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Interview with
GEORGIA BLACK

(29th December, 2020)

Interviewer – Dave Bruce

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Georgia Black is a contemporary Blues singer from North London, heavily influenced by artists such as Shirley Bassey, Etta James and Peggy Lee. She kicked off her professional singing career fronting Agent Provocateur’s Dirty Stop Out, with The Clash’s Mick Jones, Bobby Gillespie and AP’s Joe Corre. Her time in the couture meets punk show-band saw her performing in venues such as Camden’s Koko and international festivals, including Vienna’s Life Ball Festival and Berlin Fashion Week.

Since then, she has been working on her personal sound, imbued with the old jazz, blues and soul influences she grew up on, and has recently teamed up with producer Joshua Woolf to develop this further. Working alongside Grammy Award winning mix/mastering engineer Aamir Yaqub (Rihanna, Sia, David Guetta), their time spent in lockdown was filled with online sessions, where they were able to perfect Georgia’s distinct, velvet sound. 

“Invisible Enemy” was written at the very start of the lockdown and was inspired by a conversation Georgia had with a colleague of hers, Roberta – Georgia works as a Learning Support Assistant in a college for her day job. Roberta said, “Don’t you think it’s crazy that whenever we’re usually unwell, we feel we have to be the hero and push ourselves to go to work, but right now, to be the hero is the other way round?” This really resonated with Georgia and built up an image in her head of super heroes saving lives by staying at home, which laid the foundation for the song. Sonically “Invisible Enemy” is very theatrical in nature, showcasing cinematic soundscapes reminiscent of something from a Bond movie. Her soulful, sultry vocals bring to mind the likes of Lana Del Rey, whilst the seductive synths emit a mesmerising release. 

Georgia wrote “Repeat & Play” at a time in her life when she felt stuck, like a record on repeat – in the same never ending cycle, not achieving her goals, in relationships, seeing the same awful things happening in the world, and with general life dissatisfaction. Through effortless, smoky vocals, haunting harmonies and mellow melodies, the musician has crafted a laid-back song to ease the soul. 

Georgia’s previous ventures have included supporting Omar at Manchester’s Band on The Wall and innovative projects like Punchdrunk’s production of The Drowned Man – an immersive theatrical show that saw attendance from Adele, Prince Harry, Madonna, to Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul. She has also collaborated with numerous top-drawer producers, including Guy Chambers in the past.

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Have you always wanted to be a musician? When did you get the song-writing bug?
Yes, I’ve always wanted to be a musician and I started getting the song-writing bug around the age of 13, although the songs I wrote then were awful! Haha!

How would you describe your sound? Why do you think people resonate with your music?
I’d describe my sound as Bluesy Trip Hop and think people might resonate with it because my lyrics are honest and the production hits you right in the stomach.

Which artist’s music and/or performance, past or present, inspires you today?
I have so many musical inspirations, but off the top of my head: Shirley Bassey, Etta James, Nina Simone, Peggy Lee, Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Led Zeppelin, The Specials, Lauryn Hill, Fugees, Missy Elliot, Portishead, Gorillaz and Amy Winehouse. To name a few…

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Your new single/EP/Album has just been released/is about to be released! Describe its origin and evolution.
The recording process for ‘Invisible Enemy’ was done completely remotely. Me and my producer, Josh Woolf, were due to have our first writing session during the first week of lockdown 1, which we ended having to cancel for obvious reasons. Joshua sometimes leaks little clips of beats he’s working on on his Instagram story and there was this one day that I really felt a particular beat he’d put up. I asked him what he was doing with it and if I could write to it, and not long after, ’Invisible Enemy’ was written. The lyrics were inspired by a conversation I had with a colleague of mine, Roberta – I work as a Learning Support Assistant in a college for my day job. Roberta said, “Don’t you think it’s crazy that whenever we’re usually unwell, we feel we have to be the hero and push ourselves to go to work, but right now, to be the hero is the other way round?” This really resonated with me and built up an image in my head of super heroes saving lives by staying at home, which laid the foundation for the song.
As for ‘Repeat & Play’, I actually wrote it a couple of years ago, at a stage in my life when I felt stuck – in the same never ending cycle, not achieving my goals, in relationships, seeing the same awful things happening in the world, and with general life satisfaction. I wrote it with my friend Dornik (an amazing artist), but kind of forgot about it, then during lockdown 1, it came to the forefront of my mind because every day felt the same, like a record on repeat! My producer Josh then beefed up the production and the rest was history.

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Is there an EP or Album on the drawing board?
Yes, there’s an EP on the horizon, but a couple more singles to come first ;)

Any tours or events coming up soon? What are you looking forward to, and what can the fans expect?
It’s hard to say at the moment because the pandemic is still going on, but I’d like to think that bookings would start coming in the New Year. I’m looking forward to the new releases and directing and editing more music videos in 2021.

If you could perform with any music artist, Alive or Dead, who would you choose? And why?
I’d choose Shirley Bassey, as she has an amazing voice and is an incredible performer. I just feel I could learn a lot from her and it would be an incredible experience.

Do you have any long-term aspirations as a music artist? 
To be able to make a difference to someone’s life with my music.

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What is the best thing about performing to a live audience? What’s been the career highlight so far?
The feeling of being able to open up on stage and having an audience listen and connect to your music. The highlight of my career so far has been supporting Omar on a gig in Manchester.

Finally, a few questions for some quick answers –
FAVOURITE:
Album – Impossible to answer that, as there are so many and in a variety of genres.
Artist – Again, impossible to answer. I’m in a battle with myself trying to decide.
Movie – Growing up, ‘Who Framed Rodger Rabbit’ was my favourite movie, but now, there are too many great movies to decide between.
Place to visit – The motherland – Cyprus
Venue to play – Koko
Food – Depends what mood I’m in, but Greek, West Indian and Japanese are up there.
Drink – Woodford Reserve on the rocks
Person in History – Nina Simone
Tattoo – My elephant tattoo

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Check out GEORGIA BLACK below
Facebook – Instagram – Twitter 

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AMNPLIFY – DB