LA-based Auckland native Georgia Nott has explored the mechanisms of the music industry as one-half of Broods, the joint project of her and her brother Caleb, which has seen the pair sell out shows across Australia, top charts, and raid airwaves. For Georgia, however, success was a double-edged sword; the deeper she delved into professional creative circles, the more pronounced her womanhood, its implications, and the limitations constructed around it became.
In response, she embarked on ‘The Venus Project: Vol. 1’ — both an LP and a vision two-years in the making, designed and imagined entirely by women, from start to finish. Released on International Women’s Day, the album sees Georgia exploring discourses around gender, love, and power, through lo-fi layers and organic textures.
We chatted to Georgia about the challenges she encountered in the all-woman project, representation in the music industry, and being taken seriously as a female producer.
Best Before: Hey, Georgia! How are you going?
Georgia Nott: Good, good! How are you?
I saw that you’ve wrapped up filming the video for “Won’t Hurt”. Have you had the chance to celebrate?
Not yet — I think I’m going to get a cut of it soon, though, which is exciting. It was so much fun, as well.
Four years ago, I actually interviewed you and Caleb in Sydney at Universal HQ. It was just before you released ‘Evergreen’. You were 19 and I was 20.
Shivers! That was a while ago!
It was! The conversation around gender equality has shifted a lot since then. I can imagine it’s a really exciting time to be creating right now, with this kind of momentum behind you.
Yeah! The number of amazing projects that have come off the back of the last couple of years, not just in music, but in visual art, film… people are being forced to see the other side of everything, basically. A lot of things that have been seen as just expected or normal, that have been actually unfair — that’s being challenged at the moment. I’m really excited to be a part of that and be able to do a project that means so much to me.
“I want to make being a woman in this industry something that’s celebrated, rather than something that feels like a burden.”
For me, being aware of the impact of things like all-male lineups, and male dominance in the creative industry, in general, is something that’s happened gradually over the last few years. Was it the same for you, or was there a particular lightbulb moment that sparked the idea for ‘The Venus Project’?
Whenever I’ve gone on tour, or whenever I’ve gone to the studio, more often than not, I have been the only girl. But I only really started to think and wonder why in the last couple years. Like you said, there’s been such a shift in what is equal, and how deep it does go with equal pay and equal opportunities. And also just an attitude of people being capable of the same thing, and not holding people back with stereotypes or preconceived ideas of what they can do, based on gender or race, or where they come from.
Once I started to really think about those things, everything that I was subconsciously noticing started to become very much more conscious. Even just driving around and looking at billboards… Once you start noticing that everything is very male-driven, or that everything is very white-driven, it just becomes so hard to avoid seeing that. For me, when I started to notice, I couldn’t un-notice it. I needed to do something that made me feel like I was actually doing something good in my own way for the feminist movement.
You’ve said that although there are women that are more than capable of steps in the creation process, from sound engineering to the album artwork, it was actually quite difficult for you to find the right women at the right time and place, that fit the vibe of the project. How did you end up pulling it all together?
It’s been hard work, but a lot of it has been working with my friends and we haven’t really had a very normal time schedule. Everybody that’s worked on it has been doing it on the side of what they do. Because it’s a passion project, the people that are involved are doing this because they get what I’m trying to achieve with it, and they understand what I’m trying to say and what I’m trying to represent, which has been so awesome — to be able to create something with other women that have the same stories that I have, or the same ideas, or the same dreams for the future.
It’s been so amazing, even though it has been difficult to get everybody to link up and get people involved when there’s a lack of women, especially behind the scenes, in the music industry. It’s been worth every second of stressing out whether we were going to be able to find somebody to mix the album or find somebody to make a video. It’s been so worth it, to actually get to achieve what we set out to achieve.
How did you find the dynamic in the studio and behind the scenes, working with an all-female team, differed from your past experiences?
There were a few factors that made a difference for me. The kind of music that I’m writing is very personal, so that really affects the intimacy of the collaboration, in my opinion. And I was working with friends, which made it a lot more personal as well. But also the fact that I felt so empowered by myself, having so much creative control and being able to actually back my decisions, and not feel like I have to be like, “This is my idea… Do you think it’s good?” It’s been awesome to just be like, “This is my idea. It’s going to be awesome.” I want to see it through.
I want to express myself as authentically as I possibly can in this project. I’ve never been able to do that to this extent of honesty and authenticity. That’s been the biggest change that I’ve noticed, working with all women. I don’t know if that’s because I feel like I get taken more seriously, or if I feel like a boss, ha! But I’ve grown up so much as a person, and as an artist. The making of it has been the best experience.
I think that’s so interesting, what you’ve said about being assertive with your ideas, because I’ve been reading a lot about how women tend to use very uncertain language when, say, they’re pitching ideas. The songs on the record, though, come across as quite powerful, almost in dichotomy against the gentle organic instrumentation. Was that a conscious decision, to write more stripped-back songs or something you only realised at the end of your writing sessions?
The way that I write in that world — that world of demo, DIY — I didn’t want to take it away from that too much because I felt like that was so perfect for the things that I was singing about — they were complimented by the rawness. Even just the vocal takes are a lot cleaner and autotuned — there’s no autotune, ha! I listen to a lot of music like that, and a lot of music that comes from a very unapologetic, hyper-emotional place. It’s kind of just like, this is how it is, this is how we wrote it, and this is how it’s stayed — I love that kind of music, and it’s been really fun for me to actually be able to do that kind of music as well and have the chance to make lo-fi, DIY, recorded-vocals-in-a-closet type album.
Listening through ‘The Venus Project’, it really does feel like I’m listening to you just playing and singing alone with a guitar in a room.
That’s the vibe that I wanted!
In the past, you’ve said that you and Caleb were a safety net for each other in your music. How does the feeling differ this time around leading up to the project’s release? Is there a different set of nerves involved?
Because I’ve had to answer to myself, rather than another person or a record label, everything that I’ve done on this record has been my decision, which is awesome. It also means that I’ve gotten a lot more invested in it. If it goes wrong, and if people don’t like it, it’s going to be hard to hear. But the number of people who don’t get the opportunity to really express themselves through their art in a way that isn’t influenced by other people’s opinions, or the fear of not doing well, or not being played on the radio, and haven’t really had that honest record… So I don’t really have anybody to blame if it goes to shit, but it’s been really exciting as well. To be able to say that this is 100% from my brain, my heart and my soul is quite scary, but it’s the most rewarding as well.
“Once you start noticing that everything is very male-driven, or that everything is very white-driven, it just becomes so hard to avoid seeing that.”
Caleb’s been keeping busy with Fizzy Milk on the side. What’s his response been to everything? What has his feedback been so far?
Caleb’s always been my number one fan. Since we were kids, he’s thought that I’m the best thing since sliced bread, which is great for me! He’s been 100% behind what I’m doing the entire time, and it’s been fun for him to do his own thing as well. I think it’s really helped us in finding where we want to go with our next record, as well; to be able to go off and explore and experiment and then come back, we’ve gained a better knowledge of ourselves and what we want to start representing with this next record. It’s really cool to have that opportunity.
It’s also a great time to be a New Zealander with Jacinda Ardern in charge, but how are you finding the creative industry differs in LA, to back home in NZ?
The sheer size of LA has made it a lot easier to find women to work with. Going back home and trying to find a female sound engineer or a female mixing engineer — it’s not easy at all. That’s kind of because of the population — obviously, NZ is a lot smaller than LA, but it just goes to show that the ratio is so, so off-balance. It’s ridiculous when you look through even just the list of Grammy nominees and winners, there are just shit-all women, ha! It’s kind of sad because I know that there are so many women out there that have crazy talents and so much to offer. Why is it that they don’t get recognised, and why is it that they don’t get the big jobs and the opportunities that men get. Why is that?
I want to say thank you so much for creating this project. I’m so glad that something like this has finally been done. But this is just the first installment, so what would you love to see happen with it?
Thank you! It’s the way that I wanted to see it — I wanted it to be ‘Volume One’ of whatever could happen next. I’d love to invite more people to get part of the project, basically, and just get as many female creatives as possible involved, because there are a lot of women up-and-coming at the moment that are looking for these jobs. I know a few female producers — myself included — that have to brace themselves when they go into a studio session, and feel like they have to prove themselves to compensate because they’ve got a bloody vagina. It’s ridiculous.
I want to make being a woman in this industry something that’s celebrated, rather than something that feels like a burden. I want it to feel like a celebration and keep going with that, and extend it to more women and more genres and different kinds of art. That would be my dream.
Listen to ‘The Venus Project: Vol. 1’ here:
Photos by Catie Laffoon.