“I feel very privileged to be doing what I love to do” – GEORGIA reflects on solo tour, second album success

When London dream-synthpop breakout Georgia played Cardiff’s Tramshed earlier this week for her continuing second album tour, Buzz’s Sarah Bowdidge went along and was wowed. She also managed to grab a quick Q&A with the musician! Find both Qs and As below…

How did you decide to do the tour as a one-woman show?

Yeah, it was weird, because I’ve been doing [second album, 2020’s] Seeking Thrills live for almost three years now. I mean, apart from having a year and a half off. But prior to the album coming out, I did a test run of shows with this setup, and the reaction was just so great that I thought, why not just keep it going – and I love it.

You know, a lot of the record was inspired by dance music and DJs. And so I wanted to try and represent it in a kind of authentic way. It’s a bit like being a DJ in the respect that you’re playing off the audience: it’s quite chaotic. I like the fact that you know, it’s every night – I go out there and it feels like I’m about to go to battle or something like that. It’s good when you’re on tour to not feel like every night is the same, and getting into this lazy sort of production. I quite like the fact that I go out there, and I’m just on my own. It’s quite nerve-wracking!

“Every night I go out there and it feels like I’m about to go to battle”

And how is it being able to be back on stage?

I do pinch myself, you know – I’ve been missing it. Half of what I do is performing and the other half is being in the studio and creating, but I love the performing side of this job. I’ve been doing it ever since I was a little kid, and it’s great to see the live shows getting bigger and bigger.

And it’s nice to be in venues, you know, although we’ve been quite affected by the COVID situation. But it’s great to be back up on that stage. And absolutely, I feel very privileged to be doing what I love to do.

I found your music during lockdown, through your cover of Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush. Why did you choose to do a cover of that song in particular?

Well, I mean, just purely and simply, it’s a song that I love. I’d say Bush is one of the greatest of all time and I think that that song, in particular, is just a work of art. It’s quite a complex song with very few elements. And that’s what I love about her work.

During the process of doing the cover, I got to kind of dissect the way that song was created and it was really incredible. There’s no bass running through it: all the bass comes from the drums. And then you’ve got all these layers and synths. And then obviously have her vocals and all these kinds of really dark and spacey backing vocals. It was a real joy just to be able to do it.

Can we expect any new music in the future?

Oh, yeah! I’m on the way now to finishing up a new record. And hopefully, my new music will drop later next year. Hopefully! I don’t know – though who knows? But that’s what I’m doing now. This tour is a bit like putting Seeking Thrills to bed.

words SARAH BOWDIDGE