Brett CallwoodGia Woods talks new EP and Pride: We spoke to L.A.-based Persian popster Gia Woods back in June 2020, right at the start of the pandemic and as she was about to release her Cut Season EP. That record was described as a journal of her coming out as a gay woman and, while the timing proved to be a little weird, it earned her a lot of praise.
“It’s crazy, a lot of people still bring it up to me that they really did love Cut Season,” she says. “I feel like I was so out of it by the time it was out because I was so worried about the world, which is crazy because it was about toxic people and whatever. When it came out I was like, ‘none of it even matters right now – the world is ending.’ But the feedback that I got after that period, a lot of people went back and revisited the project. I got so many positive reactions, like ‘That project was actually so good, it just came out in the worst time possible.’ I have a sense of direction now, and I look back and I’m like, ‘Damn, I’m really proud of myself with that project.’”
Woods released another EP, Heartbreak County, Vol.2, last year, along with the single “Lesbionic.” If Cut Season was about coming out, Heartbreak County was about living life as a gay woman.
“Everything I write is from my own personal experiences,” she says. “Heartbreak County was originally inspired by my life in L.A. Growing up in L.A, and to be from here. The whole project was based on my life here, and ‘Lesbionic’ was a record that speaks to my heart. There are so many songs about women, but I want to hear songs about women embracing women. Sexually, or just in general. So the song is fucking true and honest to my heart.”
Between her debut EP and brand new single “Gia Would,” Woods has seen her sound evolved as she’s dipped into different genres.
“I feel like I’ve been constantly tapping into different genres of music that I grew up listening to,” she says. “I had an older sister and she got me interested in everything. Radiohead, Bjork, Madonna, Prince – anything. A lot of electronic music, as well. Daft Punk. Everything I make is like a nostalgic moment in my life, where I was listening to this kind of music or this kind of music. Cut Season was definitely pulling from Radiohead, Nirvana and all that stuff. Heartbreak County was a whole different area of music, like dance. I still feel like I’m in that period right now – dance music. Whether it’s Italo-disco or Euro-dance or French dance. There are so many genres of dance, which is exciting because you make it into different things constantly. I’m in that place right now, heavily tapping into that world. I would definitely say I’m in my dance era.”
Lyrically, Woods says that “Gia Would,” from her forthcoming Your Engine EP, is about a particularly tumultuous breakup that saw two of her ex-girlfriends get together. Ouch!
“That was a really hard pill to swallow obviously,” she says. “It’s just like, one ex and another ex and you’re just like, ‘What could they possibly be bonding about?’ So I kinda went through a spiral moment where I just lost it and I was acting crazy. I feel like we all have that side to us where we kinda just lose it. But I think it’s important to lose it in a way so that you can have a better perspective moving forward. It’s about embracing that crazier side of yourself. I’m one of these people that, whenever something happens, I need to write about it in the same time period. That’s how I get through things. Some artists need to get away from it for a while and then come back, but I’m one of those crazy b***hes that’s like, let’s get it done, right now. That’s literally how every project starts – one song that has all this emotional feeling that’s intense and it starts the wave for the next songs to come. That’s how I always roll. It’s a blessing and a curse. I didn’t ask for this, but I end up getting a really good song, so I’m happy about it.”
Woods will release a number of singles throughout the summer, building up to the release of Your Engine later in the year. Meanwhile, she celebrated Pride in New York for the first time this year.
“I’d never been to that before, and I went to so many different areas of New York where I was like, ‘Holy shit, there’s so many gay people’,” she says. “So many different types. The lesbian bars are so much fun. I went to a lesbian bar where they were hosing girls with toy guns. It was getting very lesbian and crazy. Honestly this New York trip was a big wake-up call. I was like, why am I in L.A.? This is so much better. There are so many things to do. I had a great Pride month.”
While she had a blast, Woods says that the sheer volume of the anti-LGBTQ+ laws being passed around the country did weight heavily on Pride this year.
“I definitely feel, with all the places I was going, there was some sadness everywhere,” she says. “We all felt it. These are the moments where I’m like, it’s so important to be highlighting this month. I definitely saw that. How is this happening still? I never understand why there’s always something new, and why we can’t just have peace and love. Let people live their lives and fuck off. It’s not complicated. It’s really frustrating. Where are we going wrong? Do we need to highlight it for a year, not just Pride month? When people ask, ‘Why are you going so big on Pride”’ That’s why. We have to constantly remind people to give us a space. I hope there’s a time where that’s not the case, because I just don’t get it. I think everyone needs therapy.”
Now that’s not a bad idea at all.
Gia Woods talks new EP and Pride: Gia Woods’ “Gia Would” single is out now.
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