Waiata Reo Māori Live performer: Georgia Lines on the power of being honest, vulnerable

Georgia Lines, playing two major concerts as part of NZ Music Month. Photo/Supplied

Singer Georgia Lines is performing at Waiata Reo Māori Live showcase as part of New Zealand Music Month. She reveals the view from her window, and beyond.

I live right by a park that's quite hidden but is amazing. Unless you live in the area you wouldn't know it was there. It's a beautiful park right on our doorstep. My favourite colour's pink and we've got a pink couch in our lounge. You can sit and look out of the window and into the park but it's also like people can look back into the window of our soul, of our home.

In the park there's a children's playground with a slide, monkey bars and swings and a lot of bark to save children from injury - I had many of those as a child - but the majority of it is big, beautiful trees and green. It's massive and spacious. In the morning there are people walking their dogs and, after work there's often a yoga class happening right outside our door. I don't know if they know we're here. I feel a bit awkward when I come out, like, "Hi … I'm just going to my car, sorry."

During the day it's quiet, which I love, there's a stillness and a peacefulness. Tauranga's quite busy and there are things always happening everywhere. But there's this beautiful peace and quiet that happens here during the day.

People fascinate me. It's like I'm silently observing from our living area - but not in a creepy way! As a kid, I used to watch people and make up stories about who they were, where they'd been and what they did for work, creating these narratives.

A lot of my songwriting when I first started out was about other people and stories I would create in my imagination. I think that was because I was too scared to be honest about what I was actually feeling and to share the depths of my soul with complete strangers.

But the more that I write and develop my artistry, the more I become comfortable in my own perspective and thoughts. Even just as a human being I'm becoming more and more comfortable with myself. It was the fear of "what will people think?" and creating something to please others or to get the approval of someone I admire.

It's been a pivotal journey for me because I really struggle with people-pleasing. I came to this point where I was like, "If I'm not being honest with myself and with these songs then they're never gonna mean anything to anyone else." There's that risk in sharing and being vulnerable with people that you have no guarantee are receiving it safely or in good faith. You want to say you don't care what people think, but you do. It's an unravelling of that way of thinking for me and relearning how can I be completely myself and bring that as an offering to whoever comes across my path and my music. It's been a journey and still is a journey.

Has it been beneficial? I think it's necessary. My goal in being an artist is that my career would be sustainable and one I enjoy rather than feeling that I'm chasing the rat wheel of never quite getting somewhere or never quite making it or feeling I have to fit into this box to be successful. It's been necessary to go on this journey and to back myself and go, "Actually, Georgia, you're good at what you do, trust that you know what to do, trust that you don't need 10 people to tell you you're doing a good job before you think you're doing a good job."

I re-recorded my song My Love and re-released it as Tōrere as part of the Waiata Anthems Week last year. I don't speak te reo but I would love to. I can speak very little, basic words and phrases but I wouldn't put my hand up to say anything. I'm at the baby end of my reo journey.

Obviously I'd never translated anything into te reo, it was such a privilege to be part of that whole process. I learned so much. I remember saying to [musician] Ria Hall that I felt nervous because I wanted to take care with the language and make sure that my pronunciation was good so that there was that honour and that respect for the language there. That was something I was really conscious about. I wanted to make sure that was felt in the way I performed the song.

The most encouraging thing that she said was, "You're trying. Even if you get it wrong people can see that you're trying. You just have to start." That's lingered in my mind ever since. It's okay to get it wrong as long as you're making an effort and taking that care and showing respect in learning the language.

* As told to Karl Puschmann

Georgia Lines plays at Auckland Museum on May 16 with musicians from the APO and is also performing at the Waiata Reo Māori Live showcase on May 19, which is being streamed live on YouTube.