You know we will always have your back, especially when we stumble across a super-talented singer with superb tracks. We just gotta share them with you. Lea G is just the singer you’re looking for; she’s been releasing music since 2019 and so far has a no-skip tracklist, which doesn’t change with her latest EP, SURVIVAL MODE.
Before the release of the EP, we got a glimpse of some of the tracks, which made us even more excited for the release, and we were right! SURVIVAL MODE had us in our feels all the way through and had us singing along in agreement. We were able to talk to Lea G about the EP, as well as her upcoming tour, and future plans! Check out our interview down below!
Hi Lea, welcome to The Honey POP! You’ve been a very busy bee lately. How are you feeling?
Hey there, thanks so much for having me. I´ve actually been really good, thank you. I just had a couple of weeks of holiday, so that was lush, and now I am ready to go on tour.
Speaking of feelings, your upcoming EP, SURVIVAL MODE is all about the emotions that you go through while growing up and figuring out who you are. Was there a track you heard growing up that helped you navigate through those feelings, and help you figure out who you are?
Yes, SURVIVAL MODE is definitely all about the things I´ve felt this past year. I grew up listening to a lot of classical music – didn´t really think pop music was great until I was maybe 12 years old and started playing pop songs on guitar. I think listening to so much classical music really helped me learn how melodies work, but also always made everything feel deeper or magical, which I think, retrospectively, definitely helped me to recognize and feel my emotions. However, I think if I could only pick one song that made me realize who I wanted to be growing up, it would have to be ‘I See Fire’ by Ed Sheeran because it made me realize that if a ginger dude with a guitar could write songs on his tiny guitar, maybe I could and so I started writing songs myself. And I guess I wouldn´t be who I am today without my music.
Let’s jump back into SURVIVAL MODE, the EP has five tracks that vary in different feelings, and sounds; what made you decide to release it now?
SURVIVAL MODE is my second EP and I wanted to get it out as quickly as possible to follow up my last EP, YOU(TH) as it was important for me to share my growth as a person and artist.
My last EP was made up of songs I wrote 4 years before they were released, and with SURVIVAL MODE, it only took roughly a year to write and record. It´s important for me being able to share how I feel during a certain period of time and the songs that come from it in that time frame. That way I can be more authentic in my storytelling and connecting with my audience.
We gotta say our favorite track from the EP is ‘DEMONS (ONLY HUMAN),’ we love, love your vocals in it, as well as the whole production of it. Which track was your favorite to put together? Which one has your favorite lyrics, and what are they?
Thank you! I am so glad you love ‘DEMONS!’ Gosh, this is such a hard question to answer. I think every single one of the tracks – from ‘MISFIT,’ which was the first song we recorded of the EP, to the title track SURVIVAL MODE, which we more or less recorded in one day in December last year – every song is completely different and I enjoyed making every one of them in unique ways. It´s like having to choose who out of your 5 babies you love the most – just impossible to say, as they are all uniquely special to me and different in their process. 🙂
We love that the lyrics in SURVIVAL MODE all surround feeling lost but also about communicating those feelings, especially ‘SUICIDAL.’ Being a songwriter for a while now, does it make it easier for you to communicate your feelings?
I do think we songwriters communicate differently in everyday life than others. As you grow as a songwriter, you kind of learn to communicate what you mean in the most concise way there is, and that often includes having to go quite deep and then thinking about how to then convey that in a way that others can understand what you mean. I do believe that having that skill helps you communicate more clearly sometimes. However, I believe the skill of communicating is something anyone can learn and develop throughout their life, and we are all just human – sometimes feelings are super complicated, and there is no easy way to get them across.
So usually, people open up their EP’s with the title track; what made you decide to have it close out your project?
I see the EP as a journey talking about lots of different things I´ve gone through in the last year, and I wanted the last song on the project to round the whole story off a little.
As much as I wrote SURVIVAL MODE about coming out of a relationship I was in during lockdown and processing it in a way that I was slowly finding back to myself again, it is very universal in its meaning. It´s about coming alive again after going through a dark time, and therefore it just had to be the last song on the project – all other songs are about those dark times and the last line of SURVIVAL MODE leaves it on a note of healing and possibility.
Fun Fact is actually that I wasn´t sure about the title of the EP until I wrote SURVIVAL MODE, and that´s when I knew that had to be it – because all those songs are about how I felt living in survival mode for a year.
Imagine this, you are in SURVIVAL MODE, and you are told you are only allowed to take three things with you, what are you taking?
I am taking great music, my guitar, and my diary – the 3 things that get me through the toughest time.
What is currently on your “I am in my feels’’ playlist?
For me, “in my feels“ can connect to lots of feelings. So I´ll give you a few tracks.
When I am feeling sad: ‘Holocene’ – Bon Iver
When I am angry: ‘Angry Woman’ – Ashe
When I am on a bus and just want something to Match the mood: ‘Begging for Rain’ – Maggie Rogers (probably the whole album, actually, I am such an album person)
When I just wanna dance: ‘Push Up’ – Brother Leo
Looking at this, this would probably be the worst playlist ever 🙂 I guess I am a big album-listening person and rarely listen to any playlists, so therefore I am awful at creating them 🙂
You´re going on a joint headline tour with JENEM what are you most looking forward to?
I am going next week, and I am super excited for it. We´ll be playing shows in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and a small show in London.
I am most excited for the show we´ll play in Vienna – it will be the biggest one, and as I haven´t played a show there in a long time I can´t wait 🙂
What can we expect for Lea G for the remainder of 2022?
I am super excited for my big fat headline show on the 9th of November at The Courtyard Theatre in London. That´s a big thing happening.
Other than that, I am writing more and spending more time in the studio again, which fuels me with so much joy. I reckon you´ll see lots of clips from the tour, and I can´t wait to see you at my big headline show 🙂
Lea G’s, SURVIVAL MODE, is a must-listen, and if you’re really into tracks about growing up and finding yourself, this is for you. And because we like helping you, you can find where to stream it, here.
What did you think of our interview with Lea G? Have you listened to SURVIVAL MODE, what’s your favorite track? Let us know in the comments below, tweet us @thehoneypop, and talk to us on Facebook and Instagram!
Need more music recs? Look no further!
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