Q&A: Georgia Lines

Born & raised in Mt Maunganui, independent artist Georgia Lines possesses a singer-songwriter heart and soulful, dream-like vocals, wrapped in a slick layer of sophisticated, R&B-tinged pop. She released her stunning self-titled debut EP in last year’s lockdown, has received well over a million streams on Spotify, and recently featured on the track “In Bloom” by renowned Kiwi producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Pacific Heights (aka Devin Abrams).

Now she’s been working on new music with award-winning producer Djeisan Suskov (BENEE, Matthew Young, Mitch James, LEISURE), including her latest single “No One Knows”, which puts her mesmerising vocals front and centre.

We’d love to know a little bit about your musical journey from when you first started singing and creating music!

I was never a musical prodigy as a child, but I was always creating some kind of show or circus that I would pull together for our parents or any kind of visitor who was at our house. It wasn’t until my last year of primary school that I had ever sang in front of anyone (outside of SingStar). When High School Musical was first released and a bunch of friends and I re-created the ‘Breaking Free’ scene with Troy & Gabriella, that was when my parents realised I could sing. 

From there I began writing music, learning guitar and watching YouTube tutorials of John Legend’s “Ordinary People” on the piano, and fell in love with music. From there, things unfolded and I began to write songs and pursue this wonderful, crazy musical journey. 

Taking a little throwback to your incredible self-titled debut EP, can you tell us a bit about the concept of this EP?

Looking back on the EP, which I’m sure everyone who has listened to it has noticed that there are so many love songs which make up the EP. Naturally as an artist, you are often writing about the season of life you are in and the world and lens which you are experiencing life through. So the EP tells that story, of me dating, experiencing heartbreak, and then also capturing getting engaged to my now husband. 

Aside from the lyrical content, it took me years to get to the point of releasing music. For so long I cared too much about what people thought and if what I was doing was good enough to release, hence why it took me years to release anything. So for me, the EP encapsulates this huge journey of self discovery, trusting my gut creatively, backing myself as an artist, songwriter, creative and individual. I look back on the entire process and feel so proud of myself for capturing my growth and learning to love what I do and the process along the way. Bit of a long-winded answer, but for me I wanted to create something that I was deeply proud of and I felt like I achieved that with this EP. 

One of our fave tracks is “Never Had Love”! What were your main highlights working on this track and the music video?

Oh thank you! I love this song too! A huge highlight was working with friends Mark Perkins (Merk) & Shannon Fowler to create the track. It was a fun song to make, and I feel like the fun we had is captured in the production of the track. In terms of the music video … the concept was brilliant! I found it so hard not to laugh as we were filming it. Buster (who played so brilliantly the role of the guy trying to win me over) in his speedos at the beach when the weather was so cold, or me trying to bike quickly across the hill in huge winds on a bike with no brakes were definitely favourite moments. What you couldn’t see in that scene was that there was someone at the bottom of the hill waiting to catch me on the bike due to those brakes not working. 

Congrats on your latest stunning single “No One Knows”! Can you tell us a little bit about the meaning behind the song and what inspired you to write this track?

Thank you so much! I co-wrote this track with Djeisan Suskov coming out of lockdown towards the end of last year. For me the song has many meanings, and every time I listen to it, it almost takes on another meaning. Boiled down, the song is about expectations and my internal struggle with people pleasing. I’ve always wrestled with it, and got to a point last year where I had decided I’d had enough of doing things out of obligation or feeling the need to make other people happy. So, it’s about looking for a sense of truth amongst all of that noise and within the chaos of our world around us, with everything fighting for our attention. 

Can we expect more music from you soon? 👀

Yes! We’ve been working away on a bunch of new singles which will be released throughout this year. Excitement levels are at a high! 

Who are your biggest inspirations in music?

Solange has been a huge inspiration musically and creatively over the past few years. I’m also really loving and have been inspired by Emily King, Lianne La Havas, Yebba & Michael Jackson over the past few years too. 

If there’s anything you could change about the current music industry, what would it be and why?

Pursuing a career within the industry is no easy feat. So for me, I would change and create some pathways for all of the wonderful emerging artists who are looking for a way to get their foot in the door, but have no contacts or idea how to do so. In so many industries, including the music industry, it’s often about who you know - but until you meet the right people or rub shoulders with people who are pursuing a similar pathway, it can be quite a struggle to make some big steps forward. 

Who are some of your favourite NZ artists right now and are there any songs in particular that you especially love or connect with?

Right now I’m loving TEEKS, Merk’s new album “Infinite Youth”, Foley & BENEE! There is such a deep pool of musical goodness coming out of NZ right now which is incredible. “Without You” by TEEKS is one I've really connected with since it has been released. The emotion captured in that song gets me every time! 

What do you love most about living in New Zealand? Do you have any favourite places to travel to or local spots to visit?

There is so much I love about New Zealand … but I love being close to family. That’s a huge one for me especially in the current climate with COVID. I feel pretty grateful to be living in NZ right now! 

We have been so extremely lucky to be able to have live gigs in Aotearoa during this time! What has been the best part about your tour with LAIIKA?

I know! We are extremely lucky and I never want to take it for granted. To be honest, I’ve just been so excited about playing the songs on the EP live. I released the EP in 2019 the week that we started lockdown here in NZ, so I never got to do my release party or play the songs live until a few weeks back at a show in Auckland, which was a year after they were released into the world.

What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learnt in your career so far and what advice do you have for new artists out there?

One of the biggest lessons I have learnt is that success doesn’t just happen overnight. It takes years of hard work and determination and a willingness to just keep going! Success looks so different for everyone and what my definition of succeeding within my career is, will look completely different to the next person and that’s ok. 

It is so easy to get stuck in the trap of comparison, especially with social media. We get sucked into the lie that the “highlight reel” of one artists career is what it looks like to succeed, but what we don’t see is the hundreds of hours of work and sacrifice for all those moments that go unseen that lead to their success. So I’m learning to run in my own lane and encourage others in theirs. 

The best advice I have for new artists is to avoid that trap of comparison. It’s an easy trap to get sucked into and so easy to look at another artist and think “that is where I should be”. Take one day at a time and enjoy all the little moments along the way, just keep going, keep working hard, release music that you are proud of that is honest and true to you and have fun along the way. 

Lastly, if you could say one thing to every person in the world, what would it be?

What you carry as a human, your gifts/ talents /abilities, who you are … there is no one else like you! What you bring to the table, no one else can bring. You’re amazing, so bring that! We need you x

Thanks so much Georgia! Make sure to keep up with her on Instagram, Facebook, Spotify or Apple Music.