He Wrote a Song After His Father Died. Now It’s on the Radio and Might Be Headed for Hollywood

When you hear the phrase “Go ahead, make my day,” you probably picture Clint Eastwood; gruff, unshaken, and aimed squarely at pop culture history. But for Anbarasan Mitchell, a singer-songwriter from Goulburn, that same line isn’t just iconic, it’s personal. And in a way that few songs ever are, Make My Day is more than a track. It’s a story.

Top Twenty presenter Max B sat down with Anbu on Atomic Radio for a full-length interview, and what followed was one of the most moving conversations we’ve had on-air. You can watch the full interview here:

Anbu opens the interview with a surprising deep dive into film history, from Casablanca to the digital battleground of Elon Musk vs Donald Trump, all to explain how the Clint Eastwood line transcended fiction to become part of global culture.

“It slips from the screen into the bloodstream,” Anbu says, “and that’s what fascinates me. When a sentence crosses over from fiction into reality, it just becomes something else.”

That spark, that collision of cinema and real life, lit the fuse for what would become Make My Day.

The conversation turns deeply personal when Anbu recalls playing the song for his father just days before losing him in a tragic accident. It was the last time they spoke.

“He said, ‘Though I do not listen to Western music often, this song is in my head.’ I’ve held on to those words like a gift,” Anbu shares. “Now every time I hear the song, I don’t just hear the music. I hear him.”

For Anbu, writing isn’t about attention. It’s about memory, connection, and carrying forward moments that mattered.

Joining him on the track are his two younger brothers, whose harmonies brought a warmth and closeness no session singer could match. After stepping into a caregiving role for them following their father’s passing, Anbu made sure they were part of the recording journey every step of the way.

“Their harmonies added a unique quality that no one else could replicate,” he says. It helped them all heal, in some way.

Anbu’s story reads like a film script. Born with hydrocephalus and surviving a near-death experience as a baby, he has endured multiple brain surgeries, including one last year that nearly claimed his life.

But alongside the struggle, there’s triumph. At 14, he scored a hole-in-one at his Canberra golf club, the youngest member on record to do so. With a plus-2 handicap, Anbu approaches golf like he does music: with calm focus and deep joy.

In addition to his music, Anbu is halfway through writing a novel based on the theory of cellular memory, the idea that transplanted organs can carry memories or preferences from the donor.

“It sounds like science fiction, but the stories are real,” he says. “Cravings for food a donor loved, personality shifts, it raises so many questions.”

The novel blends science, courtroom drama, and thriller fiction, wrapped around this eerie but compelling concept.

Here’s where the story gets cinematic. With help from his uncle, Anbu sent the track Make My Day to the Mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, Clint Eastwood’s hometown and the place he once served as mayor. And according to the mayor’s response?

“He liked the song, and is now trying to get it to Clint.”

Anbu grins. The possibility that Eastwood might one day hear his song is real.

Despite being invited to audition for Australian Idol, Anbu declined. He didn’t want music to feel like a contest. For him, music is about shared emotion, not showbiz.

“If my song gives even one listener a moment of joy or escape, then I’ve succeeded.”

To close, Anbu had a message for any young person feeling overwhelmed in today’s fast-paced world of AI, smartphones, and endless updates:

“Machines might be getting smarter, but they’ll never feel what we feel. A song can be written by AI, but it won’t carry the memory of your father, or the joy of making your little brother smile in the studio. That’s what matters. That’s what lasts.”

From dreams of Lennon to soundtracking tweets between tech billionaires, Anbarasan Mitchell continues to defy expectation, and follow the muse wherever it may lead.

With a novel in progress, more songs on the way, and a growing community of listeners, this may be the start of something far bigger than just one song.

But for now, Make My Day is doing exactly what it was meant to.

“If the world isn’t within reach,” Anbu says, “I hope this song can carry listeners there.”