From Sydney, over to London, then finally Berlin, Georgie Fisher has taken root here and is dropping a new album that details her experience in the city. Big City Howl is Georgie’s second studio release following her 2013 EP, Playground. The album is a culmination of her two years in Berlin, a reflection of sorts, that is gritty, honest, and full of soul.

BLY got to know Georgie before her big release:

Where and when did Georgie Fisher’s musical journey start?

At about the age of ten when I learned my first chords from my mother on her Maton acoustic, which is still at her place in mint condition, it’s a year older than me and the case still has a crayon scribble on it which I made when I was 2. Perhaps that scribble was in fact my first official artistic endeavour.

How would you describe your sound for those who have yet to hear it?

This is always a tough question, I’ve decided the best way I can describe it is ‘Alternative Soul’. It might be hard to tell at first when I’m strumming an acoustic guitar and singing, but my first true musical love was for the seattle grunge scene in the 90s, followed closely by a love for golden era hip hop, off the back of which I soon discovered soul music from the sixties and seventies through sampling. I believe that all these years later, those three genres and their influence on my song writing are still present in my sound.

You’ve lived in Berlin for the past two years. How has that experience been?

Inspiring at times, terrifying at other times, I’ve been on quite a musical journey since I arrived in 2013 with about 600€ in my pocket, all of which I promptly spent on the Taylor acoustic guitar I still play today. I knew not a soul and not a word of German. Landing a job in a bar on Oranienstraße helped me along with that rather swiftly.

After landing that job, life in Berlin was very relaxed for me compared to my life in London where I lived before. It gave me a lot more time than I was accustomed to, to think about where to go next, what project to start on. Sometimes achieving stuff requires a very practical impetus, which for me was receiving a Freelance Artist Visa from the German government. It basically says in the small print that if you engage in any kind of work other than being a freelance musician, the visa bursts into flames. For me it was exactly the push I needed to just bite the bullet and make music full time, rather than having another job to fall back on.

I began to frequent an open mic on Mondays in what was the King Kong club in Mitte, it’s closed now, and I became close with the other musicians who went there on Mondays too. From starting out performing at open mics, then moving slowly toward my own concerts, playing on the streets for the first time, I never felt inspired to do so until being introduced to the busking scene in Berlin, to eventually getting a band together and making this album with the songs I’ve written along the way, has been a long and incredibly rewarding journey. I’ve never lived in a city full of so many creative people who not only inspire but encourage, and I’d like to say a word for German audiences too, who from my perspective are the most receptive I have found so far.

Any BERLIN LOVES YOU moments from your time in here?

This might sound kinda boring, but my favourite thing to do in Berlin is not clubbing or sipping cocktails or visiting abandoned sites, it’s really simple, just cycling around aimlessly is really awesome. Particularly near parks, or in vibrant parts of town like Kreuzberg or Friedrichshain, there is something so calming about it.

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Georgie Fisher with Full Band

BIG CITY HOWL Record Release Party

Saturday, September 26th @

Prachtwerk

Ganghoferstr. 2, 12043 Berlin

Doors @ 19:00

Support: Laura Guidi