20 Jan 2018

Broods' Georgia Nott collaborates with all-women crew for The Venus Project

From RNZ Music, 2:10 pm on 20 January 2018

Georgia Nott, one half of sibling duo Broods has announced a new project that she has big ambitions for. She speaks with Yadana Saw

Georgia Nott of The Venus Project

Georgia Nott of The Venus Project Photo: supplied

The Venus Project Vol.1 is a musical collective “brought to life entirely by a team of women” from recording, playing, mastering and publicity. The first single ‘Won’t Hurt’ is written, performed and produced by Georgia, who was “surprised that it hadn’t been done before already.”

‘Won’t Hurt’ is a softer, plaintive sound for Georgia; it’s quite a contrast from Broods' most recent output which was all about getting a crowd up and dancing. For the past two years she’d been collecting these scraps of songs, never having “anywhere to put it”.  But finally, Georgia says, “it was the right time to finally release that side of myself, I guess, with a bunch of awesome women.”

The idea for The Venus Project came to Georgia after repeatedly finding herself not only as the sole woman in a studio or on tour, but as one equal half of Broods whom people would remark on as surprisingly capable and “really good”.

“There are times when I’ve gone into the studio with Caleb and I’ve come up with an idea and they have been like “Wow, you’re really good” and I’m like “Yes! I don’t just sit here and do nothing”. And it annoys Caleb just as much as it annoys me. But I don’t have problem standing up for myself or holding my own. I don’t often work with people again if they don’t take me seriously.”

Having spoken with other women in the industry, Georgia found that many had “similar experiences” of not being taken seriously or being judged for their appearance

She shares the story of a fellow-woman songwriter friend who despaired “I can’t look pretty or they don’t take me seriously every time I go into the studio. I was like “What the hell is that about?! you can be pretty and talented at the same time, you know?”

For Georgia, The Venus Project was to “see what kind of creations we could produce as a full-female crew.” She hopes the project will have a life beyond her involvement.

“It would be incredible to pass the baton onto somebody that creates a different music to me and curates a different group of women that have so much to offer...There are heaps of different kinds of music and I think it is special that you can recognise all these different types of genres, and how relevant women are in all these different genres.”

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