CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS 156: GEORGIA LINES ON PLAYING HER FIRST AUSTRALIAN HEADLINE SHOWS
Interview by Hudson Reed.
Futuremag Music sat down with Georgia Lines at BIGSOUND to talk all things touring Australia and some highlights of her music career so far.
FMM: So, Georgia.
Georgia: Hello!
FMM: You are a New Zealand pop musician, and I actually got to catch your performance last night at Black Bear Lodge. I'm also doing photography for the publication at BIGSOUND. How did you feel performing last night?
Georgia: Last night felt really great. We just played our first shows in Australia last week, so we did a Melbourne and Sydney show. so then I felt we call came into BIGSOUND feeling quite prepped and ready because we practiced off the cobwebs earlier. But, I felt like it went really well. The crowd was awesome. Half an hour goes fast.
FMM: It does.
Georgia: So fast, but I feel like we really crammed in so many moments and.
FMM: Great.
Georgia: Yeah, great little moments throughout the half an hour that we had, so, yeah, it was incredible.
FMM: And you're communication with the crowd as well. You mentioned your sign and stuff.
Georgia: It was so, so sweet, so fun.
FMM: I'm really stoked you got to be here.
Georgia: Yeah. I'm also going to be at the ones to watch performance as well, so make sure to smile.
FMM: That's pretty cool. So, last week was your first time ever playing in Australia?
Georgia: I mean, like, officially. Yeah, let's say officially. It’s my first Georgia Lines headline show. I opened for, you know, the odd artists. I really haven't done many shows in Australia, so I feel like it felt like the first time.
FMM: It was like you're finally coming into your own within the Australian sphere, within the neighboring town.
Georgia: Yeah, it definitely… I mean, I really muddied your question, but this is my first time in Australia.
FMM: It's cool. It's awesome. Amazing.
Georgia: This is not my first time in Australia, by the way.
FMM: But it is your first headlining shows in Australia. That’s incredible. And I did a little research. You were AMA's breakthrough artist of the year back in 2022, and you actually won best pop artist at the 2024 AMA's.
Georgia: I did!
FMM: How did that feel? What was your reaction?
Georgia: Like, shock. Yeah.
FMM: How did it feel?
Georgia: Absolutely wild, I think for me, anyway. I can't speak on behalf of the entire music industry, but, you know, none of us… You don't do this for the recognition or getting an award or, you know, you're not, like, I'm gonna become an artist to hopefully be in the running for XYZ. But, it was such a lovely thing to be recognised, I think, even to be nominated. I definitely wasn't expecting to win either of those awards and it felt pretty crazy.
I've spent my childhood watching artists that I have grown up listening to and admired, watching them receive those awards, and I think just being there and reflecting on this is where I’m at in my career. I’m getting to be here and then getting nominated and winning an award is quite surreal.
FMM: Yeah, it must feel like an ‘I made it,’ moment. Almost like this is where you are at now, and you didn’t expect to be there.
Georgia: Yeah, with the ‘I made it’ thing, I think it’s funny… Maybe funny is not the right word, but it’s very easy to forget how far you’ve come and what I’m doing right now is that dream that I’ve always wanted to be living. When I was a teenager, it was like, if I can make money off music and be living, travelling, recording, and playing shows, that would be the dream, and that’s what I’m doing.
I think it’s really easy to forget that when the hustle and the chaos of this being your career… When you start to gain some momentum, it’s easy to forget. You need to enjoy the journey, be present, enjoy and sulk up all of these things because you are living the dream you have always wanted to live. I guess there is that sense of not knowing if I’ll ever arrive at the ‘I made that,’
FMM: But you’ll hit those checkpoints where you’ll look back and remember you did this, and now you’re here. You can look back at those awards in five to 10 years and be like, “I can’t believe that I was there and now I’m here.”
Georgia: Yeah, for sure.
