Georgia Fields
Life as a creative has been incredibly difficult over the past couple of years. Musicians in particular felt the impacts of the global pandemic quite significantly. But there was even another subset of musicians that were especially impacted by lockdowns, musicians who are also mothers/caregivers.
One such musician was Melbourne indie-pop artist, Georgia Fields. However, despite all of the hurdles that the global pandemic placed in her path Georgia has not only managed to create her third studio album, Hiraeth, but she has also built Mother Lode - a community support group of mother musicians.
Chatting to Pario recently Georgia talked us through her journey as a musician, a mother & community builder.
Georgia - The Musician
For Georgia, the journey to becoming a full-time musician began at a very early age. Growing up Georgia was surrounded by music because her parents were in a successful band known as The Ferrets.
"My parents met in a band, long before I was on the scene... They had some success in the 70s, touring with Blondie & AC/DC," Georgia told Pario.
Knowing that history the barrier that some people place on music being a far-flung dream was simply brushed away for Georgia. Not only was music viewed as a viable career pathway within the Fields household the passion for the craft was also fostered through family traditions.
"Our family always sang together at Christmas," recalled Georgia. "Music was just a part of the way that we connected. Music was just something that was a normal backdrop to life... Writings songs about your experiences or turning to music in times of happiness & sadness was something natural that we all did."
With the passion nurtured from a young age, Georgia grew to have a very broad knowledge of different music. Something which to this day shines through in her creations. Her upcoming album, Hiraeth, is a prime example of this. Across the album, Georgia has created songs ranging from pop to art-pop ballads to indie-rock & finally"straight-up love songs".
Since the album has such a breadth of style you might be wondering, what ties it all together as a singular cohesive project. According to Georgia, that is what brings us back to the title, Hiraeth.
"Hiraeth is a Welsh word which is doesn't have a direct translation to any other language. But it is understood to mean, a profound longing for a home that you can't return to because that home doesn't exist anymore," explained Georgia. "It's linked to the nostalgia & grief for the lost places of your past, whether they are physical places or a place in time, memory or even a person that you've lost. So this album explores that sense of longing & ties together the songs on the record."
Given that the title is so crucial to the themes & meaning of the record it came as a shock to us when Georgia revealed that she only discovered the word during the creative process.
"I discovered that word early on in the writing process when my children were quite young. I was making the transition from being a woman of her own to being responsible for firstly 1 then 2 human beings. That new sense of responsibility in a new chapter of my life is beautiful & I'm so glad to be in it now. But it also comes with a little bit of grief for an old part of my life that I'll never get back again."
The pandemic period also heightened the meaning of Hiraeth for Georgia, "Hiraeth has since come to mean a lot more to me during the pandemic. Our pre-pandemic life is a place that we just can't ever get back to again."
Georgia - The Mother
As we mentioned earlier Georgia's musical passion was fostered as a child. So now that she is a mother of her own, she is doing everything in her power to pass down those family traditions.
"I've got an almost 8-year-old daughter & a 3 1/2-year-old son. It's really lovely to see them finding music & exploring it in their way," Georgia beamed when speaking about her children. "My daughter writes little songs about her life & her experiences. My mum bought my son a real snare drum recently, which is intense. It's a beautiful snare drum but it's very loud, which makes him very happy. So we get to play that together which is fun."
Being a mum who is still pursuing her musical passion also comes with its challenges though. Namely the challenge of balancing music with motherhood. For this reason, Georgia has taken a very deliberate & methodical path for the release of her music in the run-up to the release of Hiraeth.
"I'm a self-managed indie artist which means I'm funding all of this myself & planning out who my collaborators are going to be. All of which means albums take a bit more time," explained Georgia. "So I thought by releasing songs 1 at a time that would give me a chance to spread out the impact of the album & hopefully connect with more people... I don't have a massive audience like a Beyoncé, so by choosing to put songs out 1 at a time I felt that would be a better strategy to build my audience towards the record."
Choosing to follow this release path also allows Georgia to balance all areas of her life while still spending plenty of time with the joyous performing part of the creative process.
"I love making records & performing is such an important part of my creative practice. I really noticed just how important that was to me when we were in lockdown & we weren't able to get together to do that live. So I'm really excited & nervous but also thrilled to be playing again."
Georgia - The Community Builder
Given her personal experiences as a musician & mother Georgia has been inspired to create a community of fellow musician mothers. Known as Mother Lode the ethos of this community is to "democratise the ideas, the resources, the tips, the strategies & the emotional support that we would naturally share in green rooms when were playing shows together."
The pandemic & lockdowns really highlighted just how needed Mother Lode was in Australia.
"During the lockdowns, we saw a lot of women leaving the workforce to home-school their children. Then, of course, we also saw a lot of performing artists leaving the workforce & struggling," said Georgia.
Creating Mother Lode has been especially fulfilling for Georgia. Particularly when she sees "musician mothers connect on the platform & then going on to do shows together when they might not have met otherwise."
Looking to the future Georgia hopes that Mother Lode can continue to advocate for the needs of musician mothers or carers. The ultimate dream though would be to create a record label or event to showcase these incredibly talented artists.
"I have thought about doing a label, it would be really awesome to be able to offer that support," said Georgia excitedly. "Particularly because musicians who are mothers or primary carers have a very different way of working. So it would be great to offer a label that supports & understands the work-life balance that mums need to release music in their way."
Follow Georgia's Creative Journey at:
www.georgiafields.com or on social media at @GeorgiaFieldsMusic
Follow Mother Lode's Creative Journey at:
www.findthemotherlode.com or on social media at @FindTheMotherLode
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