Jonah Marais On Reuniting With Why Don’t We For Aussie Return

t’s been seven years since Jonah Marais last touched down in Australia with Why Don’t We. Now, he’s finally heading back – and he’s bringing two very familiar faces along for the ride.

The singer-songwriter will bring The Dreamer Tour down under for five all ages shows this November, joined by fellow Why Don’t We founding members Jack Avery and Zach Herron.

8 Letters – ‘Why Don’t We’

Together, the trio will resurrect fan-fave Why Don’t We tracks including 8 Letters, What Am I, Fallin’, Don’t Wake Me Up, Trust Fund Baby and Hooked, alongside Marais’ evolving solo material and a few surprises from Avery and Herron.

For Marais, the Australian return has been a long time coming.

“The last time I was there was 2019,” he tells Music Feeds. “So, you know, it’s been seven years and I’ve just been trying to figure out how to get back there.”

“I think I’m mostly just excited to get back to that part of the world and get to see all the amazing Aussie people, Aussie fans, hear accents, see some koalas, do some great, great, great shows. I’m excited.”

“Those Are My Brothers”

But this trip carries some extra emotional weight.

Why Don’t We went on hiatus in 2022, and while Marais, Avery and Herron have each followed their own paths in the years since, the bond forged through their whirlwind years together never entirely disappeared.

“There’s this kind of just unspoken brotherhood, I think, that we have no matter what – probably for the rest of our lives – because of what we’ve gone through together,” Marais says.

“Those are my brothers. There was definitely a period of time after the group kind of ended where we all sort of went and did our own things for a while, and it’s been so beautiful to reconnect with Jack and Zach like this and get some more time to hang out. I love them so much.”

The three have technically shared a stage since Why Don’t We’s hiatus, with Marais bringing Avery and Herron out for a single song during one of his LA shows last year.

Australia, however, will be something substantially bigger.

“This will be more of an experience,” he says. “I’m excited.”

Remarkably, the whole thing appears to have come together with a healthy dose of spontaneity.

After telling his manager he was desperate to find a way back to Australia, Marais happened to stumble across Avery and Herron livestreaming together later that night.

“I was like, I had this idea,” he recalls. “What if I just asked them to come along?”

And from there, The Dreamer Tour began taking shape.

Bringing Why Don’t We Songs Back To Life

For fans who grew up with Why Don’t We, the shows promise plenty of nostalgia.

Marais is assembling a band in Nashville to back the trio on the tour, with the set spanning Why Don’t We favourites as well as music from his solo chapter.

“You’re going to see all your favourite Why Don’t We songs,” he says. “You’ll see some solo songs as well. So it’s just going to be a jam-packed night.”

Marais’ own musical world has expanded considerably since his boyband days, with the singer now exploring country and folk influences while living in Nashville.

“I’m excited to see who shows up,” he says of the Australian dates, adding that he’s been “exploring country music, folk music” and is keen to see how his newer material connects with local fans.

The tour has already provided one fairly compelling demonstration of just how passionate that fanbase remains.

After the Melbourne date was initially booked at an 18+ venue, the promoter was inundated with requests from younger fans asking for the show to be made accessible to them.

The result? The gig was shifted to the Northcote Theatre, making all five Australian dates all ages.

“We got a ton of comments saying, ‘Hey, please, can we please change this?’” Marais explains. “So we talked to the promoter and sure enough, we got it all shifted. So every show is all ages now. So that feels good.”

Seven Years Later

Marais still has vivid memories of Why Don’t We’s previous Australian adventures, including performing near the Sydney Opera House and appearing at the Logies.

“I remember… performing out there and being like, ‘What? Like, this is crazy. I never imagined I’d be doing music here, you know, in Australia.’ So that was a moment.”

“And then I remember we got to go to the Logie Awards… and we performed at the Logies, which was pretty fun, and got to meet, like, Robert Irwin and some different Aussie artists.”

Seven years later, Marais is returning in a very different chapter of his life and career – and with a very different perspective on the extraordinary journey he and his bandmates shared.

“At the end of the day, I’m just so incredibly grateful for the journey,” he says.

“I’m grateful for all of it… I think that shaped me and made me a better human.”

And while the transcript gets a little patchy when the conversation turns to the possibility of Why Don’t We’s future, one sentiment comes through clearly: after everything he experienced in the band, Marais feels far better equipped to navigate the music industry on his own terms.

“I’ve learned a lot of lessons and I feel like I’m much more equipped to make big decisions now.”

For now, though, the focus is Australia: five shows, a stack of songs fans haven’t heard performed by these voices in years, and three old friends getting to share the stage again.

Oh, and one other crucial piece of unfinished business.

“I really want to make it a point at some point to try to see a koala,” Marais says. “That’s definitely on the bucket list.”

Someone please get this man to a wildlife sanctuary ASAP!