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EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Germein

Written by Live Nation Asia / June 26, 2020

Growing up jamming together on their family farm in South Australia, Germein have been turning heads across the globe with their unique brand of catchy indie rock pop songs and signature harmonies. Taking their lead from strong female artists like HAIM, CHVRCHES, and TEGAN & SARA; Germein possess the kind of close musical partnership that can only be shared by siblings.

The Aussie sibling trio is set to deliver a special set presented by Live Nation. We caught up with the band to chat about their musical aspirations.

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Hi, ladies! Thanks for taking the interview. Can you introduce yourself? E.g. where are you from, music background, where are you based?

Thanks so much for having us! We are called 'Germein". We are a three sister Indie Pop Rock Band from South Australia - based between the UK, Germany, & Oz over the past few years. We grew up jamming together on our family farm in the Adelaide Hills so have always been playing music - but only in recent years has it become more of a career for us with overseas tours, support act gigs, music releases and other amazing opportunities like this Red Rover Virtual World Tour with Live Nation which we are very excited about!

The band is made up of Georgia - lead vocals, guitar, piano, songwriter and hat wearer - who is known to be the quiet but also wise one of the group with her amazing musical ear and advanced skills in recording and music production. Ella - bass, electric cello and backing vocalist is the mover and groover of the group on and off the stage. She has an extensive collection of sequin shorts, and plays an important role in the creative direction behind the scenes of the band. And finally Clara - our drummer & backing vocalist, who you'll commonly find playing drums with random objects like knives and forks but is certainly the cornerstone of the group that gels us all together, keeping everyone sweet with her chilled out friendly nature. She also plays a big part in band logistics, which is super helpful especially on the road. There’s a real sense of team work in our group which we're super lucky to have.

 

What/ who inspired you to start a career in music?

We were raised on the records of B.B. KING, VAN MORRISON, and CAT STEVENS – our Dad played trumpet in a New Orleans rhythm & blues band, which really sparked our love for loud, feel good music we could dance to. As toddlers we’d just sing and dance around the room while Mum played the piano, and as we began to learn to play our own instruments we’d put on little concerts for our grandparents and friends when they’d come and visit. We used to busk together on the main street of our local town - Georgia on violin, Ella on cello, and Clara on piano or saxophone - while our younger brother handed out bunches of lavender to passers-by, and later on joined us on the trumpet.

Mum entered us in a music competition when we were around 5 or 6 years old, and we remember walking out onto the stage to sing Ella Fitzgerald’s ‘A-Tisket A-Taskit’, and Georgia, the smallest & shyest of us all, made the whole audience gasp as they heard a surprisingly strong deep voice coming out of such a tiny child. In Georgia’s early years she would skip buying presents at Christmas and just write everyone a song, which at the time probably seemed a bit stingy for the rest of the siblings haha! When she was eleven, Georgia won her first of seven ASME Young Composers Awards, followed by a number of National & International Songwriting competitions. In high school she taught herself the guitar, while Ella taught herself the bass, and as nobody played the drums yet – Clara - who was working as a surfing instructor at the time, taught herself the drums.

In the first few years most of our gigs consisted of country town bars, pubs or small festivals, but as the years went on we found ourselves playing in countries like Vietnam, China, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Scotland, Spain - as well as opening for some amazing artists and playing festivals like our favourite the Isle of Wight Festival in the UK. There has certainly been some of those 'pinch me please, is this real?' moments which we are always going to be so grateful for.

At the end of the day, music for us has always been about connecting with people, as it’s such a universal language. We just love how a song has that special power to influence emotions and make you escape to another place. Georgia describes her songwriting process as a way of expressing her emotions, by getting the feelings she has out of her and onto paper and into music. It’s always been a very freeing experience. Whether it's a sad song that meets you where you are, or a happy song to get you moving, dancing, and having a good time - to be able to create that for people is so special for us, which is why we love doing what we do.

 

How would you describe your music to someone who's never seen you play before?

We play catchy indie pop rock original songs featuring edgy guitars, pumping bass and drums, topped off with our signature sibling harmonies.

 

We love your latest single ‘Little Part of Me’. What is the story behind it?

Aww thanks so much. The song is about being in a kind of broken relationship where everything seems to just be falling apart. Inevitably when it all breaks down, despite how much you know it was for the best, you still love that person, and you still find yourself questioning whether there’s any chance of fixing things. You still carry a little part of that person with you everywhere you go, and it still haunts you to wonder whether they were ‘the one that got away’.

 

Here’s a difficult question for you! What is your most favourite track released so far and why?

