‘As a songwriter, you’re a storyteller’ – Manchester’s rising star Georgie

Tara Dalton | 6th March 2018

Before hitting the stage at Manchester’s Albert Hall recently, VIVA caught up with Mancunian songstress on the rise, Georgie on tour with Jake Bugg to talk about new music and current influences.

VIVA: First things first, how is the tour going?

GEORGIE: Great! Really good, been one of my favourite tours ever this one.

VIVA: Are you excited for tonight?

GEORGIE: Yeah yeah, Manchester’s always fun to play, it’s got a good buzz and a good feel about it.

VIVA: So, your music has been described to have rich vocals and powerful lyrics, is that inspired by any artist or past artist?

GEORGIE: Definitely, a lot of them strong females from back in the 70’s, like Stevie Nicks, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin and Patti Smith. They’re like my heroes. We need more artists like that nowadays!

VIVA: Do they affect how you perform?

GEORGIE: I think so, I always just try to be myself on stage but they really do have an impact. I’ve watched videos of them and listened to their music so much that you can’t help but take it in. When you listen to Aretha Franklin, she can sing!

VIVA: Now, you started playing music in pubs and clubs, what’s the transition like from pubs to stages?

GEORGIE: It was kind of an easy transgression, is that the right word?… transition, that’s it! I’d played 250 gigs before I went on a big stage so it was just like playing live became part of who I am, it doesn’t matter on the size of the venue. I just love it so much that it was kind of easy to me to go from one to the other. I’ve had a lot of experience on playing these kind of stages now, and doing tours with Jake and Blossoms so it’s just improving all the time.

VIVA: You’ve just mentioned that you’ve toured with Jake Bugg and Blossoms, but if there was anyone you could collaborate or work with, who would it be?

GEORGIE: Chance the Rapper, I love him! His album is one of my favourites, its kind of proper chaotic and has that whole gospel root thing about it and it seems so honest as well.

VIVA: You’ve also recently released a new song called Too Much TV, could you tell us at VIVA more about that?

GEORGIE: It’s very personal in a lot of ways, obviously I talk about my mum and my dad, and then also I’ve been in the position where I’ve been drunk and watched too much TV and all my friends are just rocketing on with their lives. Also, socially, a lot of the reasoning behind the song was the pressure on young people today is crazy like the pressure to kind of get a mortgage and a great job. The pressure kind of dampens down a young person’s soul in the way that they kind of can’t find themselves because the pressure is so huge on their shoulders. They need that freedom to just go out and just drink or watch some TV to kind of find who they are and not feel guilty about it.

VIVA: Is it true that you were originally going to be a professional football player?

GEORGIE:  Yeah yeah yeah, that was what I wanted to do. I was really sporty before I picked up the guitar, I really wanted to go into tennis or football. I got a trial at Derby County and then got asked to play tennis regionally. But then I picked up the guitar at 13, and literally just fell in love with music and stopped playing sport. Nothing was that important to me as music anymore.

VIVA: You also have 2 new songs coming up on the Impacts EP called ‘Be the Fire’ and ‘Wildcat’, can you tell us more about them?

GEORGIE: I recorded Be the Fire in Nottingham, in a studio that I work in quite a lot, and  Wildcat I had recorded in America with Matthew E. White so it was quite a different recording process for them. They both fit together and lyrically again, they’re rather personal. Wildcat is about loving something so much but its bad for you but you can’t stay away from it. Be the fire is a morale song, but yeah they’re two quite old songs.

VIVA: With some of the released singles, the lyrics are like stories, is there a reason behind that?

GEORGIE: As a songwriter, you’re a storyteller. For me, your storytelling is just about conveying emotion and if you do that by telling a story and it touches someone, then that’s the main objective as an artist. Everyone has experienced hard times and everyone has fallen in love and out of love so I think as a songwriter I am just a person like everyone else but I can get it down through music. And luckily, sometimes it comes off as a story.

VIVA: Sometimes, do you see the effect it has on the audience when you’re performing?

GEORGIE: Oh yeah, and that’s one of the best feelings like that’s better than money, and someone buying your record. when people come up to you and tell you that all your songs proper resonate with them and where they are right now in their life that’s so important! Because all the artists I love, like Carol King, I’d play their music and be like ‘How does she know what I’m feeling?!‘

VIVA: After this tour with Jake Bugg has ended, what are your plans?

GEORGIE: Release more music, there’s so much to be released, like whole albums and over 20 songs. Also festivals, I’m confirming some festivals at the minute.

VIVA: Can you confirm any at the minute? 

GEORGIE: I don’t know, but we just confirmed Cambridge Folk Festival today, which is amazing because Patti Smith is going to be there, and First Aid Kit, I love them guys.

VIVA: Do you have hidden songs at the moment that you’re excited to let free?

GEORGIE: Yeah loads, there’s so many I can’t wait to put out, my favourite songs aren’t out yet so it’ll be fun to let them go and to see people’s reactions. And I’m going to keep writing as well, just always writing songs.

VIVA: That’s all from me today, but I hope tonight goes well! Any last words for our VIVA Readers?

GEORGIE: Keep on drinking and watching whatever you want on TV. Don’t feel guilty and be yourself!

Later that night, Georgie played on the Albert Hall stage and stunned the crowd with her unique vocals and it was clear to see the effect of influencers such as Joplin and Fraklin. Although she stood alone on stage with just a guitar her companion, her personality filled the hall and drew everyone to love her. To see Too Much TV live gave a new feeling to the song and definitely made Georgie somebody to look out for in the coming future.

For more information on Georgie check out her twitter or her official website here