04 Sep INTERVIEW — Georgia talks new album and alcohol addiction
A few days before sharing her third album, Euphoric, Georgia talks about how she wrote it in between shows at Primavera, but also shares about her experience with alcohol and her decision to quit.
SOB : Hi Georgia ! You just played Primavera Festival, how are you?
Georgia : Fine ! Last night, we played a show, and it went really good. Yeah, it’s lovely and hot. It’s nice to be away.
SOB : It’s nice to finally meet you ! Can you talk to me about your new record ? How was the writing process, how’s it going?
Georgia : Let’s begin with this new record. Well, I think I should start by the fact that I didn’t want to write a new record in the same way as I was Seeking Thrills. I wanted to, um, I think I was reaching out for a new adventure, and that seemed to kind of take shape and maybe not writing the record in London. Maybe going abroad and going to kind of cool place to be inspired, and then like my imaginations being sparked. It just so happened in 2019, I did a song called Live Like We’re Dancing. And Alex Marama, after the first couple of days of writing the song, sent it to Rostam. He is a producer, and he’s a songwriter himself, but he was in Vampire Weekend. But he produced the last record. Also Clairo Immunity. So he produced that album, and he’s also worked for Solange and Frank Ocean. He’s his own, he’s his own artist, too. And he’s a friend of Mirror Masters. And he heard the demo of Live like We’re dancing and he contacted me via Instagram. He really, really liked the sound, my vocal. And I was very excited by this, by this message. And I’m like « I’m such a big fan. I’d love to work with you one day » and he said, « Yeah, whenever you’re in L.A., just hit me up« .
So fast forward on to the end of 2019. I was in L.A. and I had a couple of shows and I had a few days off and I messaged them and said, « Hey, look, I’m in, I’m in a can I come over? And we write something, you know, I’m really up for it. » And he was like, « Sure, come over. » I just had the best time ever writing a song with Rostam and I found it so inspiring and different to the kind of dust drill. London was completely different. It was open and expansive, and the light was beautiful. And I just thought, I want to write out of here.
SOB : How could you describe your album?
Georgia : It’s different to the last record. It’s less clubby, it’s a bit more about the outdoors and spirituality, but it’s still very much dance music. More like in an American sounding, you know. But it still sounds quite British, I’m still influenced by house music.
SOB : What were you listening to when you wrote it or recorded it?
Georgia : Yeah, Haim, of course. Danielle. Danielle‘s writing inspired me. She is such an incredible songwriter. And Madonna‘s Ray of Light, that sort of sounding record. Um, what else I would say? Madonna and Haim.
SOB : Is there any gig you’ve seen or artists you’ve discovered recently that you really enjoyed and would like to share?
Georgia : They’re not new, but The Comet is Coming, they’re amazing. Also, George Riley, she’s incredible.
SOB : In an interview, you said you quit alcohol, right ? What motivated you to quit? How do you feel about alcohol in the music industry?
Georgia : It was a decision that’s taken quite a long time. It’s been a long journey for me with alcohol, and it just wasn’t for me, you know, it didn’t really agree with me and so I just think the best thing was to not drink. And I think it’s really hard, in the music industry, in this sort of environment. The thing is alcohol’s around a lot, there seems to be kind of a trend towards drinking, not to take care of your body and to look out for your mental health. And I think drinking, when I was younger, had a very positive effect. But as I got older, it just started to not really agree with me. And I started to behave in ways in which I was very ashamed of. I think I have got addiction problems in a way. So there were certain traits that I found with my drinking that were very kind of similar to other people with problems with alcohol. So I just sort of recognized that and and just said, I’m going to try and not focus on the head. And it’s hard. But I go to groups, and I have a good support network of people. And in the recovery, I’ve met such amazing people and learnt incredible life lessons and just learned a lot about myself and I think it’s been a really positive journey for me, but it’s taken a while.
SOB : And do you think it changed something regarding your music or performances?
Georgia : I don’t know whether it has. I think certainly it put me in a better frame of mind. So yeah, I think performing, being on tour, all these kinds of quite stressful situations. These are high level pressures, stress work environments to be in a kind of clear frame of mind for me. I think it is having a positive effect for sure.
SOB : Thank you for sharing that with me.
Georgia : No problem.
SOB : What’s the song you’re most proud of ?
Georgia : There’s a song called So What? that I think is really good. I wrote it with Justin Parker, who wrote Video Games with Lana Del Rey and Rihanna‘s Stay. It’s a ballad, but it’s a very optimistic ballad.
SOB : Thank you so much.
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