Hey George, thanks for taking the time to talk to us today. Could you tell us a little known fact about yourself?

An absolute pleasure, thank you so much for having me! 

I’m such an open book so it’s difficult to find a “little”-known fact about me. That said, for the last two big running accomplishments I’ve made, I’ve given myself tattoos as treats… and all of them have been Sonic The Hedgehog themed! Now that the EP is out, and I’ve taken up more running again, I’m looking forward to getting more very soon.

Congratulations on the release of your new EP, The Yes Man. This is an interesting Jim Carrey-esque title choice, so how does this represent the record?

The first time I said to myself that I was going to release a body of my own music was seven years ago now (hence the title of the introduction track). Though the artistic direction and inspiration behind the record have changed dramatically in that time, the title is the ONLY element that has remained from that original incarnation. Even then, I realised that I was saying “Yes” to other people too much and not saying “Yes” to myself. It was a habit that I failed to break for the first three of those seven years: that is, until I was forced to quickly adapt post-breakup. 

The idea of doing everything ‘right’ and still not being enough still haunts me to this day. But I live now knowing that the things and people that I have let into my life are solely my own choice, and not circumstantial. Equally in this record, every creative decision is by choice. Me and my producer Fionn Connolly (MGP Longlisted Producer of the Year ’26) wanted to set the precedent that for every note played – every waveform created – we could give a purpose to it. Neither I, nor my music, would be wondering “why am I doing this?” any longer.

You’ve been releasing music for around three years now, so how has your approach to songwriting evolved over that time?

When first releasing, I took the Lizzo approach of getting everything out there and hoping that it stuck. Valencia is different to Go On Without Me; One/Two Summer Fling is not Yours Today. But I did it because, reflecting myself as an artist, I did not fully know where I wanted to go. With this latest EP, I found when A&R’ing it that a LOT of people resonated with the artistic choice, but told me that, simply put: “It sounded like me.”  If releasing this EP meant finding myself even more than I had when writing it, then to release it became a musicological pilgrimage of sorts.

This EP started out as self-therapy following a breakup, but you ended up discovering much more about yourself than your past relationship. At one point did you notice this shift?

All of the songs in this collection were written at different points of that break-up; I was just experiencing them in an unusual order. The Wrong Person represented ‘Denial’ in the DABDA principle: how someone so great can “get up and leave // [with] no time for adjustment”. Floating Away, for example, then became a theatrical retelling of the anger and frustration, and Changes In Us the more measured, melancholic and mature. At every point I met the moment and spoke from the heart about my feelings, without the aim to make something commercial and yet being commercially recognisable.

Of all the EP tracks, which one most defines this idea of breaking up with yourself?

Changes In Us, absolutely. In the time between breaking up and writing that song, I got a lot more physically and mentally fitter. I saw a ‘me’ that hadn’t existed since my first year of university: more weathered, yes, but akin to the smile of an old friend. “Us” doesn’t just refer to a partner, but a past self. Some of my favourite-ever bits of writing reflect this: “[W]hen fires become ashes // [T]ornados to gusts // [I]t feels like there’s Changes In Us.”

Hell, the melismatic tune in the middle is taken from Princess Elise’s theme from the Sonic The Hedgehog 2006 video game, but as a waltz. At the end of the game, Elise takes action to make sure that the legacy that she and her past left behind do not become her future. That resonated with me as a fan when I was eight, and still to this day as a twenty-seven year-old.

What do you hope that listeners will take away from these songs?

If you can relate, I’m sorry. Even if you can’t, all I ask is that you give it time to breathe, and yourself time to breathe while enjoying it.

What’s next for the project?

I have been working on this project on and off for the last seven years. Apart from gig work and more writing sessions with equally talented artists, I’m taking a much-needed break. But you’ll know when I’m back.

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