Georgia Ku is finally ready to enter the spotlight.
The multi-platinum ghostwriter and vocalist had no problem at the start of her expansive career loitering behind the scenes. The UK-born singer, whose debut EP REAL was finally released today, has built a massive discography of anthemic pop songs over the years. Featured alongside NOTD & Felix Jaehn on their international smash hit “So Close,” Ku more notably penned hits for some of pop’s biggest acts, from Rita Ora and Fifth Harmony to Skrillex and Martin Garrix.
REAL
She was determined in 2020 to break out as a solo artist but admits the process was anything but streamlined. The pressure to curate another smash hit loomed over her. “I had to take the pressure off myself,” she said. “I just talked about my experiences. It made the lyrics authentic. I never walked into a session and said, ‘Let’s write a song for me.'” Now with her EP finally out, Ku feels completely liberated. “I let go of the thought process of ‘what would Georgia Ku do?’ and stopped overthinking.
Tell me a little bit about your background for those who still don’t know your story.
My parents weren’t musicians, but Dad had such an eclectic record mix. From The Fugees, to Stevie Wonder, and Oasis, to Nora Jones. So there was always music playing, and from a young age I was just always able to sing for some reason. It was a gift that was given to me. So at around 16 I left school to study music, and I moved to London then LA to get my feet wet in songwriting. I was really happy being behind the scenes.
You’re so used to creating for other people. What was it like to finally create for yourself? What were some challenges you encountered while recording REAL? Was it liberating?
A bit of both. I think when I first dived in to write for myself it was a little overwhelming. I was so used to writing for other people and for so many genres. I put a lot of pressure on myself to write a song that was “Georgia Ku.” I wanted so badly to have my own kind of sound. But it’s when I took pressure off myself and stopped overthinking everything that I really began to find my sound. It only came when I let go of the thought process of ‘what would Georgia Ku sing?’
Is that why this EP is called REAL? It seems like a very vulnerable record.
The title of the EP definitely plays into that. For me it was a no brainer. I’m proud to speak about things that some people shy away from such as mental health. I just wanna be open and honest, but most importantly I wanna be authentic.
Tell me about the experience behind “Lighthouse” and how that factored into the song’s anthemic empowering sound. The experience behind it sounded quite hopeless, but the song is empowering.
It’s already hard enough to speak about mental health as it is. No one talks about it openly, and it’s a subject that needs to be touched on and spoken about, but we can talk about it all day, but at some point it’s like, ‘Where is the light at the end of the tunnel? What is the silver lining?’ Even if you can’t fix [what that person] is going through, shift it to ‘how can I be a support system for them, even if I’m not the answer? How can I do what I can to support them along that way?’
A lot of people get scared and shy away from that [responsibility.]
What’s next for you?
I mean, I would love to be booking shows [laughs]–but I’m just gonna let the EP ride. I’m hoping that people are listening to more music right now. There is just something more different and personal about the songs that I own. It took a lot of hard work, and I’m happy it’s out. For now, I’m just going to continue creating.
Stream REAL below:
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