Oh that's hard to answer as we all have our own favourites - but as a collective, we love performing Red Rover as it's so high energy and fun getting our audiences involved in singing along with us. Also 'Little Part of Me' Acoustic ft. our incredibly talented high school buddy Yuhki Mayne on the violin, really pulls on the heartstrings.

 

We know the band toured with Phil Collins, Little Mix and Jess Glynne. What was it like working with these artists?

It was so incredible to be able to open for these artists - definitely an experience we’ll never forget. Phil Collins especially was one of the real 'wow' moments as we grew up listening to his music. He is such an iconic legend in the music industry, and even just to see him and his band perform live was mind-blowing. Little Mix was also so surreal, especially as we’d never played in front of audiences that big before, with the crowds ranging from 25k – 35,000 people every night for 15 nights. It was such a blast being on such a big stadium tour – and we are forever grateful for the friends, fans & memories we made.

 

Which artist would you like to collaborate with and why?

Wow there’s sooo many. We're lovers of Irish artists so guys like Dermot Kennedy, Gavin James, & Foy Vance would be so cool to work with. Absolutely love the style & energy of artists like Anne Marie, Haim, Paramore – the sweet sounds of Dean Lewis, Kacey Musgraves, & Lewis Capaldi – and the cool rhythms of Ed Sheeran, James Bay, & John Mayer. Even a great remix from a group like Snakehips, Kolidescopes or a producer like Kygo or Flume would also be really cool! The list goes on! (so artists - feel free to send us your messenger pigeons if you're interested haha! ;) We are currently filming a series on our YouTube channel called "Sister Sessions' where we are collaborating with a bunch of our musician friends from around the world – it’s definitely been a nice isolation project for us all in this crazy time.

 

What has been your biggest career highlight so far?  

There's been so many, but one would have to be headlining our own UK tour last year. It was pretty incredible seeing all our beautiful fans lining up out the front of the venues with their signs, and having them all sing along to our original songs. There was one show in Scotland, where there was an age limit on the venue where our show was being held, and one of our fans was too young to attend, so we played a private little concert for her and her Mum. It was so special seeing her look up at her Mum with the biggest smile as we were playing, and getting to meet her and give her a hug. 

We admit we also always get a little excited about green room and catering on some of the bigger shows we get to play haha!

 

What’s on your playlist right now?

Ella - Gavin James, HUX, Hall and Oats, Little Hours, Germein (got to get the Spotify plays up haha) Charlie Puth, Slang, Churches, Smallpools, Delta Goodrem, Shania Twain, Haim, Kolidescopes, The Beatles, Kacey Musgraves, Rachael Fahim, Anne Marie, Nina Nesbit, Tchaikovsky Swan Lake series & Vitamin String Quartet

Clara – Walk the Moon, The McClymonts, Queen, Van Morrison, Lewis Capaldi, & Scott Helman

Georgia – James Bay, Sting, Paramore, Panic! at the Disco, John Mayer, Coldplay, U2, Mumford & Sons, Dave Matthews Band, Phil Collins, The Waifs, Vance Joy, The Killers, & Wicked

 

We are very excited about your Virtual World Tour! What should audience expect? Any special message to people who will be watching the performance?   

We’re going to be playing a handful of our latest releases, keeping the show upbeat and energetic to kick off your Friday night. Feel free to have a dance & sing along from wherever you are watching in the world – we just want everyone to have a good time. Be sure to add our tracks to your favourite streaming platform if you like what you hear, and get in touch with us on our socials @germeinsisters & website: www.germeinsisters.com We always try to get back to every message, so would love to hear from you. Looking forward to bringing you some good vibes in this tough time, and fingers crossed we’ll get to play for you all in person some day real soon. See you Friday 26th June 7PM! Xxx

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Catch Germein’s performance on Live From Home:

Friday, June 26, 7pm *local time*

  • Live Nation China - https://www.livenation.cn/livefromhome
  • Live Nation Hong Kong - https://www.livenation.hk/livefromhome
  • Live Nation Taiwan - https://www.livenation.com.tw/livefromhome
  • Live Nation Malaysia - https://www.livenation.my/livefromhome
  • Live Nation Singapore - https://www.livenation.sg/livefromhome
  • Live Nation Thailand - https://www.livenation.co.th/livefromhome
  • Live Nation Japan - https://www.livenation.co.jp/livefromhome
  • Live Nation Korea - https://www.livenation.kr/livefromhome
  • Live Nation Middle East - https://www.livenation.me/livefromhome 

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