the album up”) and navigates through hook-laden rockers and melodic power ballads like ‘Sorry Ain’t Enough’ – a track Vayne initially wrote for himself and almost excluded. “It wasn’t going to be on the album, actually… but when I look back now, I think it deserved to be on. The album needed it.” The record concludes with the poignant pairing of the title track, ‘The Moment’ (“probably my favourite song, believe it or not”), and ‘Timeless’, providing a perfectly judged emotional landing.
The album delivers on the promise of classic rock values: clear, powerful vocals where lyrics matter, guitars that crunch and soar, solos that serve the song, and melodies that stick. It taps into a rich vein running roughly from ’77 to ’83 – think the melodic sensibilities of LRB meeting the rock swagger of Kiss, the polish of High and Dry-era Def Leppard, and the anthemic reach of early Bon Jovi or Bryan Adams (whose power ballad prowess is echoed in ‘Sorry Ain’t Enough’).
“This is what I play for. This is why we do it,” Vayne asserts with fervent conviction. “Since the start of rock and roll, you do your recordings, you come to live, but the best part of it is bringing it live. Yes, please! And rocking the world and having a big party.” He’s realistic about the challenges for an independent artist (“It’s tough to organise a tour… if you haven’t got that massive support, it’s difficult”), but his determination is absolute. “I can guarantee you, I’m going to be going live. Whether I’ll be playing in a tent or a house, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to be touring, man. This is why I did it.”
It seems the doctor who delivered him might have been onto something. As family lore has it, baby Mario screamed so loudly upon receiving the traditional smack that the doctor remarked to his father, “I think he’s going to be a singer.” Decades later, after years of quiet woodshedding and finding the right ‘moment’, Mario Vayne is finally ready to make good on that prediction, armed with an album full of heart, hooks, and unwavering rock and roll spirit. The algorithm may not see him coming, but for anyone starved of authentic, melodic rock music, his arrival is right on time.
Album track listing below
1. Diary of a Heart
2. Rock N Roll Day
3. Baby (Way You Love Me)
4. Electric
5. Trust
6. After The Rain
7. Diamond
8. Sorry Ain’t Enough
9. The Moment
10. Timeless
https://youtube.com/@mariovayne
https://www.instagram.com/mariovayne/
https://www.facebook.com/VayneOne
About Author
