Georgia on my mind
With her emotional, original songs and powerful te reo Māori waiata,
singer-songwriter Georgia Lines is conquering the
New Zealand music industry.
words Sue Hoffart photos Graeme Murray
Having spent seven years striking at doors with her well-shod feet, piano-playing singer-songwriter Georgia Lines has finally entered the room.
Now, for the first time, the unquestionably talented Tauranga Moana artist has enough work to call herself a full-time music professional. She has clocked up more than 2 million streams for her singles – including a recent release in te reo Māori – as well as a self-titled 2020 extended play (EP) record. Her recent national tour comes on the back of other high-profile gigs at Auckland’s Eden Park, Spark Arena, The Civic, and New Plymouth’s Bowl of Brooklyn. Georgia has another EP tagged for release in late July, and is heading across the Tasman shortly, for a week of songwriting alongside other writers and producers.
None of it has come easily. And she takes none of her recent successes for granted.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen next,” she says cheerfully. “We’re not in the clear yet, but I do feel excited now.”
In 2015, the then-18-year-old told UNO she was ready to face whatever highs and lows the notoriously difficult music industry might hurl her way. Instead of heading to university alongside her peers, the recently graduated Bethlehem College head girl was determined to be an independent artist. At the time, her debut single “Wannabe” had climbed to number six on New Zealand’s iTunes chart within one day. She was prepared to “go all in,” she said at the time. “Not put half a foot in the door, but kick it wide open.”
And boy has she kicked. And kicked. Against a global pandemic and multiple cancelled concerts and tours. Against isolation instead of audiences. Against financial uncertainty and the heartache of lost opportunities.
When she speaks with UNO this time around, Georgia is finishing songs and making decisions over artwork for a new EP, while juggling interviews and wrapping up two tours. One is the much-delayed six-show, five-city Leave Behind music tour. The other is an annual road show that places inspiring New Zealanders in front of intermediate-aged children. This year’s National Young Leaders Day lineup included a bright young entrepreneur from Dunedin, the national Student Volunteer Army founder, an explorer who lost his leg in a volcanic eruption, and one determined 25-year-old singer.
She had no trouble relating to the resilience theme of this year’s leadership event, and has spoken with her young audiences about dealing with disappointment and online bullies, feelings of inadequacy, or being a people-loving extrovert during lockdown.
“COVID-19 has been really difficult,” the natural optimist admits. “There were many days I wanted to give up and throw in the towel. But my family and friends have kind of carried me through those really disappointing moments.
“My first EP, in 2020, was released two days before lockdown. I had this big release party planned, even had the merch printed. And we had to pull the pin. That was the start of a string of events, of having to adapt and go okay, all right, we just have to carry on. Have a cry, let go of the emotion, feel what you feel, then pick yourself up and carry on.”
Music itself has also helped. Georgia’s single “Leave Behind” helped her deal with the sudden death of a beloved grandfather. The song addresses grief and the need to relinquish sentimental attachment to her Poppa’s possessions.
And how about those very few nasty online messages that come her way?
“It’s easy to say words don’t affect me, but they do,” she admits. “No one likes to think they’re doing a bad job, and I’ll probably have to continue to deal with it. But are you going to take the one strange, sideways, negative comment or go, I’m really proud of what I’ve been doing and a bunch of people also think it’s awesome. And again, family have been really good at reminding me I’m really good at what I do, keep going.”
To combat the tough times, she aims to exercise regularly, eat well “80 percent of the time”, periodically switch off her phone, and check in with a psychologist as needed. There are near-daily chats with parents Andy and Sally Lines, who live rurally and own Urban Lounge Interiors. She also shares a tight bond with younger brother Mac, a drummer in her band. The all-important support crew now includes husband Nathan, the intermediate school teacher she shares a home with in Mount Maunganui. They do not, however, share equal wardrobe space; Georgia admits to hogging most of the storage with her shoe collection, fashion pieces, and vintage or op-shop finds. The couple managed to wed before the pandemic struck, though COVID-19 stymied their honeymoon plans as well as her career aspirations.
“As humans, we’re really good at adapting. As creatives, you have to be. I feel like I’ve become okay at riding the (uncertainty) wave. I also make a really intentional choice to think, ‘How can I enjoy this and not let the stress of the job weigh me down?’ When you release something, there’s a lot of work to do. A lot of deadlines, all the practical things. So it’s learning to love the process, the chaos.
“All I can do is give 100 percent to the opportunities in front of me, do a really good job of being a good wife, a good daughter, a good friend. And be really good at my job.”
For the last four years, Georgia has worked as a teacher to supplement her patchy performer’s income. She has offered students one-on-one piano and singing lessons, songwriting, and performance instruction, privately and through schools.
This winter, for the first time, she is too busy to teach. Frankly, she isn’t sure how she managed to fit it in before now, between the rehearsals and songwriting and the hands-on decision-making that comes with being an independent artist. That includes being intimately involved in the production of her own highly stylised music videos, notable for her bold fashion choices as much as her songs.
“Me and my team do everything ourselves. I have my fingers in all the pies.
“I love it all. I love the visual side, too. Fashion is a natural extension of my personality. I’m drawn to colour and fun things. People often say to me, ‘I could never wear that!’ and I wonder if that is a compliment or not. But I don’t actually care. I can express my creativity through putting outfits together, and that feeds into photoshoots and videos. I get to work with amazing brands and borrow amazing clothes.”
An Auckland Museum show with members of the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra called for a high-necked, full-length beaded gown. The release of her extraordinary, goosebump-inducing “Hine E Hine” single saw the singer clad in a bright yellow shirt, with a vast number of oversized hair clips marching down her dark tresses. In July last year, Georgia played a grand piano and sang that same piece at Auckland’s The Civic theatre for the Tuawāhine show that lined her up alongside Anika Moa, Tammy Neilson, Annie Crummer, and Paige.
The waiata choice dates back to her school choir days, though she revisited pronunciation and learned its true meaning in honour of the event.
“It was really, really special, celebrating Matariki and the power of wāhine toa. Everyone on stage was female, we had a full band, and I’m standing there thinking, how am I here, sharing the stage with these incredible women.
“That was the start of singing in te reo. I felt really honoured to be asked, and I really wanted to take the care to honour the event. I thought, man, there’s something really special about this.”
Although the planned Tuawāhine tour was cancelled courtesy of COVID-19 restrictions, Georgia was subsequently shoulder-tapped to re-record one of her own songs in te reo Māori for the New Zealand music industry’s Waiata Anthems Week. She fell for the language even harder the second time around while transforming “My Love” into “Tōrere”.
Working alongside “incredible” translator Hana Mereraiha, she was able to instil new layers of poetry and metaphor.
“It almost feels that it has captured the meaning of the song in a way that the original didn’t. I am still in the baby stages of my te reo journey, but it has been an absolute privilege to learn, and I am really loving it.”
In the meantime, fingers are crossed as summer shows start to line up and she dares to look ahead a little further.
While Georgia struggles to recall the exact detail of the dreams she chased as a teenager, she has no doubt her goals have shifted.
“It’s less of that ‘play a big show in a stadium in New York’. Though that would be nice. If we end up with kids, I want to still be loving what I’m doing, to be able to be a mum and do a good job of that, but also release music and play shows.
“In 10 years, what I’d love to be doing is writing music I’m really proud of.”