Singer-songwriter G Flip opens up about love, haters, their new album and never losing their Aussie accent

News.com.au

a day ago

When Australian singer-songwriter G Flip and American reality TV star wife Crishell Stause appeared together on the cover of American magazine US Weekly for its recent Pride edition, it was a both a statement of love and defiance.
Since meeting at a Halloween party in 2021, going public with their relationship the following year on the fifth season of Stause's US reality TV juggernaut Selling Sunset and getting married in 2023 – the pair had their third annual vow renewal ceremony in Las Angeles last month – they had been subject to relentless bullying and trolling online. But the hate only brought them closer, as evidenced by some of the loved up songs on G Flip's coming third album, Dream Ride.
'Obviously when Crishell first announced that we were dating and going out, we got a lot of backlash from people who are maybe homophobic or didn't want to see her with someone who wasn't a man,' says G Flip, who identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. 'And a lot of people that weren't happy with my gender identity being non-binary. But in saying that, that never made us feel weak. We're such a strong unit together.
'Those kind of things don't really faze us because if someone says that, we can't just stop loving each other and for me I can't not be non-binary. It's just not how it works. We just let those comments and those trolls just bugger off basically. They don't affect us.'
Their only regret? They forgot to actually buy a copy of the magazine for the home they share in Los Angeles, where Melbourne-born G Flip – aka Georgia Flipo – is now based.
'We were very honoured to be asked to be on that cover,' G Flip says. 'But we both forgot to go buy it so we're trying to hunt down a copy.'
As to whether Stause has been a muse for Dream Ride, the follow-up to G Flip's No. 1 album Drummer, which was also nominated for four ARIAS and won Triple J's 2023 Album of the Year, the multi-instrumentalist admits 'there's definitely some cute love themes in it'.
'There's a couple of love songs on this and a couple of songs that are maybe a little bit sexy,' G Flip says. 'The last song on the record, Let's Take This Show On the Road is definitely a love anthem. There's Disco Cowgirl, which is about falling in love going a bar in West Hollywood, which is very true to me and Crishell's relationship.'
But if some of the loved-up themes were inspired by G Flip's wife – as well as 'loss and events that have happened in my life' – the sound of the album was influenced by the music their parents played when they were growing up in Melbourne. G Flip describes Dream Ride 'as very '80s driven, a lot of syths, a lot of big Phil Collins drum moments' and full of the big sax, keyboard and drum solos built up over years of touring.
'I had a lot of musical influences and my dad definitely played a lot of '80s music for me in the rock world – The Clash, The Cure, AC/DC. My mum loved Madonna and dad also loved Bruce Springsteen. The '80s was such a fun time and a very colourful era for music. I just really loved everything about it.'
In support of the album, G Flip has also announced their biggest Australian tour ever, with arena dates around the country from next February. Having played at last year's televised New Year's Eve celebrations as well as to increasingly big crowds at festivals around the world, they say they are ready for the step up, even if 'it is a bit daunting'.
'I think all of these shows I've done in my past are just prepping me to take the next step and get to bigger shows,' G Flip says. 'Playing all these different stages, all these different venues, all these different places in the world, it's just made me grow and mature as a performer and an artist.'
But best of all, the tour will give them a chance to spend time back home – even though G Flip has spent four years in America, the football fanatic says 'I'm very Aussie still'.
'I miss going to the MCG having a Carlton Draught and seeing all my cousins,' they say. 'I miss how good the food is here. I miss how you can drink tap water. I miss the air – it just feels clearer and nicer. There's so many things.
'My accent ain't going to change, my likes and dislikes. I'm still waking up at 2.35am on the weekend to watch Collingwood play. I definitely don't think I'm blending into American person at all.'
G Flip has also converted Stause into an honorary Aussie – as well as a plethora of Pies regalia, she also has an MCG membership, even if it's never been used.
'She loves it down here,' G Flip confirms of Kentucky born and raised Stause. 'She obviously loves all my family and my friends. She loves the food. She loves the wine. She loves the safe atmosphere and how lovely it is and the culture of Australians. She's from down south in the USA and I feel like people from down south in the US get along well with Aussies.'
G Flip, now 31, reflects fondly on their childhood growing up in Melbourne with a supportive family and 'amazing music teachers', even if they felt they would be 'ostracised' if they came out with their sexuality or gender identity at their Catholic primary and high school. And thankfully, they say, attitudes are changing in Australia.
'But besides, hiding my true self, I actually really loved playing music, going up in the band scene in Melbourne and playing at all the dive bars and all the little places round Melbourne, lugging my drum kit in the back of mum's car and playing shows since I was 14,' G Flip says.
'I think there's still a lot of work to do and a lot of people need to be educated on gender identity and gender fluidity and what it means to be non-binary, but every second that the clock's going, I think more people are understanding and learning.
'Even for my own family, my parents really struggled with my pronouns at the start, but they've learnt and they're getting really good at it now. It just takes a little bit of time sometimes for some people.'
Dream Ride is out September 5.