GG Magree Wants You to Be “Too Much,” and Her Debut Album 'Spit Love' Proves Why
By Stella Speridon-Violet
GG Magree Press Shot by Evan Would // Photo Owner: Ashley White // Photo Courtesy of Rhylee Lionberger
By the time GG Magree was 15, she was already sneaking into the iconic gay club her dad owned in Sydney. Drag queens twirled, bodies shimmered, and the sweaty punk-electro bloghouse scene was bubbling up. “It gave me freedom for everything I wanted to do,” she remembers. “It was messy, sloppy, hardcore, but it had no restraints. That’s where I fell in love with music.”
Now, the electro-punk provocateur is channeling that no-restraints energy into her debut album, Spit Love (out October 22 on BMG/Rise). It’s a record that shifts from seductive to furious to devastating, much like Magree herself. “This album is everything they told me not to be,” she says. “It’s about rewriting the narrative for every woman, every queer person, every soul who’s ever been told they’re too much.”
GG Magree Press Shot by Jordan Kirk @xingerxanger // Photo Owner: Ashley White // Photo Courtesy of Rhylee Lionberger
You grew up surrounded by the Australian club scene; your dad even owned one of the country’s most historic gay clubs. How did being raised in that environment shape the way you see nightlife, music, and self-expression?
“It gave me a lot of freedom for everything I wanted to do in my life,” Magree says. “The first club I went to, I was 15, and it was my dad’s gay club. Seeing drag queens and being in that culture, I was like, Oh my god, this is what nightlife is like. I fell in love with it. I was obsessed with club kid culture, Party Monster, all of that.
“A lot of who I am as a performer — messy, hardcore, but free — came from growing up in that scene. The punk-electro bloghouse era in Australia was so sloppy and raw, but it had zero restraints. And I think that’s exactly how I am now as an artist.”
Your Instagram feels chaotic, witty, vulnerable, and sexy all at once. Where do you pull inspiration for your social presence, and do you see it as part of your storytelling?
“There’s no strategy — it’s just me,” she laughs. “Sure, I love Pinterest, but at the end of the day, the representation I put out is just who I am. People always say, ‘Oh, you’re not as crazy in real life,’ but then I’ll do something completely off the cuff and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s just Gigi.’
“Sexual freedom is also huge for me. Growing up, my parents always said, If you want to be naked in the street, be naked in the street. If you want to wear boys’ clothes, wear boys’ clothes. For a long time, the industry told me what I had to be to ‘make it big.’ But now I’m surrounded by a team that embraces me fully. I’m secure with who I am, and that’s all over this project.”
A lot of the songs move between seductive, angry, funny, and devastating. Was there a moment or a story that unlocked the emotional range of this album?
“I was in a toxic relationship when I started writing,” Magree says. “I filmed a short film before finishing the album, about a cannibal stripper who loses her grandmother and doesn’t understand love. When she finally finds it, she wants to consume it, so she literally eats it.
“That short film made me realize I was writing an album for her story. And honestly, it’s me too. Not that I eat people,” she laughs, “but when I love something, I get obsessive. This record is about toxic relationships, rebirth, letting go of people who don’t see you, and finally finding those who do.”
You’ve described yourself as a vessel. Do you think the art flows through you more than from you?
“When I write music, it just fucking comes out,” she says. “I never go in with a plan. Suddenly, I’m writing about wanting to kill my ex, or about joining a feminine cult. Music flows through me, and I’m grateful when people say I inspire them.
“The message I want to send is: love yourself, figure it out, and don’t worry about anyone else. At the end of the day, you live and die alone. So be too much. Because when people say you’re too much, it’s usually because they’re not enough.”
GG Magree Press Shot // Photo Owner: Ashley White // Photo Courtesy of Rhylee Lionberger
The short film and your music videos are incredibly cinematic. Do you see yourself moving further into filmmaking?
“Absolutely. Every song I write has a full movie in my head,” Magree says. “When I create visuals, I already know the colors, direction, everything. Music and film go hand-in-hand.
“I’m inspired by Gaspar Noé, Roman Gavras, even Die Antwoord’s videos, stuff that’s beautiful but disturbing. I love when something well-lit and gorgeous makes you feel both aroused and disgusted. That’s what makes art stick.”
If Spit Love were a spell, what would it cast on the listener?
“Oh, it’s a sex spell,” she grins. “It’s designed to bring you to your most inner, climactic moment, whether with a partner or by yourself. It should take you to a mental place you’ve never been before.”
What’s the ultimate message you want people to take from Spit Love?
“I just want people to enjoy it,” she says. “Put on ‘Wet Dreams’ before the club and feel wild. Play ‘Run’ when you’re angry. Play ‘Nightmares’ when you’re hurting. Take the journey in your own way.
“But the underlying message? Don’t be scared of who you are. Don’t be scared of sexuality, or being loud, or taking up space. If you want to fuck 100 dudes, fuck 100 dudes. The only one who will judge you is you.”
GG Magree Press Shot by Evan Would // Photo Owner: Ashley White // Photo Courtesy of Rhylee Lionberger
If you could time-travel and play this album for your 17-year-old rave-throwing self, how would she react?
“She’d be stoked,” Magree says without hesitation. “That girl would be so proud of the woman I’ve become. This album is who the fuck I am at the core. I’m loud, sexual, confronting. It’s a hard space to hold as a woman, but I hold it proudly.
“I’d tell my younger self: Go off, bitch. Be louder. Be bigger. Never shrink.”
GG Magree’s Spit Love drops October 22 on BMG/Rise. A record that bleeds, screams, seduces, and liberates. In her words: “I don’t make music to be liked, I make it to be free.”
