INTERVIEW: George Alice releases new single 'Teenager': "Being a young girl in the music industry is one of the hardest things to do - I applaud every female in this industry. "
Interview: Jett Tattersall
Image: Imogen Wilson
Crowning what has been a remarkable 12 months, rising star George Alice has just released her new single ‘Teenager’. A mellow and melancholic indie pop anthem which voices the frustrations of being a teenager in a world that refuses to listen to the important voice of youth in one of the most turbulent periods in history, it is a deeply personal track that marks the next stage in George’s career, fittingly as the 17 year old leaves school and embarks on the next part of her life.
“I wrote ‘Teenager’ with Maribelle Anes right after I left high-school,” she explains. “I’d just finished a lot of international travel and was still really overwhelmed by the last year. Every line has a different meaning and was somehow relevant in my life, the main one being the sarcasm behind the phrase ‘I’m just a fucking teenager’. I felt really underestimated in the music industry being so young, I know so many teenagers feel this way in the schooling system too, so I wanted to bring attention to it. I hope this song can be the making of more unique individuals and kids stepping out being who they are.”
Also out now is the music video for ‘Teenager’ which portrays a ‘day in the life’ of a typical teenager of which George says: “I wanted to capture every aspect of high school life and bring attention to all the stupid, petty things we deal with on the daily. The disregard but vague attention they bring to mental health awareness, intimidating and corrupt teachers, creative and unique people being targeted and labelled as misfits when they are nothing but authentic. There’s a lot of blackholes in the schooling system that need to have light shed onto them so that’s what this video is doing. Using references from Freaks and Geeks, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower we wanted a really nostalgic and powerful visual to match such an honest song.”
After winning Triple J’s Unearthed High last year with her track ‘Circles’, George Alice has become one of the hottest new talents on the Australian music scene. With over 10 million global streams, a global record deal with US label Loma Vista Recordings (St Vincent, Soccer Mommy) plus praise from Sir Elton John, George is also currently in the middle of her first ever headline tour across the East Coast of Australia with the School’s Out tour. We recently caught up with George to find out more.
Hey George, so lovely to chat with you. First up how are things with you?
Yeah, doing really good. I guess just keeping busy with getting up and about again now that corona’s settling down.
Your new single ‘Teenager’, I'm adoring it. We've got that tempo, the guitar, and then your swagger. Before I get into that, where did this delicious creature come from?
I made it probably about a year ago now with Maribelle [Anes], who I also wrote ‘Circles’ with. It was after I just finished a lot of international travel, you know, when you have just had a gut full of all of the crazy business stuff. I was reflecting on when I was in high school, just doing whatever I wanted to do, and just being 15. Just being whoever I wanted to be. Obviously, Maribelle can relate to that, because she's been a teenager. Everyone's been a teenager. We met on level ground and when she came to Adelaide and had a bunch of writing sessions,, it just went from there.
Beautiful. I just want to talk a little bit about the composition, because I feel much like your gorgeous acoustic version of ‘Stuck In a Bubble’, ‘Teenager’ also has this old time-y feel to it. Does your own music taste leap realms and eras and genres?
Yeah, I have a very broad listening taste and that's just what I've always loved to do. I just wanted to make something different and Lana Del Rey, and that kind of vibe is very in at the moment, and the really cool vintage. But I wanted to make it almost like indie pop vintage, and make something that maybe hasn't been on the radio for a long time, but also has a really strong message. Because whether kids don't like vintage music, or they don't like the sound, they like the meaning behind it and I think that that's the most important thing.
You mentioned about having the message, all music today, seems to have a lot more voice to it. I think that particularly comes from the fact that you've got artists such as yourself, writing music while you are, to quote your song, still a fucking teenager. Speaking from your experience, both as an artist and a listener, I just want to know how important do you feel the songwriters’ voices is, I guess hand in hand with the performance and the industry and the connection with the audience?
