In Conversation With #161 - Girli
London-born songstress Girli has just released her highly anticipated EP ‘Damsel In Distress’ - which is five tracks that explore themes such as love, body dysmorphia and self-discovery. Before heading out on tour this November, Girli took a moment to talk to us about how the EP came together.
Hey GIRLI - how are you? So your EP is here, how does it feel to have it out there in the world?
Hey! I’m feeling a bit spaced out today… releasing music is weird because you build up so much hype from the moment of writing the song, deciding to release it, to making all the visuals to go along with it, to having it out in the world - that by the time release day comes around, it doesn’t feel real.
It is titled ‘Damsel In Distress’ - what is the meaning behind that?
Each song represents something different I’ve battled; body dysmorphia, mental health issues, unrequited and difficult love, bad friendships. These are the distresses; I am the damsel who’s fighting them. I decided to take the old and sexist term of “Damsel in Distress”, an old character trope of a woman needing saving by a man, and turn it on its head. Yes, I’m struggling with some stuff and yes I need help, but I’m gonna save myself. That’s why I chose the cover art to be me as the princess with the sword. And added some Lara Croft spice to it. I’m saving myself from the burning tower, and these songs are my version of healing and fighting my way out of the shit.
Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories from the creative process you are happy to share with us?
These songs were recorded in London and Stockholm with collaborators who were also my counsellors in a way. I don’t write songs for a specific project, I just write when I need to write about what it is that’s happening in my life and in my mind, and whoever I choose to write with has to hear about all the shit that’s going on and we have a big discussion about it while we write about it - it’s a therapeutic experience for everyone involved. Dysmorphia was written in a medieval basement studio on the site of a mass murder centuries before - quite spooky. Luckily I don’t think it cursed the song.
What are the key themes and influences on the EP?
I was influenced by so many artists and songs for this EP, from K Pop to 90s rock to Western chart pop. In terms of themes, my own mental health, my queer identity, my shitty experiences in the music industry and struggling with social media and self esteem were big themes for this EP.
Do you have a favourite lyric on the EP? If so, which one and why?
I have a couple lyrics where I feel like as a lyricist I really summed up exactly what I wanted to say. In ‘I Don’t Like Myself’ I say “I’ve been giving myself bad reviews for a couple decades” to describe my low self-esteem. And in Dysmorphia, I say “best way to describe it, when you see red all I see is blue” to explain the feeling of body dysmorphia and having a view of yourself that’s completely different to reality. I’m super proud of those lyrics.
You are heading out on tour this November, which you have completely funded yourself. What led to that? Have you encountered any struggles with it? And more importantly - what have you got in store for us when it comes to the live shows?
Putting this tour together has been the most fun and the most stress of my entire life. After getting dropped from a major label a couple years back, I vowed to myself that I would never let anyone make decisions about my music or career for me, and if that meant getting stuck in and doing shit myself then so be it. I told my agent “I wanna go on tour”, and we booked the shows, and from then onwards it’s been DIY as fuck. I’ve hired the all-women crew, booked the hotels, made the budgets, decorated the stage backdrop, my girlfriend designed the merch... it’s been such hard work but it’s gonna pay off so much because I’m doing it my way. The shows are gonna be amazing, it’s my first tour since 2019 and I have so much planned for fans. Expect crowd surfing inflatable boats, confetti canons, Covid-safe meet and greets (I’ve ordered a silly amount of sanitary perspex and visors - my online order history is weird) and a new setlist with songs from across my whole discography for old and new fans alike. It’s gonna POP off. I’m so excited!
