Tell us about your new single ‘Malibu’?
My love letter to the universe, tuned to 432hz and set in Malibu. I wanted to create a really dreamy, uplifting and tranquil track that was a bit of a feel good remedy to all that is happening right now.
What’s your favourite work at this point in time?
My next single ‘If I’m Honest’- out September
How would you describe your sound in food form and why?
A hot chocolate with a marshmallow. All creamy and soft.
Tell us a quick, on the road or studio, anecdote.
I was in the studio one day with a beautiful man who has since passed. I was assistant engineer – which basically meant running around doing everything. This gorgeous man- Larry he played piano like nothing I had heard before. He had white hair, was super softly spoken and had this gentle energy that made you feel at home. I then found out he was Elvis’s hands in all of the Elvis movies when they would show piano playing. I thought that incredible – that this quiet, humble man had done something so cool. You can never judge a book by it’s cover.
What, or who, inspires you?
The moon, in all her phases. Old people who have been married for 50 years or more- that is incredible to me.
Musically, Joni Mitchell, JOY, Flume.
Which song do you wish you wrote?
Slow dancing in a burning room- the imagery!
What’s next for you?
My next single is out in September and I hope to be doing live gigs asap.
What’s your scene?
The sun is setting over the ocean, chillout beats pulse through the DJ decks, the golden hue of the afternoon casts a glow across the faces of the people dancing on the deck. Its warm, fruit cocktails are passed around and a soft sea breeze brushed across your skin. You feel alive and at home all at the same time. Adventure awaits!
Otherworldly LA-based Aussie producer and DJ, Gem has today shared her dreamy new electro pop banger, Malibu, the first taste of her forthcoming EP set for release later this year. The track is accompanied by a suitably contemplative video that gently whisks the viewer through the utopian dreamstate of Gem’s mind.
This stylish, meditative, retro electro track is buoyed by warm synths, chilled 80s-inspired percussion and that wistful vocal. For fans of The 1975, Jessie Ware and LANY, the song was mixed by Grammy winning Serve Courtois (LANY, Sasha Sloan, Loud Luxury) and mastered by multi Grammy award winning Dale Becker (Khalid, Macklemore, RÜFÜS DU SOL). Tuned to 432hz, the frequency known to align oneself with the universe, Gem explains, “This song is my love letter to the universe, written with the intention of manifesting new love and produced in 432hz, I wanted to experiment with the powerful formula of frequency + intention = healing.” Gem contemplates, “What if producers could be the modern day shaman?”
Having lived in LA and made an impressive splash in the entertainment industry for the last year, Gem has revelled in the spotlight playing regular high-profile gigs, including The Emmy Awards pre-party and Pride Festival in Miami and NYC. She recently flew back home to Australia to perform at the Melbourne Grand Prix, but the event was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which luckily saw her able to hunker down and isolate here in Aus with her family.
Proudly repping Australia, Gem was named one of the top 5 female producers in the world to watch by Showbiz Magazine and she’s been welcomed in to the industry’s inner circle via the Grammy NEXT program as one of the top emerging producers for 2020-2021. Gem insights, “LA has acted as a teacher and mentor to me, the city itself has so many different colours, smells and experiences – the access to inspiration in that wonderful city is vast and plentiful.”
Best known for her electro reinterpretations of 70s classics on her covers album the2070s that peaked at #2 on the iTunes electronic charts and last year saw her nominated for best electronic album and producer of the year at the Independent Music Awards in the US. “It feels like a coming of age in a weird way, to be stepping out from behind the desk and releasing original music that is my own,” Gem explains. “It definitely has a greater sense of vulnerability attached and at the same time it feels like I’m exactly where I need to be, letting my guard down and getting my true music out.”
Created by Hussam Eissa, an emerging digital artist out of Egypt, this 4D video takes viewers on a journey through the wonderland of the inner workings of Gem’s imagination. “The single artwork and video clip is inspired by a vivid dream I had. I was traveling in my bed over the waves of Malibu, constantly searching. The waves lapped at the side of the bed as it rolled gently on the ocean. A whale swam around me and jumped out of the water and dived across the bed while I stayed asleep thinking it was a dream, not realising my thoughts had been so powerful the room had burst open and the bed really was laying on the waves, realising then that being awake can be a simulated dream state if you’re truly living presently from your heart chakra.”
Malibu is out now.
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