Musicadium Blog

Musicadium intern Julia Bridger caught brilliant Australian solo artist Georgia Potter for a brief moment in between playing with the numerous creative outfits she performs in, painting her own album cover art and teaching indigenous students in Northern Australia. A talented artist, she is also a very busy one!

1.      You’re up in Far North Queensland at the moment, what have you been doing up there?

I’m just back from my trip actually. Besides soaking up the sun and the city-free surroundings at places like Cape Tribulation, Kuranda & Laura, I made a very special trip back to my birthplace of Aurukun, which is a remote community on the West Coast of Cape York Peninsula. We hadn’t been back for a very long time, but Aurukun has been a big part of my family history.  From the stories, photos, footage & the people we’ve remained connected to, I’ve always had the spirit of the place with me, but it was time to make my own memories!  I couldn’t begin describing the depth of the experience I had there (unless you’ve got a few hours & a pot of tea brewing), but I felt very at home & left with a big smile on my face & tears in my eyes! Surely I’ll get a song out of it…

2.     You not only wrote, recorded and funded your mini-album “Living the Grey” but also designed the cover artwork. How was this whole experience? Any advice for aspiring musicians about to do the same?

It was incredibly fulfilling obviously since it was largely DIY and luckily it all came together pretty naturally. I was studying audio engineering & production at uni which gave me plenty of time to write/record and visual art is another passion of mine so that was no chore! Recording was the most difficult part of process as I started out as a beginner in the studio. My advice I guess would be to play on your strengths & passions rather than your pride.  The best thing I did for this humble release was let go of my need to prove I could do everything on my own and ask other people for their advice & opinions.

3.      Your lyrics are distinctly critical about current social problems whilst still being optimistic. If you had the power, what would you change about the world right now?

Wow tough question. I guess I would like to inject everyone with some excitement & compassion for “the world around them,” because then people would be genuinely motivated to live with integrity. Is that too idealistic? Reality related answer - I’d love to sort out some cultural understanding issues we’ve got going on, particularly in this young little country of ours.

4.     You perform regularly with Mr Laneous & the Family-Yah, Yeo & the Fresh Goods, The Cool Calm Collective and jazz duo G-Roove whilst still performing your own shows. Do you adopt different personas when performing with different groups?

Yes definitely! From my attitude to my outfits! It’s something I’m realising is a huge part of my enjoyment as a performer. Be prepared to see MUCH more of the chameleon I really am slipping in to my solo project.

5.     You work part-time with Indigenous high-school students from Cape York who study outside their community- how did you get involved with this?

My mother Elizabeth has worked in that field for a long time and together with our Cape York contacts the right people found out I was looking for work. It’s a complicated job - you never know what a day will entail, but it’s immensely rewarding and keeps my brain ticking. Plus I meet a lot of incredible young people who help keep me on my toes & inspired!

6.     Who are your major influences, musically and lyrically?

I go through a lot of different musical binges.  At the moment I’m listening to heaps of neo-soul & hiphop - Georgia Anne Muldrow (get her albums & listen from start to finish), Erykah Badu’s last album New Emerykah Part 1 & Brisbane’s own Lachlan Mitchell (aka Mr Laneous) are really lighting my fires, plus I’m also relishing in pop music too, spearheaded by the death of Michael Jackson - Rock with You is on high rotation.

7.     When can we expect to see you back on stage?

Briefly in late September at U Tribe Festival on the Sunshine Coast, and then again in the 1^st fornight of November when I take the band on the road (with a bunch of new material) to Sydney & Melbourne, and of course homecoming shows in Brisbane, the Gold Coast & Byron Bay after that. Exact dates & venue details going up on http://www.myspace.com/georgiapotter soon!

Georgia’s wonderful 7-track EP is now available on

This entry was posted on Friday, August 7th, 2009 at 11:58 am and is filed under Featured Artist. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.