Broods Singer Georgia Nott Is Done With The Lack Of Women Behind The Scenes

Georgia Nott, from the electro-pop brother/sister duo Broods, is venturing out with a solo passion project. And The Venus Project: Vol 1, an alt-rock collab with all-female creatives dropping this International Women's Day (8 March), is her boldest endeavour. Imagine Tori Amos, PJ Harvey or Hope Sandoval soundtracking the #MeToo movement.

Originally from Nelson, New Zealand, Nott and her older sibling Caleb relocated to Los Angeles in 2016 shortly before airing their second album, Conscious. And, Nott tells, being "in the thick of the music industry" was pivotal to fulfilling The Venus Project.  

Speaking to The Music for a cover story two years ago, the singer/songwriter acknowledged gender bias in the entertainment world, adding, "It's hard to know what you're supposed to do to make a difference but, when I figure it out, I'll be able to do it." She's since had an awakening. Nott grew increasingly aware of the absence of women behind the scenes in music. "I was definitely more exposed to the industry when I moved here," she says from California. "Living in New Zealand, it's a very isolated, calm world. So I think the exposure to new perspectives - and the exposure to sides of the industry that I hadn't seen yet - really did make me feel like I needed to say what I wanted to say and do my part to stand up for what I believe in, and do my part to be an activist, rather than just have these feminist beliefs and talk about them in my own time to people I know."

Today Nott tends to discuss her experiences as a female musician generally. "I mean, I haven't ever been told to go and sit in the corner, or I haven't ever been told that my opinion doesn't matter, because I guess I've had a pretty good situation; working with my brother and having somebody beside me at all times [who was] concerned that I was valuable, basically." Still, the former music student wonders if, as a solo artist, she might have been "moulded a little bit less subtly". Nott continues, "I felt like I was getting down that road a little bit when I came into the industry. I was 19 and I felt like I was kind of being shaped into somebody that didn't really feel authentic."

In fact, Nott has liaised with female music-makers as part of Broods - Conscious boasted input from buzz Australian writer/producer Alex Hope, Lorde (who co-wrote Heartlines) and, as a guest, Tove Lo. Yet, for The Venus Project, she assembled a female collective - among its members Camila Mora, Broods' tour keyboardist, producer Ceci Gomez and audio engineer Adrianne "AG" Gonzalez. The women exchanged stories and would "fire each other up". "I felt like I had control over what I was creating and I felt like I had an opinion that was really important - and I had an opinion that was listened to," Nott observes. "Everything that I wanted to achieve was taken seriously... It's been super-empowering and quite emotional for me, but in a really liberating way."

Curiously, The Venus Project finds Nott traversing very different musical territory from Broods - the latest single, Need A Man, a spectral guitar ballad about the irony of men playing both predators and protectors. "The thing that I've been able to explore on this record is the rawness of songwriting, 'cause I've always written from a very raw place," she says. "I love music that doesn't shy away from being these demo, live-type sounds that feel rough around the edges. They feel authentic and they feel honest. It's been awesome to actually make a record that is very raw." 

Indeed, Nott considers The Venus Project less pop than "alternative"; itself a political statement. "I listen to alternative music - and I love that kinda music - but, to be honest, the men are really overruling the women in alternative music at the moment," she begins. "I feel like women have been told that they don't belong in alternative music or something and that, in order to be successful, they need to go the pop route and they need to be this mainstream, unattainable, iconic Taylor Swift person. For a long time, I didn't think that there was even a place for me in alternative music. And, now, actually, fuck it - I like making this kind of music, so I'm gonna do this and hope that it sparks something!"

Nott hopes that The Venus Project will "start a conversation", with the concept ongoing (hence the "Vol 1"). She's also open to it having another curator. "I didn't want it to be associated as just, like, 'Georgia's side-project'. I wanted it to be something that included more than just myself."

Nonetheless, Nott is non-committal about touring The Venus Project. "I really wanna do at least one show where we play this album live and there's a full female band on stage and there's a full female crew behind the stage," she states. "I'm just working towards that now, I'm just trying to figure out how to make that happen."

While Nott has been realising The Venus Project, Caleb has introduced his own vehicle - the electro'n'B Fizzy Milk (cue: the recent single Make Me Feel featuring Jarryd James). However, Broods' hiatus is apparently already over. "I wouldn't even call it a 'hiatus'," Nott reveals. "We're still writing Broods stuff with the intention of releasing an album three - hopefully not too far away. But it's actually been awesome to go away and do our side-projects and then come back and have just a fresh perspective on what we wanna achieve as Broods, and to explore what we can do as musicians and make a different kind of music."