With each new month The Zone @ 91-3’s Band of the Month celebrates a new deserving local act.
Veterans of the Victoria music scene, LIINKS is made up of singer-songwriter Georgia and DJ/producer Tony (AKA DWhiz). Over the past decade, the duo have become accomplished writers and collaborators with dozens of international artists and locals alike. We are beyond excited to see them finally hit The Zone’s airwaves in June as our Band of the Month.
After getting soaked by the late spring rains in downtown Victoria during our photoshoot, Rocktographers’ Tyson Elder had a chance to chat with Georgia Murray about LIINKS.
Tyson Elder: Georgia! It’s good to finally say this to you, Congratulations on being The Zone’s Band of the Month!
Georgia Murray: Thank you so much!
TE: Frankly, I’m surprised it took this long for LIINKS to be Band of the Month. It’s long overdue and definitely deserved.
TE: Collectively the both of you have been releasing music as Liinks for eight years. What pushed through two of you together over focusing on solo projects?
Georgia: It’s probably our obsession with each other [laughs]. We’ve had solo projects in the past but we write and produce so much music together and putting those songs out into the world as a duo just feels right.
TE: As songwriters you’ve worked on some pretty interesting projects over the years. What would you say has been the most rewarding or favourite collaboration you’ve done?
Georgia: I recently collaborated with Spor (aka Feed Me) who is an incredible drum & bass, house producer, and DJ from the UK. The song is called Throw Down Let Go and it just came out on mau5trap. It was a fun and challenging collab finding my place on the instrumental. My co-writer and dear friend Ally Sou and I wrote this one together which made it even more special.
TE: Are there any plans for future collaborations that you are excited about? Can you share them?
Georgia: I have more collabs in the works with a few different artists on mau5trap and Westwood that I’m excited about, and Tony and I have been writing and producing for a number of different artists that we’ll be able to share more about soon.
TE: One thing I’ve really come to appreciate from the two of you over the past few years is your openness during the creative process, especially sharing every stage from inception to final product on your Instagram stories. It really shows off how kind and fun you are as creative humans . . . even if Tony doesn’t want to be in the videos [Laughs]
Does the influence of social media and the need to create work well together? Have you found it detrimental or beneficial connecting to new fans? I’m curious as not only as a fan but as someone who struggles with their own dependence on social media.
Georgia: I’d say overall we’ve definitely found it beneficial. We love posting demos and works in progress and getting feedback and hearing how people feel about what we’re making. For us, making music is always some form of therapy or way to process what we’re experiencing and being able to connect with people who resonate with that and can get their own sense of relief out of it is so special. Social media can provide such a direct channel for connections in that way. We of course know how addictive and all consuming social media can be and, aside from the positives, it can also create a lot of self-doubt and anxiety, and it’s taken time to develop our own healthy relationship with it, which is still a work in progress… but I find that if we use it with caution and intention — and not let an algorithm determine our worth (easier said than done) — it can be really helpful for us all to see our commonalities, which will hopefully help create a more compassionate society. There’s so many conversations to be had about artists essentially having to also be content creators now, and the demand to constantly be putting out new content and how soul sucking that can sometimes feel, but ultimately these apps are still currently free and available and can be such a helpful tool to anyone trying to put themselves or their art, or business, or information, or dreams, out into the world. But definitely use with caution.
TE: On the less existential side of things, The Zone is going to be featuring your 2021 single, Up In The Air. It’s going to be a fun way for everyone to kick off the summer. Could you share how that song came about?
Georgia: Yes, hopefully summer shows up any day now! We actually wrote this song during a time of big shifts and changes in both our lives. Tony came up with the initial chords and I found it super emotional and it just hit on what I was going through… which was not really being able to solve a particularly painful conflict…or find any real closure with the ending of a relationship. It’s kind of a dialogue I wish I could have had…or actually a dialogue that I did have but wish had gotten through…
TE: You also have another single, Without Me, dropping on June 3rd. Which I’m anxiously awaiting to hear. What can we expect from the song?
Georgia: You can except another sad banger. It’s kind of the next chapter after Up In The Air. What happens when you leave it up in the air? You end up without me. [Laughs] Actually this tune was written on an ’80s Yamaha VSS 30, one of the first instruments Tony ever got when he was a kid. He got it for Christmas! He recently found it in his mom’s crawlspace & came up with the initial chords. I was — spoiler alert — going through a very hard time which inspired the lyrics for the song. But hey… I promise I’m actually a lot of fun… I guess I just like to write sad songs.
TE: Everyone loves a sad song!
TE: What’s next for LIINKS? Is there more new music on the horizon? Live shows?
Georgia: We’ve got a ton of new music we’re about to put out with our team at Westwood as well as a bunch more collabs. We’ve been hoarding music and we’re really looking forward to getting it all out in to the world.
TE: I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to chat with me and doing a photo shoot with us in the May rain.
Georgia: We can’t thank YOU enough for having us.
Catch LIINKS’ banger of a single, Up In The Air, on The Zone @ 91-3 during the month of June 2022. Visit their Band of the Month microsite to find out more about the band and hear two more of their songs.
Rocktographers is a proud supporting sponsor of The Zone’s Band of the Month program.