Georgia Lines and LAIIKA: NZ Tour + Q&A

MusicInterviews

29 Apr

KATIE BROWN - 29 APR 2021

Rising stars in the New Zealand music scene Georgia Lines and pop duo LAIIKA have teamed up for a double-headlining tour, which kicks off at Wellington’s Meow tonight (tickets here). Following this, they head to Totara Street in Tauranga on April 30th, Auckland’s Tuning Fork on May 1st (an all ages show), with Georgia wrapping up the tour on her own at Christchurch’s Grater Goods on May 7th.

Georgia is a mesmerising and soulful artist hovering between the dream-pop and R&B genres. Releasing her self-titled debut EP over last year’s COVID lockdown saw Georgia garner extensive Spotify streams from tracks like “My Love”, “Vacant Cities” and “Never Had Love”. She is currently lined up to release new music, which she has been working on with award-winning producer Djeisan Suskov (BENEE, Matthew Young, Mitch James, LEISURE). “No One Knows”, the first single newly released on April 16th, is an exquisite and poignant teaser of what is to follow.

Georgia will be joined on this upcoming tour by her band, which includes her brothers Mackenzie Lines on drums and Nathan Mavroyannis (keys/bass/guitar).

LAIIKA (which is best friend duo Heidi Simpson and Grace Moller) introduce a refreshingly modern and whimsical take on pop music, and have already seen success with their first two singles “Crush” and “Any Way You Want It”. With a sound reminiscent of a blend of 70s disco, 80s synth-pop and pop classics of the early 2000s, they co-write and produce their own songs, which can be anything from funk-inspired dance to more introspective and stripped-back power ballads. They are also set to release an EP later in the year and it’s bound to be a winner!

The tour is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to catch two exciting and engaging acts on the cusp of breaking out within the New Zealand music scene: find out a little more about Georgia Lines and LAIIKA in our artist Q&As below, and don’t forget to get your tickets (details below) - we’ll see you there!

Georgia Lines and LAIIKA – NZ tour dates 2021

Thursday April 29 – Meow, Wellington - TICKETS
Friday April 30 - Totara Street, Tauranga - TICKETS
Saturday May 1 - Tuning Fork, Auckland – ALL AGES - TICKETS
Friday May 7 - Grater Goods, Christchurch (Georgia Lines only) – TICKETS

Tickets for all shows are on sale now - HERE

Georgia Lines

Q&A

KATIE: HOW DID YOU FIRST GET INTO MUSIC-MAKING?

Georgia: I didn’t start writing songs until the end of intermediate, when I was learning guitar and my teacher at the time started encouraging me to write. Writing music seemed like such a daunting thing to me until I started to find my rhythm with it (which took me a little while).

WHAT INSPIRES YOU WITH YOUR SONGWRITING?

I often find that I write about myself, things I’ve learnt / am learning or reflecting on, and what I’m experiencing. The more that I write, the more I feel comfortable about being honest in my art and letting people into those thoughts. It can be scary, but people appreciate honesty in art, it’s relatable. Aside from that I am always inspired by books I’m reading, art, fashion, other people around me and things I experience. One of the best pieces of writing advice I was ever given was to fill my creative tank with things other than music. The more I fill myself creatively, the deeper the well is to draw from when I am writing or in a session with another artist.

CAN YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST SONG YOU EVER WROTE? WHAT WAS IT ABOUT?

One of the first songs I wrote was called ‘Oh June’. It was about an elderly lady who I met at an ANZAC day service at a rest home here in Tauranga, that I was singing at. I would have been Yr 8 or 9 at the time and decided to talk with this Lady, who I can’t remember if her name was June or if I made it up. But I wrote a song about her life after meeting her and finding out she had dementia.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND?

I always find this one tricky, as I feel like my sound morphs and changes, But I would say that there are elements of both 90’s pop mixed with R&B and soulful vocals. If you can merge all of those things together... you’d find me somewhere in there.

WHEN WAS YOUR FIRST PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE? WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER MOST ABOUT IT?

The first time I ever sang in front of people, was the Year 6 talent quest. A bunch of friends and I re-created the ‘Breaking Free’ scene from High School Musical. I was Gabriella and a friend of mine was Troy... looking back all I remember was wearing a white lab coat and slowly walking down the isle of the school hall between the chairs, being so nervous... probably groping the mic so tightly with sweaty hands trying to sing this duet with a shaky, nervous voice.

WHAT EXCITES YOU MOST ABOUT BEING PART OF A DOUBLE-HEADLINE TOUR?

I am just so excited about being able to go on tour and play live again! I know we are so lucky here in NZ to be playing live shows in this current Covid climate with so much uncertainty. The LAIIKA girls are so lovely and I think it’s going to be such a fun time travelling, and playing all these shows together!

WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE ACT TO SEE LIVE?

Hmmmmm, One of the most memorable shows I have ever been to was the John Legend & Alicia Keys tour here in NZ quite a few years back. I’ve always been such a huge fan of her, but seeing her live was amazing!

WHAT DO YOU HOPE 2021 HAS IN STORE FOR YOU ON THE MUSICAL FRONT?

My hope is that 2021 is full of releasing new tunes to the world, making fun videos and enjoying the journey along the way! Of course I would love to play a bunch of live shows and do some more collaborating with other artists too.

WHAT OTHER AOTEAROA ACTS SHOULD WE BE KEEPING AN EYE ON?

If you haven’t already listened to Merk’s new album ‘Infinite Youth’... you definitely need to listen to that one start to finish. Also, Teeks is a current favourite alongside RIIKI & Tijay.

LAIIKA

Q&A

KATIE: HOW DID YOU FIRST GET INTO MUSIC-MAKING?

LAIIKA: We both come from musical families and neither of us can remember deciding to get into, we just always made music! It has been something we both knew we were going to do our whole lives.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU WITH YOUR SONGWRITING?

Pretty much everything! Things that are happening in our lives and also other great music inspires us to keep writing better and better songs.

CAN YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST SONG YOU EVER WROTE? WHAT WAS IT ABOUT?

Heidi: Mine was called ‘Raining’ and it was about being sad because it was the school holidays and I wanted to go outside and play handball with my friend but it was raining.

Grace: It’s called ‘Quickly Get The Cheese’ and I wrote it when I was three years old, it was about getting the cheese out of the fridge.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND?

Indie pop, sometimes dream pop. Ultimately it’s pop music but with a lot of different influences from different decades and genres.

WHEN WAS YOUR FIRST PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE? WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER MOST ABOUT IT?

Heidi: I did a lot of different performances in primary school with the choir and different groups, I always remember feeling very nervous but finding it super fun. I think my first performance by myself was singing ‘The Climb’ at my primary school talent quest, I was very nervous and could barely control my voice, it was so shaky!

Grace: I always used to do performances for my family in the lounge as a child, but the first proper performance I remember doing was singing ‘Here Comes The Sun’ at my Grandma’s wedding when I was 7, it was really fun cause I sang it with my brother and my dad.

WHAT EXCITES YOU MOST ABOUT BEING PART OF A DOUBLE-HEADLINE TOUR?

It’s so cool to be able to share the experience with another artist! It’s also really cool that the people get to see 2 acts with a different vibe play full sets each night.

WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE ACT TO SEE LIVE?

Taylor Swift for sure, her concerts are next level

WHAT DO YOU HOPE 2021 HAS IN STORE FOR YOU ON THE MUSIC FRONT?

We want to release as much music as we can! We’ll be releasing an EP later this year and hopefully playing a lot more shows too!

WHAT OTHER AOTEAROA ACTS SHOULD WE BE KEEPING AN EYE ON?

There’s a great band called Haven with one song out and it’s super cool. Also, There’s a Tuesday, Park Rd, Daffodils, Deryk and Maxwell Young.