Releasing two singles that placed in triple j’s Hottest 100, amassing over 23 million streams online and bringing in the New Year with a drum thumping showcase at Sydney’s New Year’s Eve fireworks: G Flip truly was one of 2018’s breakout sensations.

Pairing a spunky talent behind the drumkit with a commanding voice and surprisingly sensitive song writing skills, the Melbournian multi-instrumentalist’s debut release is a combination of all the exciting attributes that are making both music lovers and main stream listeners turn up the dial.

Born, Georgia Flipo, G Flip will continue her already drum-packed 2019 with a showcase performances at Laneway Fetsival before embarking on a tour in Europe and the UK.

Before she packs her drum kit and goes global, G Flip had a chart with our editor Will about her new four-track set-list, her infectious stage presence and adjusting to life in the limelight.

Georgia, congratulations on an amazing 2018 and an absolutely popping release. I can understand why you might be drinking too much. How are you celebrating such success?

I actually haven’t really had much time to celebrate yet, we are in rehearsals for laneway and getting ready for that has been pretty hectic. But I’m sure a few bevvies will be had! Planning to have a holiday at the end of the year to fully celebrate with a cocktail somewhere tropical.

Where are you right now?

Currently in Melbourne which is home, but I’m about to head on tour this week.

What does your week look like following the release?

It’s been very busy. Lots of really supportive and positive feedback, which has been so great and now I’m gearing up for a ripper 2019.

Your stage name is an abbreviation of your full name. Why not introduce the world to Georgia Flipo?

I’ve never been called “Georgia” besides by my grandparents. I’ve always been called “G”, “Flip” or “G Flip”. To myself and my fam and friends around me I’m definitely not a “Georgia” that just sounds and feels weird! So I just went with my nickname.

Drink Too Much is a party starter, whereas Bring Me Home operates as a more melancholic tune. What do you want your listeners to be feeling after listening to the collection?

All my songs come from a different chapter in my life. My songs are like an open diary and I just say exactly how it is or how I’m feeling at the time. I’m a no bullshit person in real life so I think that transcends into my song writing.

I hope that people just enjoy the music and interpret the songs in their own ways.

You wrote Bring Me Home about your struggle to adjust to stratospheric praise. How did such a rise to fame affect you and the music you are creating?

The biggest thing has been stress. I’m a perfectionist and I care so much for every detail and I have my hands on everything that is let out into the world. As my career was rising extremely fast my brain was just over working itself and it caused my first experiences of anxiety.

After a solid month of dealing with anxiety day in, day out for the first time while being on tour and performing it really affected me, I actually felt like I was gonna be stuck in that headspace. I got off tour, I had a few weeks off and I had one writing session locked in. Bring me home was written on that day, and the recording was the first take of the full song which was actually just meant to be a demo, but I fell in love with it. My experiences inspire all my lyrics and writing.

You shot the music video for Bring Me Home in a 36-degree warehouse, what kind of tone and visual experience were you trying to evoke?

Bring Me Home is such an emotional song and it needed to be paired with a just as emotional film clip. I can’t act, I’m not an actress, so to try act out an emotional film clip would’ve just been stupid. I wrote this song when I was breaking down so I wanted to portray that in the visual. Drums have always been a love of mine and to watch me breakdown while doing something I love fits the song as I’m currently doing what I love but I still broke down doing this. I wanted to drum for as long as I could without stopping, without a fan, without water, I wanted to sweat, I wanted to feel it. It was like running a marathon for me, but drumming instead. I ended up drumming for 6 hours. I cried and screamed when my blisters popped, I was pretty fucked.

Do you have one track that you are more emotionally attached to?

About You will always have a special place in my heart. It was the first song of mine I produced out. I wrote it a whole year before I released it and held onto it to perfect it. That song started my whole life and changed my world.

Your NYE rendition of Proud Mary is phenomenal. Just how do you drum, sing and maintain energy all at once?

Thanks so much for that!! My background as a drummer definitely helped me. I started drumming when I was 9, I was working as a session drummer before I went solo and I completed a bachelor of music and majored in drums at uni and had some of the best drummers in Victoria mentoring me. Because I’m more comfortable behind the kit my body just goes on auto pilot and all I’m concentrating on is my vocals. The energy is all adrenaline.

What can we expect from your Laneway shows?

Energy, drum solo’s and big big smiles., I’m so excited

How are you keeping yourself grounded in the flurry of such success?

At the end of the day I’m just another human like everyone else. I think I’ve been raised well enough to not let a little bit of success turn me into a dickhead. I just wanna make music and keep it real!!

I am struggling to think of someone like you in the music scene. Who are your inspirations and why?

I’m not much of a person to freak out when meeting famous people but I’d defs flip my shit if I ever met Dave Grohl. He has been an inspiration growing up. I watched him play drums when I was little then I watched him move to the front with his own tunes. It gave me confidence to move to the front too. My drum teacher Jenny Rose Morrish will always be my number 1 main inspiration though, she taught me everything I know and groomed my little teenage ass into the drummer and performer I am today. She taught me for 6 years.

G Flip will be performing as part of the Laneway Festival around Australia from February 2nd. Get your tickets HERE.