G Flip has always sung about her own life. That’s what made her music so fresh and real. It’s also what gave her such a strong, yet somewhat unexpected, queer following.
“All my song lyrics come from my own experiences, I’m very much just saying how it is,” the 26-year-old artist told PEDESTRIAN.TV.
It’s this realness, as simple as mentioning “she” or “her” as a love interest, that has resonated so much with fans. On the track “Drink Too Much”, she even name-drops Aussie influencer Steph Claire Smith as her celeb crush.
“From the get go, my intention wasn’t solely like, ‘I’m gong to sing about girls because I want to help the LGBTQIA+ youth feel like their relationships are being represented’,” she said.
“That was never really my main focus, but something that I quickly found really made an impact, and I got so many messages from kids themselves or parents saying it’s so great that I do that.”
Sure, there are plenty of queer musos in same-sex relationships nowadays, but hearing about those relationships in lyrics is still pretty rare.
G Flip describes this impact from her music as “an added bonus”.
“I know when I was growing up, I never heard artists talking about their same-sex relationships in music and using those pronouns,” she added.
Her debut album, which was literally about her relationship at the time, changed all that.
“My album About Us was called that because it was literally about this one relationship I was in, and all the songs kind of told that story from when we were broken up to getting back together,” G Flip said.
“It was this big rollercoaster of a relationship, and the majority of the songs I performed [at the Red Bull Music Motel] are from that record About Us.”
The Red Bull Music Motel in early December was actually G Flip’s first live gig since February. In other words, before *waves hands* all this started.
“It was great to finally perform again, it was awesome,” she said.
Unusually for an indie pop singer, G Flip opened the gig from where she’s most comfortable: behind the drumkit.
While G Flip is very much a signer and multi-instrumentalist, she’s been playing the drums since way back in primary school
The track “Hyperfine”, like many others, actually began as a jam sesh on the drums before the rest was written.
“My home is drums,” she added.
Maybe that’s why she has no trouble singing while perched on that stool.
While the Red Bull Music Motel wasn’t the same as having 3,000 people screaming in the audience, the livestreamed online gig was the next-best thing considering there’s a global pandemic going on.
It brought together some of the freshest and most raw young artists in the country. G Flip headlined, and she was joined by Baker Boy (her mate) and Tkay Maidza (who she’s long stanned).
Thanks to Red Bull, fans were able to watch these incredible sets from the comfort (and safety) of their loungerooms.
During her set she did end up getting out from behind the drumkit, even if it was only for a couple of songs.
“I kind of just play drums on the songs I want to play drums on,” G Flip said.
“But also I spent so much of my life sitting behind a drum kit and I could never go anywhere, I was stuck in that drum zone. So I always planned if I ever do my solo project it worked out, that I would change into it.”
Luckily for her, and for us, it did work out.
It’s a long way from growing up in Melbourne listening to her dad’s Nirvana and Rage Against The Machine CDs, as well as her listening to her mum playing the Top 40 on the radio.
But G Flip’s music is also something new, something different, and something that’s resonating with young Aussies unlike anything before it.
“In releasing my music, I’ve found a really great little fan base that really thanks me for being so open with my relationships.”
The writer was hosted by Red Bull for a night at the Red Bull Music Motel.
