Spotlight On... GAÏA

Glasgow-based GAÏA is one for the R'n'B, jazz and neo-soul heads. Plugging away in the Scottish music scene for some time now, they've featured on tracks from Rebecca Vasmant, supported corto.alto and sold out their debut headline show last September, all while having released no music. The end of last year even saw them receive nominations for both the Scottish Jazz Awards and The SAY Award's Sound of Young Scotland prize.

They've been honing their craft alongside their live band for a while now, and following an early play of a demo called Angel on BBC Radio 1 last week, yesterday saw them finally release their debut single, Big Girls. A laid-back, 90s-indebted number, we catch up with GAÏA to find out more.

You’ve been involved in the Scottish music scene for quite a long time now. I’d love to know a bit more about your backstory and what you were doing before you turned your focus to music?
I was at uni! I actually moved from France and studied in Aberdeen to become a lawyer. Music was not in my plan at all growing up. I always loved to sing and I taught myself to play the piano but I never thought that music would become such an important part of my life. It really all started in Glasgow for me, that’s why I always say that Glasgow might not be my hometown but I’m definitely Glasgow-grown. I was really lucky when I moved there to meet some really amazing people who introduced me to the jazz scene and I just fell in love.

You played a sold-out headline show last year without having released any music, playing countless other shows too in recent years, some pretty high profile. What have these experiences been like for you so early in your career?
I’ve been really lucky to have people invested in my music from an early stage. I started really by playing live and that remained a super-important aspect of my project. But to be honest, a large part of being able to play live so much without releasing music is the music community in Glasgow. I got to play some really amazing spaces early on which was so terrifying at the time, but being oftentimes on the same bill as my friends was a real blessing. It definitely made me grow quite quickly; playing live is still my favorite thing to do in the world.

When I started gigging it was a bit of a running joke that no one could ever find my music anywhere. But it sort of became an appeal to me, people needing to come to a show to hear the music. But to be honest I never thought we’d get to a point of selling out a headline show. I have a lot of gratitude for my Glasgow community.

I’d love to talk influences – there’s a very vintage 90s R’n’B, soulful vibe to your debut single Big Girls. So I’d love to know, who are some of the artists you love and draw inspiration from and what is it about their work that you love?
Nineties R'n'B is so right! I’ve always been so inspired by artists like Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and, honestly, anything the Solquarians touched. They took so much inspiration from jazz, gospel and hip-hop it’s definitely affected how I approach my own music. I take a lot of inspiration from singers like Sade as well, she just floats above her music – it’s amazing.

You literally just released Big Girls yesterday – congratulations! Can you talk us through the song and what it’s about?
Thank you!! Finally a release, I’m so gassed to have it out. It’s actually one of the very first songs I wrote, and it sort of came back into my life more recently. I remember writing it at a time where I felt really overwhelmed by life and felt really directionless. This song came out of trying to make myself feel better and sort of give myself a pep talk. It’s okay to cry, Big Girls do it too.

I’d love to know more about the writing and recording process. Did you work alongside anyone to help realise your vision?
I have some amazing collaborators. I wrote the song and workshopped it with my amazing band. That was one of the blessings that came with playing live so much. We got to really experiment with the sound, and really see how it felt in the room. I then worked really closely with my producer Marcus Yates who really brought the vision to life. Collaboration is really at the centre of a lot of what I do so even down to the recording process I tried as much as we could to have everyone in the room, I just really like to work that way.

With your debut now finally out in the world, what’s next? Is there more music waiting for us as the year unfolds?
Of course! This is one of many. I finally feel ready to push the rest of the project, I’m really excited for what is to come.

Gig-wise, we can't wait to welcome you to our stage at Kelburn Garden Party next week – what can people expect from your set?
Kelburn is genuinely one of my favourite festivals ever. I’m so gassed to be going back this year with my band. We’ve been playing together as a full band for a good few gigs and the energy with them is amazing, expect a lot of joy.

And what does the rest of the year look like for you?
More music, more gigs!

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Big Girls is out now; GAÏA plays Kelburn Garden Party, Kelburn Estate, nr Largs, Sat 4 Jul

Follow GAÏA on Instagram @gaia.jea