Georgia Bird and Sarah Morgan aka IN2STELLAR are a duo from Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. They have been making waves over the past few years, at home and overseas, championing the kind of proggy, tech, rolling techno sound that has become synonymous with their part of the world. We were lucky enough to ask them a few questions about their their new EP, the scene in Oz, and their plans for the rest of the year – all whilst soundtracked by a wicked selection of tunes. Enjoy!
Hi Sarah and Georgia, how are you doing and have you been up to anything fun recently?
Hey James! We’ve been having too much fun recently haha. We’re on the tail end of our National tour which has been some of our favourite shows to date. We’ve met a lot of amazing people along the way and it’s getting us excited for our EU/UK tour coming up in August.
Let’s take it back to the beginning…How did you meet and what led to you forming IN2STELLAR and Neurotiq Erotiq?
We actually went to the same school but we were a couple years apart, so weren’t really friends. It wasn’t until we were both DJing separately in 2017 where we reconnected and decided to start a party – Neurotiq Erotiq. At the time we were playing electro/ 90’s rave and breaks and there weren’t many opportunities for us to play this at clubs. Most if not all of the clubs/ parties around that time were run by Men, and the only opportunities for women at the time were opening slots. We wanted to play heavy music so we decided to run our party and put ourselves on late to showcase our sound. After running parties together for a few months we had a chance b2b at Falls Festival at the end of 2017 and decided we loved it, that’s when IN2STELLAR was born and we didn’t look back.
I have discovered so many great artists from Australia, and in particular Melbourne (Naarm) over the past 2/3 years – yourselves, Hannah D, Bex, Neurocrank, to name a few. Can you tell us about the community that exists for this kind of music in Australia, why it is producing so many great young artists, and who else should we keep an eye out for?
It is funny you mention Bex, she is my (Georgia) cousin. She gave me a lot of advice at the start of my DJ journey as she’d been DJing for years before me, I’m very lucky to have a cool older cousin to influence me haha. We also love Hannah and the Neurocrank boys. In Australia we have so much respect for our local producers and DJs. There are so many independent festivals and crews running parties that showcase locals, and I think that’s why the scene is able to grow and foster this amazing community, especially during the pandemic because there was no Internationals for two years. Now it’s starting to get recognised overseas, people in Europe are starting to look at what we’re doing here and taking note. It’s definitely an exciting time to be an artist in Australia. Some artists we’re excited about – Pistaccio, Baby G, DJ pgz, Afrodisiac, Bertie, Mabel, Miki, Activator, Zjoso, Priya, Zara, Command D, RBI.
Congratulations on your new, and am I correct to think, first full EP? Can you briefly describe your creative process/themes behind the music, and how it was collaborating with Spray on the remix?
Thank you! Yeah it felt pretty surreal having our own release out in the world. It was something we had talked about for a while, we really wanted our first EP to reflect the next chapter in our DJ career. We’ve definitely been playing deeper, faster and heavier so we wanted our debut EP to reflect that. Some of the tracks we had started while we were on tour in 2022 but most of it came together when we got back to Australia. I guess a lot of our influence was early 2000’s progressive trance/ house and even elements from artists like Sleep D and Nikki Nair. We’ve always been such a big fan of Spray and he’s supported us and our music for a couple years now so we were really keen to get him involved. When we first heard his remix we were like oh yeah he nailed it haha. We play it in most of our sets and it always pops off.
What were the highlights from your tour across Europe last summer – food, people and clubs?
Every country we went to we didn’t want to leave haha. We really bonded with every promoter and all the other DJ’s we met. We got to meet a lot of artists in real life that we had made friends with online over the years and that was so special. Probably our favourite shows were in France. Hor-Sol in Paris was so huge, I think we didn’t realise how big it was going to be. Their parties are always popping off. We also loved Macadam and we’re so excited to go back there in September this year. I had some of the best kebabs of my life in Berlin, already thinking about them for when I get back there.
It’s such a vast country, but what places off the beaten track would you recommend visiting and what tips would you give to those of us visiting Australia?
I think it depends on what kind of holiday you want. Australia is crazy because one side of the country is tropical and the other is snowing so you can really get the best of both worlds. Queensland obviously has the most amazing beaches and the Great Barrier Reef, there’s also some of the most beautiful beaches I’ve seen on the coast of NSW south of Sydney. Victoria has the Great Ocean Road and Mornington Peninsula. Both very cute holiday destinations with lots of Australian wildlife and yummy wineries. Have to watch out for snakes in Summer though haha.
Can you tell us the ideas and themes that were the inspiration behind your mix?
Lately our mixes have been more introspective and thoughtful. I think because we’ve been touring so we like to juxtapose what we play in the clubs. This mix is somewhere in the middle of that. We went a little dancy but deeper than what we’ve been playing on tour.
Can you hit us with some of your favourite DJs, producers and labels at the moment?
We’ve been loving Bailley Ibbs at the moment, he’s definitely been a huge inspiration for us in the studio. On the more home listening tip I’ve been loving everything on Lowless records from Paris.
What plans do you have for the remainder of 2023 – can we expect some more music from you, more parties, another tour?
We’re at the end of our Australian tour and gearing up for our EU/UK tour at the start of August to November. We’re super excited to announce our next EP which will be out before the end of the year on one of our favorite labels..
Interview By: James Acquaye Nortey-Glover