Premiere: Meet GG McG, who takes a leap into music with Boom

Over the last few years, you've probably scrolled past a press shot taken by Giulia Giannini McGauran. Her eye for bold colours and contrast has seen her blossom into one of Australia's most in-demand photographers for both musicians and brands, working closely alongside Meg Mac, Alice Ivy, The Rubens, Japanese Wallpaper, Eilish Gilligan and companies such as Facebook to create attentive works of art that'll always capture your attention. Armed with one of Australian music's most creative eyes, it's not surprising at all to see her move into actually making music herself, something she's finally stepping forward into with Boom.

Premiering with its official video clip today (directed by Nick Campbell and herself), Boom is a bright pop single that feels like a burst out of the gates for Giulia, capturing her liveliness as a creative - something shown through her various art projects over the year - but in a vessel that feels just as comfortable, signalled through the track's light-hearted sway. Layering a synth-backed production aided by good friend and close collaborator Japanese Wallpaper (who also shares a new single today), Boom feels like the bright explosion of colour you'd expect, but conversely, there are also some pretty heavy themes swelling underneath. With Boom, you get the sense that Giulia is the type of musician who'll wear their heart through their lyrics, exploring feelings she can't quite capture with images like Boom's almost-thank u, next lyricism: "[It's about the] importance of saying goodbye in order to move on," she says.

With Boom establishing GG McG as a multi-disciplinary force-to-watch, dive into her debut video clip below, and better introduce yourself to Australian music's latest piece of dynamite while you're at it:

Tell us about yourself?

Hello! My name Is Giulia Giannini McGauran, and I am a photographer/creative director who recently discovered garage band!

What’s the vibe music-wise?

I think you would definitely call it indie-pop.

What are your production and writing processes like?

Well! At the end of last year, my boyfriend Zaac introduced me to Garage band on my phone. I was in the depths of editing procrastination, so the next day I sat on my bed and hardly moved from 9AM – 3AM (I think I ate 3 slices of vegemite toast and went to the bathroom twice) and made a song. At the time, there were a couple of things going on in life that I wasn’t able to express through images (which is what I was used to), so it all kind of burst out.

From there, I had this file on my phone. I kind of liked it, but was way too nervous to show anyone. I remembered a quote from a rom-com (I think it had Matt Daemon in it and was about buying a zoo) which was ‘it only takes 20 seconds of bravery’. So I curled into a ball one morning and copied the link into a text, shut my eyes and sent it to Zaac. He is a musician, and has always been so supportive but also a good balance of honest and kind, so I figured, If I am going to embarrass myself it may as well be to him. But his reaction was so lovely, and it gave me the confidence to send it through to my good friend Gab Strum (Japanese Wallpaper). Gab and I had worked really closely on visuals in the past, so he was really supportive and was happy to produce it. It was such an honour to see Gab work. He is so incredibly brilliant at what he does and he was so patient and really took the time to craft the song I was trying to make. The whole process was so fascinating and exciting.

From there it went to Konstantin Kersting (The Belligerents; mixing) and Andrei Eremin (mastering) and far out! I had no idea what mixing and mastering were before this. They are so talented, and each time the song came back it was just crafted in a new way by these incredible ears and brains and it was such a pleasure to see them work and shape it in new ways.

Can you tell us about your new single, Boom?

A couple of years ago I started to understand how important it is to learn to say goodbye properly. I never liked goodbyes; I would always stumble through them and then really struggle later. I wonder whether that’s why Marie Kondo was such a mega-hit? Her process of teaching people to be grateful and then letting go in a positive way is so important and I think it applies to life in general.

So, a few things had happened in my life leading up to the song being made which really stoked the fire on these feelings. I am so used to expressing things visually but I really couldn’t explain the concept of ‘Goodbye’ in an image, so I had all these feelings just welling up and the minute I could make the sounds on Garage Band that connected to them it all made a lot of sense. And that I think is why I really love the phrase ‘You’re out of this world’ because I think has that double meaning of literally ‘you’re out/gone’ and ‘you’re incredible’ and I absolutely felt both.

You’ve been in the Australian music space for a while, but mostly in an art direction/photographer/branding role. When did the idea of moving into properly releasing music come about, or was it just something you’d always wanted to do?

It definitely wasn’t something that had really occurred to me. I think I got a bit of a taste for it a few years ago. I broke up with an ex, and that night, I went home and watched 8 Mile for the first time. The next day I made an awful rap and my friend Joe Buchan very kindly made a beat for it and then produced it. It was more of a sassy vent about how he used too many Aesop products (terrible but so satisfying). I think I posted it on Vimeo for a while. But now, actually writing a song that I am emotionally connected to as well as singing just felt completely different. I feel like it’s a new kind of challenge, a really exciting one and I had all these talented people work on it and encourage me, so I really wanted to release it properly.

Also, my Dad listens to Deezer and wanted me to pop it on there for him haha.

Has having this creative background very in-line with the Australian music world helped you launch your own thing?

I have been working with artists in the music industry for quite a few years, but I don’t think I ever came close to fully appreciating how vulnerable you are when you make and release a song. Being surrounded by people who completely understood this and encouraged me is the only reason it is seeing the light of day. Also having really talented people surrounding me who I trusted meant that I could really enjoy the process of creating which is everything I wanted.

Any tour dates coming up?

Nope!

What does 2019 have in store for you?

So far, the rest of the year is filled with lots of fun shoots, and a really exciting collab in New York that I am looking forward to, and hopefully makin’ a bit more music!

Where can we find more of your music?

Boom is just the first song…so no more music just yet!

Follow GG McG: FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM