Interview | Georgia Winter

As a pop artist, producer and live drummer for the likes of Hannah Grae and Suki Waterhouse, our alumni Georgia Winter has enjoyed a diverse and successful industry career.

Since completing their studies, other opportunities have come through Universal Production Music as well as within the ICMP community, including working with Francesca Everly and Finn Doherty

In our interview, Georgia talks about their industry experiences and how their time at ICMP helped give them a platform to embrace industry success...

How did you start your musical adventures? 

I was always surrounded by music, with my grandma being a classical composer and pianist, I started to create sounds at an early age. I learned drums from the age of 12 and picked up piano, guitar and bass skills along the way.

Growing up in South Wales, I gigged with various projects as a teenager, learning my way around the local music scene both as an artist and drummer. After finishing sixth form, I decided to move to London to study Drum Performance at ICMP, where I met incredibly talented friends, who inspired me to collaborate in so many pockets of the music community.

During my first year at ICMP I fell into a deeper love of music production, through collaborating with people on the production module and studying further on the BA. I switched courses to BA Creative Music Production and developed both paths as a producer and session musician side by side. 

Who were your musical influences when you started out? 

My musical influences were formed growing up in the early 2000s. Pop music always felt like a satisfying meal to me, I loved Timbaland, Britney and Justin Timberlake which soon evolved into a 2010's synth pop obsession (Kesha, Gaga and Bieber).

I was obsessed with the complexity hidden in the simplicity, which pulled me to try producing myself on a very old Logic Pro, to replicate the conventions/ideas pop producers were using.

My teen years lead me more towards the likes of St. Vincent, Ben Howard and Wolf Alice which sparked my fascination with unconventional composition in a modern landscape."

I feel all these influences merged together to bring me towards a dark pop production style that I tend to pepper throughout the tracks that I work on.

What led you to ICMP? And how were your studies? 

My time at ICMP gave me the facilities and network to explore working in an industry mimicked setting.

Working on writing to briefs, artist projects, music videos and live projects helped me to cultivate my creativity whilst understanding how to manage harder aspects such as creative burnout in a fast paced and irregular industry. With a better understanding of my own unique workflow, I was able to transition into my professional career comfortably. 

What have been the most important things you've learned while here? 

One of the most important things I took from ICMP was the sense of community. Having such a diverse range of disciplines and talents surrounding you is a continual source of inspiration."

What is your production set up?

I have a space in my flat where I’m able to record the basics for most pop/indie tracks (including vocals, guitars, bass and percussion). It consists of an Apollo twin X, Adam F5's, Aston Spirit mic and various instruments. For larger scale projects, I usually collaborate with friends who have equipped studio spaces depending on the project requirements. 

My favourite piece of gear is the Apollo Twin X, it's a real game changer for quality and ability. I've used it in both studio and live scenarios and it's always been super reliable. My favourite plug-in at the moment is ShaperBox 3, it's a crazy LFO tool with such fun parameters inside like Noise Shaper, Crush and Width that you can manipulate in really expressive ways.

What projects have been keeping you busy?

I have been working with ICMP alumni artists since graduating, namely Francesca Everly, Finn Doherty and Macie Nyah. I have been working with these artists as a songwriter, producer and mix/mastering engineer for various projects. 

In my session work I have played with Suki Waterhouse (2021-2022) and Hannah Grae (2022-Present). Last summer I toured around the European/ British festival circuit with Hannah Grae, alongside ICMP alumni Conor Houston on guitar. I have been lucky enough to play Lollapalooza, Cannes Film Festival, Reading/ Leeds and Szieget with these artists. 

How did the work for Universal come about? 

My production work with Universal came about after applying for UPM's 100% HER Mentorship scheme in 2022. I was lucky enough to be selected to be under mentorship writing to active briefs for TV/advertising/sync, and have continued producing tracks to sync briefs since finishing the mentorship. 

What’s been the best piece of advice you’ve received about navigating the music industry?

The best advice I've had about the music industry is learn the rules so you can break them."

As with any creative process, in order to allow yourself to translate the art you want you need to have the tools and knowledge of how to achieve what you want. Essentially learning how to experiment! Limits and parameters breed creativity.

What does the future have in store for you and your music? 

The future has more creative endeavours in store, more sync production and artist collaboration. I'm currently wrapping up Francesca Everly's debut EP, and will continue to work on various artists projects. I am still working with Hannah and we have some shows coming up including BST Hyde Park, Bludfest and Reeperbahn.

Visit georgiawinter.com and gniemusic.com for more information.