It's so important. I've always had a really good trajectory when it comes to writing songs. I don't want to write anything that doesn't amount to anything, that doesn't say anything. I want to put out anything that could help someone or they could hear and relate to. I think that every artist should have a direction that they want to go in when they sit down to write a song or when they sit down in a session. They really have a strong voice anyway, it's just the way that they get it out and the way that they project that is the most important thing.
Gorgeous. And of course, you are kicking it now, but you have been a creator and a performer since you were 11. Can you give me a little on your backstory?
So I started busking and doing all those cute little pub gigs and cafe gigs when I was about 11 or 12. It just kind of grew from there. I wanted to be a country singer for a long time. So I did country music and a lot of covers. I did my first writing session when I was 15. I went to Melbourne to hang out with Maribelle and we wrote ‘Circles’ in probably a couple hours - start to finish - and then also wrote another song in the same day and just put them out and hoped for the best. She was one of those people that I really needed to meet as well as wanted to meet. She's been a really good mentor for me, just in everything, especially in the music industry. And helping me find my feet because starting in country music and then jumping across to pop music and then jumping across to Unearthed High, it's a lot of big changes and she definitely helped ground me in that.
What was the pull for you to country music?
I went to the Tamworth Country Music Festival when I was 12 and I just saw all of the bands playing together and the connection that they had on stage. And they were all playing, whether it be something acoustic, or they were busking on the side of the road, and people were just joining in and the way they were doing it was just so real and raw. There was nothing to hide behind. There's no big production to hide behind, no crazy sounds to hide behind. It was just them and their voice and whatever they picked up off the side of the road. They just wanted to jump on and play music and make people happy and make people dance. So that’s where it all started.
And coming from that background, the pull to country music, and also being a singer, songwriter, and busker yourself from such a young age, is that also what drives the stripped back versions of your songs? I'm already going through your catalogue that's out there and your acoustic versions are not just an acoustic version of a song, they are so very different from the original. Is that something that really just fires you up, that multi-facet of a song?
I always love listening to Like A Version (Triple J) and BBC Radio 1 live lounge. I would always listen to those when I was younger and then every time that I would go and play a pub gig, I'd be like, this is my moment to really change a song and make it into something that I would have written. I have just always loved doing that and I think when you write a song, and you put it out, it’s a lot of big production and stuff. It's really easy for you to strip it back. A lot of people do just do that, they just strip it back. I don't want to just strip things back. I want to make it something different and show the beauty and every element that I've put in it. Every lyric that I put in that song has a meaning and every sound has a meaning. It's really important to me to lay it all down flat and show everyone what we've got.
Oh, I'm so pleased that you do. Now I want to talk to you about adolescence. As you mentioned, everyone goes through it. You kind of blew up very publicly, at the peak of your adolescence. And though this is the almost unattainable goal for most I feel like there's probably still some sacrifice that comes with being propelled so far ahead. What have been some of the sacrifices you've made to get where you are today?
There's definitely a lot. I left high school a week after I won Unearthed High. I mean, I went back for half a day and packed my things. I just needed to go in and ride this wave, I was just presented with a massive opportunity. I didn't want to waste it in any capacity. So I ran with it and went to a lot of different countries and did a lot of different things very, very quickly. Leading up to it, I was always working towards something. I didn't really know what it was or where that was going to be. Definitely missing a lot of school to go and do writing trips, or go to Melbourne to meet people and just work on music and find my feet [was a sacrifice]. Other than that, I guess it’s being the regular teenager, you know? Your friends are all hanging out graduating and I'm doing something else. But school was never really for me, so I wasn't too affected by the whole loss of a teenage life kind of thing. I'm still doing exactly what I wanted to do and exactly what I've always wanted to do, but just way cooler. I'm having fun, and everyone else is in school. So I think I win!
I’m so glad you said that. And also, it’s good that you get that now. That idea of loss of a teenage life, because it always makes me laugh when people go, ‘oh if I could be 16 again’. I'm like really?
Yeah. Do you?!
On that note, what were the things or people that kept you going, okay, I know who I am?
My parents were a big one. I took them everywhere with me. I always have at least one of them there. It's my parents and definitely my drummer, Dan. He's just like a big angel hug. He's a very smart man that always wants to make sure that everybody's okay, and everybody's having a good time. He also taught me a lot about the industry because I played my first show after Unearthed High and I had no idea what I was doing. Also Maribelle. I remember having a really big conversation with her in one of our studio sessions, not long after Unearthed High. She just spilled the beans on everything in the industry and was like, ‘you can just be who you are, and you don't have to take certain things, you don't have to do certain things’ and just got down to the real nitty gritty of things and really guided me in the right direction. It can be so confusing, especially if a kid’s put in a situation where literally the entire world is watching what you're doing. It can be really hard to navigate what you're doing, especially when your parents can't tell you what to do, because they're not in the same field. Maribelle was a really good guide in that situation.
Beautiful. Emerging as you did, straight out of high school, there was no way for anyone to be able to dress you up and hide your age, which happens quite a lot, whether people are trying to age up or age down in the music industry. As a young solo artist being propelled that far, did you ever feel that you needed to push harder to be heard or taken seriously, with regards to opinions to your music within the industry?
Yeah, 100%. Being a young girl in the music industry is one of the hardest things to do. I applaud every female in this industry. I know it gets brought up all the time, it almost sounds like old news. But it's still such a massive issue. You walk into a room full of music producers, and they're all men. They're always going to be men. You have to say things five times because they don't listen to you. Just basic things like that really just annoy everyone. Just being a woman in the music industry is really weird, but it's getting better. For me personally, I fought the battles. I don't take no for an answer - I just keep going. I'll send a lot of people weird emails and messages and make sure that I'm heard. I don't care, you know, because sometimes when you're caught up in the glitz and glamour of things and you talk to people face to face, there's a lot of random things that get said or there's a lot of conversations that kind of don't lead to anything. So I always make sure I follow things up and make a connection with people and fight the battles for myself, because there's no point having other people do it for you. That's just not going to get you anywhere.
Incredible. You certainly don't need to tell Women In Pop that. We know the fight.
You guys know.
We’re cheering you on. When it comes to touring, COVID shut down aside, you are killing it. Some incredible shows, festivals and openings for people like Vera Blue and Tash Sultana. What is it about those live shows, you know, even busking, that makes you want to just explode with joy, but also possibly makes you want to run away screaming, just before you go on stage?
I guess it's always the fear of the unknown. I always say it’s like you're throwing a birthday party, and you don't know if your friends are going to come, but your mum's already bought all the decorations. So everything's ready to go, but are people gonna come? I don't know. Like, you just kind of sit and wait, and then you don't know until the last second before you go out and you actually see the people there. That's always such a massive thing for me. But other than that, I really love when people sing the songs back or you can tell that they just have the biggest smile on their face. We've all had those moments where you stand in the crowd at a show and you’re just like, it's so good because I'm like watching live music and having a great time with my friends. And, you know, that could be somebody's moment listening to my music and I think that’s really beautiful.
And those moments are so important for the audience. It is lovely to hear it back from the artists as well, that connection. Lastly before I leave you George, what's coming up for you?Next up, we're just kind of riding out this corona wave and we’re seeing what's happening with that. But from here on, we’re going to be working on a lot of new music. With this third song [‘Teenager’} out now, I think we’ve really found our feet and I've found out where I want to go and what I want to make and who I am more. That means more music and more shows and hopefully a festival run if we can do one. A lot more shows and new music.
‘Teenager’ by George Alice is out now. You can buy and stream here.
To keep up with all things George Alice you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
School’s Out Tour
November 26 - The Cambridge, Newcastle
November 27 - Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
November 29 - La La La’s, Wollongong SOLD OUT
December 4 - Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide
