Finding Inspiration In The Dark With Georg’ Estelle
By Alessia Mavakala
Photo @georgestellemusic
With fresh faces, new sounds and technology always around the corner, being in the music industry can be quite a challenge. Despite this and many other difficulties faced within the industry, musicians are constantly enchanting us with new music and innovative visuals.
This year in particular, there’s been a major shift especially during the current pandemic that saw virtual and animated music videos becoming ordinary and singers doing online concerts and streaming. I wondered, what is the creative and working process behind the voices that amaze and delight our ears, inspire our minds and push us to be authentic especially in a year like this one?
Amazingly, I had the opportunity to speak with Georg’ Estelle who lived through this experience first-hand, and is also a wonderful and inspiring singer and songwriter. We chatted about her view of the music world and the ever-changing process of creating a song, learning how to adapt and the act of discovering ourselves.
How did the current pandemic change the music industry and what major changes have you noticed?
A lot of festivals and concerts are now online focused and the main money for artists is in concerts, live music, festivals and streams, because of this a lot of artists are struggling financially as you can’t support yourself only though streams, I’m an independent artist, I don’t have a big fan base and my audience is not big so finance is the main issue.
It’s funny because at the beginning of 2020 I used to tell myself that this is the year I’m going to focus on live events, gigs and concerts, gain my confidence on stage and become a better performer, but then obviously Covid-19 starts and plans got cancelled.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that people used to be discovered through performances and events but now a lot of emerging artists are discovered through Instagram and Tik Tok. You have to grow an audience online, which is quicker than doing events. However, at the same time, there is so much pressure and super big competitions because everyone is online. You have to be different from mainstream and still make sure that people are watching.
Do you think the music industry ever go back to normal?
Live music will always come back! The feeling and the vibe you get while being at a live concert is completely different.
What’s your experience as a young female artist like?
Being a young woman in general, is not super easy in this world. you have to be very confident and compete for your aesthetic. On social media, I post my music because I want to be seen for that but a picture of me at the beach wearing a bikini will get the biggest number of likes. I’ve also noticed that growing up my confidence level went down, when I was a young child, I didn’t care at all but now I feel criticised and judged almost all the times.
This has an impact on what I publish online, I’ve noticed that on my socials I was posting pictures of me being very serious, doing the perfect pose and looking grown up. When I record myself, sometimes I mess up, I make stupid faces and stuff, but I would always cut these part off before posting because I thought no one cared about that stuff. I wasn’t thinking about who I was. Now I post more videos and pictures of me being silly and dancing and it’s very important because people care the most when you are being authentic to yourself.
I think you still have to be yourself and do it anyway, keep on going and don’t look at what others are saying or doing.
What kind of impact does your mental health have on your work?
Yes, it 100% has an impact. I have a journal that I use to get out my emotions and how I’m feeling a certain day. I always write the most when I’m struggling or have a strong emotion that needs to be released. It’s a positive thing because the songs I write about pure emotions come out very naturally, I’m able to connect with myself and also with the audience. I also want to tell people that there is hope and that you can get out of bad situations.
Talk me through some of the challenges you have faced.
The main challenge is getting inspired, I’m a people, juvenile person and I love going out to live music events in London and spending time with my loved ones, when that was no longer happening I felt lost and stuck. It was just me, my self and I missing my family and not being able to see them, as the majority lives in Italy.
I also had issues because I was trying to stay strong all the time even when I was feeling sad. I had to tell myself to be patient and that if I wanted to take a day off, I could.
What have you been working on during the pandemic?
I personally started to work on my branding. I asked myself who I want to be in the future and what my personal style is. It’s important to get to know these things as the more you know about yourself the easier it is to take part in this industry. I wanted to have an online presence, so my vision and my aesthetic was very important and I want people to know I’m a musician and that I’m creating my own songs, so I tried to connect with myself.
I used this time to write more music, develop more sound, get in contact and collaborate with people. I worked with a producer from Manchester who contacted me, I got my first radio play and joined an online festival in New York. I would not say lockdown was that bad in that sense, it created a lot of new opportunities.
What’s next for Georg’ Estelle?
Being an independent artist and considering the current situation, I never know what’s going to happen, but the sure thing is new music. I have been working on new projects and my new single has just been mixed and mastered. New music is on the way!
Check out Georg’ on Spotify, Youtube or follow her for more on Instagram.