Written by Aerrow Far
Cover photo from Lexy Dobbin of Red Light Management
From spinning hip hop anthems in clubs to playing house, dubstep, and heavy metal in festivals, GG Magree has been blazing a trail of loyal fans as she tours around the globe. Hailing from Australia, playing seven sold out shows in China, to throwing down an incredible set in Canada at the Ever After music festival, GG has been busy creating music and performances that are true to her and that authenticity is connecting with fans worldwide. GG doesn’t limit her artistic expression to her music, her clothing line YEAH PUSSY embodies confidence and being loud in everything that you do. Buckle in for an honest chat as Festival Squad got the incredible opportunity to sit down with GG one on one.
Our Exclusive Interview
FS: Thanks for having me here today.
GG: Thank you for having me here!
FS: I appreciate this opportunity GG.
GG: Fuck yea, for sure!
FS: Tell me about how you feel today after that set?
GG: I feel really good. I mean it’s always weird playing slightly early at a festival, because you just don’t know if people are going to turn up. But I feel like, especially in Canada, I have super loyal fans. Like some girl had a sign that said I drove 10 hours for GG Magree, and when I finished..
FS: I’m not surprised!
GG: It’s crazy! Stuff like that for me. I still feel like I’m kind of getting used to it all, you know, I just feel like I’m still the same person, you know what I mean? I don’t know, when people so-called fangirl out, I don’t understand it yet.
FS: Absolutely, you keep it very real.
GG: Super real. When that girl was crying I was just like, what don’t cry, I have tits and a vagina just like you.
FS: I mean if you see yourself from the audience it looks great. So maybe that’s where the disconnect is?
GG: Whenever I watch myself back in videos, I freak out because I look like such an idiot. I do the weirdest shit. My dance moves are dumb like I bunny hop and I grabbed my fake penis and I just do crazy shit and then I look back and I’m like, Oh my God, you look like a psychopath, you look like you would murder someone. I think I told the crowd today that I was going to steal their souls and then I thought, Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what just came over me that’s the thing, like when I perform it kinda like I turn into a devil, if that makes sense?
FS: Right, like a different person, your alter ego.
GG: A completely different person. Like you see me now, I’m so low key, I’m pretty chill, you know not as wild; the second I get out there, I don’t know what happens, I’m like an alien, it’s cool though.
FS: You turn it up. That’s what happens.
GG: That’s what happens.
FS: So I heard you started playing hip hop? At clubs?
GG: I did. I did. I’m a hip hop DJ by heart. So I learned on turntables and then I was playing hip hop and after I started playing disco, and then I feel like that was when hip hop became trap music, and it was you know when Baauer first came out and did the Harlem shake and RL Grimes was like first out. They were like the OG trap dudes and then I feel like Dubstep became so big, so big. After like kind of falling in love with DJing, I just kept getting heavier and heavier and heavier and heavier. So like now, you know I play a lot of metal in my sets cause I feel like I used to listen to metal when I was a kid, like punk rock and metal and I feel that’s maybe where that’s coming from.
FS: Okay. Yeah. I was wondering how you transition from hip hop club anthems to house and then Dubstep.
GG: I don’t know, I just kind of like to play what I would want to hear if I was in the crowd. I’m not a selfish DJ, but I definitely play stuff that I really like. I think that’s why maybe it comes across as… like when I’m dancing, having fun, that it’s super authentic because I’m actually having a good time.
FS: That’s the opposite of a sell out, right? And that’s why the audience connects, that’s why people cry. That’s why they drive 10 hours to see you.
GG: Yeah, like the polar opposite! I don’t know if it’s selfish, but this is what I like. If you like what I like you’ll vibe with me, that kind of vibe.
FS: Definitely, that’s the way to do it. What’s your creative process like for making music? How do you come up with a song? How does it pan out for you?
GG: I don’t know, I’m a very visual kind of person so I write and sing all my own stuff. So I kind of close my eyes and then like the image of a boat going down a stream with the color red is coming into my head and then I’ll kind of work back from that.
FS: So you start with an image, and then you turn it into music? This is the first time I’ve heard that, it’s so cool!
GG: Yeah. Whenever I go and do sessions with people, like I just did with Jauz and we had a song come out together. When I went into the session with him, he’s like what are you thinking, and I was like I don’t know but it’s a haunting feeling, like I can’t breathe, and they became the first lines of the song. So like, I always try and envision something before I make it come to life. It’s got to be real in my head.
FS: You should put those images as the album cover.
GG: Trust me, I draw and paint a lot and you don’t want to see half the stuff that I do. My partner comes home and he sais what’s this? And I was just feeling like drawing ants everywhere. And he’s sais you just drawn a massive canvas of ants. And I’m like yeah but look at the colors: You’ve got a red one and you’ve got a blue one, you’ve got a blue eating a red one, some ants make a purple one. He’s like okay. Some people like to say I’m slightly left of center.
FS: Ok, well I mean your talents don’t end at painting, I also hear that you have your own clothing brand, YEAH PUSSY?
GG: Yeah! I haven’t released stuff in a minute because I’ve just been so busy with music stuff, but I feel like I’m going to do some more stuff in the next coming months because it’s such a loud cool kind of brand and it’s for males and females. A lot of people wear it and I’m a loud kind of person.
FS: What inspired you to make the clothing line?
GG: I just feel like these days everyone’s so scared, even myself. I just had a remix come out with Billie Eilish and even before I released that I get nauseous, is this good enough? Am I doing okay? And I feel like when you’re an artist even, any kind of artist, you always second guess anything because it’s coming from the inside of your body, whatever you’re putting out there. YEAH PUSSY for me was like a way to express that stuff loudly and openly. If you want to put anything on Yeah Pussy, if you want to wear Yeah Pussy, you gotta be loud. People that aren’t loud aren’t going to wear that. So that’s where that came from.
FS: Yeah, definitely. Funny question, you talk about food a lot on your Twitter.
GG: I do! Oh my God, I’m such a fat bitch. For three weeks straight, I’ve had ice cream every night. Every single night I’m at home, I have ice cream and it’s gone. It’s like to the point of..
FS: Is it peanut butter flavor?
GG: It is peanut butter flavor! It is peanut butter flavored. It’s Vegan because I’m lactose intolerant but it’s peanut butter flavored and it’s getting to the point where I’m like oh it’s 9 PM it’s ice cream time. I don’t know why, I realize that I tweet about food a lot and I guess it’s cause I’ll be eating something and then I’ll be like oh this is tight. I’ll tweet about it.
FS: What’s your favorite city to eat food in?
GG: Ooh, Mexico City. Yeah.
FS: Tacos?
GG: Yeah, yeah. I went to this place, my friend recommended me and it was called Contramar and I still to this day dream of the tacos I had, like dream of them like I absolutely need it. I’m going to go back to Mexico City and not for a show just to go and get these tacos like it’s crazy.
FS: Speaking of countries, you’ve recently played in China, what was that like?
GG: I did. I didn’t think that I’d have a following in China, but I did nine shows and I sold out seven, which was crazy to me. I had played a lot in America and Canada for instance, I’d always forget that I have listeners outside of that, apart from like obviously Australia, it’s my hometown. So to go to a foreign country, like China was crazy and the fans there are die hard loyal fans. They were singing every word to my song and I was like, oh my god. I even forget the words you’ve got me. I was like, you guys sing it. I’ll give you the mic.
FS: Wow ok! On that note, which other festivals, are you looking forward to playing in?
GG: I’ve got Lollapalooza coming up, HARD Summer, Audiotistic, I’m doing Paradiso next weekend. I unfortunately don’t have many in Canada coming up, so I feel like Canadians you really need to pick up your shit and start booking me more. You’ve been slacking, don’t forget about me.
FS: I’ll let them know haha. What about in terms of artists? Like, who would be looking forward to collaborate with in the coming year?
GG: Skrillex!
FS: Could we expect like a song, or an album?
GG: You can. An EP before the end of the year, which I’m super excited about. I’m just putting the finishing touches on it which is scary because there are moments where I’m like ahhhh it’s not good enough, this needs to change, that needs to change. But I’m hoping it’s done by September.
FS: Right on, well I will be promoting it hard.
GG: Thank you! Thank you so much.
FS: Thank you for having this interview with me GG.
GG: Thank you for talking to me!
