Bruise Your Ego by GINS: new single has soft, intense power

Bruise Your Ego, the new single and video from GINS, has a softly spoken intensity: a zephyr with the the power of a tornado.

Part of that could be the down to the rhythmic, swelling sparsity of the music. But it’s definitely created by the combined voices.

“It’s part of the reason I love doing harmonies so much – it really makes you listen to the voice,” GINS aka Georgie Biggin told ArtsCulture.

“I like using my voice as my main instrument.”

And the writing of the song flowed. “I wrote one line and then it all came out of me,” said Georgie.

“My music is a work in progress. Every song, I think, is slightly better as I find something new to bring into it. But I always go back to lots of vocal harmonies.. I’m using synths more as well, partly because of Bruise Your Ego.”

In terms of musical influence there’s a fairly wide scope. David Bowie is a major one, and at the moment there’s Soccer Mommy, lots of female artists and always Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar.

And for songwriting, “A lot of it comes from studying music. At A Level I had a really amazing music teacher and he really taught me about harmonies and how they work.” That was pre-Falmouth University and starting a musical career along the highways and by-ways of Devon.

“We decided Bruise Your Ego was going to be the single. We put a call out for a director, and Molly got in touch.” That’s filmmaker Molly Denton.

“I went to meet her and everything seemed to fit together. I felt like her ideas were interesting and the sort of thing that I wanted. I also really wanted to work with another woman because the song has feminist not even undertones.

“Most of the visuals came from Molly, but also from the EP artwork by my friend, artist, Polly Maxwell she came up with the statue idea

“That really goes with the song – it’s about how I shouldn’t have to explain myself, and how I shouldn’t have to hide myself away.”

There’s also a sense of being a dehumanised, pedastalled figure to be observed, judged and pushed around. The standing as work of art is reclaimed, and that negativity, rejected, like water off an alabaster back.

Visuals are becoming an increasingly important aspect in GINS’ live performances, too.

“They are pretty important now,” said Georgie. “I’ve realised how much I love having something else to go with a performance. Usually it’s just me on stage and It’s nice to have something behind me pull the whole performance together. “

GINS is also the musician-in-residence at Bristol-based independent artist agency and production company Uncollective, where she’s involved in most of the projects that they undertake. When we speak to her, they are in the midst of creating an installation with Emily Dunlop for the Creative Youth Network. Georgie’s written the music to accompany the installation and she also works on remixes and covers with the artists who Uncollecitve work with.

In 2017 Georgie settled in Bristol from Devon. How’s that change gone? “Exactly how I hoped it would,” Georgie said.

“Bristol’s been amazing. We’ve met so many artists that we’ve worked with, and so many friends that think the same way as us. It’s really pushed me to make more music, to be a bit more adventurous with my music and tie in my appearance to my music – in a David Bowie kind of way.”

Because of the nature of Bruise Your Ego, a question we often pose seemed fitting. What role does the artist have in society?

“I think we have a responsibility to speak out and give our opinions on things and also be held accountable for what we say,” said Georgie.

“But what I mean in Bruise Your Ego, it’s not my responsibility to convince people that I’m right. It’s my responsibility to share my views but I shouldn’t have to explain myself completely with things like feminism and racial equality.

“I’m quite open about my beliefs, but when your views are based in empathy there’s really nothing to explain.”

For GINS’ gigs head over to the website