Hudson: I totally get it because I’m an artist myself. I do photography, so looking back as a kid, I was like, “I want to take good photos.” Now, I’m travelling to Brisbane to interview and photography amazing upcoming artists. It’s always that idea of just looking back and reflecting the way up here was funky fresh, but it was something else.
Georgia: Yeah, it’s very cool.
FMM: Where else in the world have you toured?
Georgia: Obviously, in New Zealand, but I’ve also done a bunch of tours in the States. I just toured with an artist called Priya Raghu in March, and then I did another tour in November last year for Abraham Alexander. Just me and my keyboard.
FMM: Very different to here at BIGSOUND, having made a full band.
Georgia: Both of those tours were solo.
FMM: And then you’re traveling solo as well, essentially. You’re with the band you’re playing with, but it’s like you’re there on your own.
Georgia: Yeah, I mean when I went on the ones in the States, I literally traveled by myself, so I didn’t have the band with me, and I didn’t have any team. It was just me arriving at the venue like “Hey, nice to meet you. I’m here. I’m looking forward to jumping in the car with you for the next two weeks.” Whereas BIGSOUND, I feel like it’s been such a fun trip because we’ve had five, six of us travelling together. I’m such an extrovert and such a people person that I just love getting to spend time with people. It’s a very different experience touring by yourself. It’s very lonely.
FMM: Out of all the places you’ve played, what would you say would have been your favourite place? Or where would you like to play in the future?
Georgia: I love exploring cities when I’m somewhere and being able to walk around or go for a run to see what’s on in the city and what cafes you can find. Things like that. So in terms of answering your question of what my favourite place has been to play, I’ve had some memorable experiences, being in specific cities that it’s more like the actual show itself has felt memorable. Like Chicago. I played this show, which was me and my keyboard. I didn’t get to explore anything outside of the venue. Just turn up and then leave, but I loved the show in Chicago.
It was just like you could hear a pin drop and everybody was just there and so present with the songs I was playing. I played a show recently in New Zealand. That was like my dream show to play. It was for an artist I looked up to as a kid. I opened for Brooke Fraser. She did this orchestral show. I just got chills.
FMM: I know that show. I know her. I’ll fill you in on that a little bit later, but that’s incredible.
Georgia: That was my dream show as a kid, to open up for her. She was the first concert I ever went to as a twelve-year-old. For me, playing that show, was so different to the show in Chicago where there’s like maybe a hundred people. It’s like a full-circle moment of me as a child feeling like I always wanted to do this. I feel like I’ve kind of changed how you asked your questions.
FMM: No, it works.
Georgia: I cried for like four days straight leading up to that show because in the rehearsals, I just watched her and I was like, "You’re the most magical person and I get to be a part of this.” We wrote a song together and we sang it at the show and it was just really amazing. I think in terms of checkpoints, that’s what I was thinking. Etched in my memory is, I did that.
FMM: That’s what I was thinking as well. Brooke has this sparkle behind her eyes. She just knows her way with people. I know you released The Rose Of Jericho back in June, but do you have any future plans for music at the moment? I mean, artists never stop working and creating, so I assume there’s always something in the works.
Georgia: Well, I think the wrestle and tension for me is asking how do you make this sustainable as a career to be able to work and have the push and pull to say I'm gonna rest, I’m gonna work really hard, I’m gonna write music, I’m gonna tour, and then I’m gonna have a break. I’ve just had five weeks off, so I’m feeling really nervous about going, like, I’ve just recorded this album, how am I gonna ever write music again? You know? I just feel like I’ve poured everything that I physically have into this body of work, and it almost broke me, you know? The idea of having to go back out and be like, what do I even write about again? But in saying that, I have got some stuff that I’m working on, and I’m about to head off to the States again to do a bunch of writing, which I’m really, really excited about.
FMM: Incredible.
Georgia: And I feel ready. I feel like it's this tension of going asking yourself or asking myself, what is it that I need in this moment? Is that okay? I need to play these songs now, or I need to let this record breathe, or I need to enter back into the life cycle at this point and start writing and seeing what’s the next thing for Georgia Lines.