Giorgia Strikes Pop Gold with "BIG LOVE": Embracing Love Beyond Beauty Standards
Independent pop sensation Giorgia is back with her third release, "BIG LOVE," a track that dives deep into the complexities of dating and love for those in larger bodies, challenging societal beauty norms head-on. In a world where appearances often dictate acceptance, Giorgia’s latest anthem is a bold call to break free from the chains of conditioned beauty standards and embrace the "Big, Big Love" everyone truly deserves. With its irresistible bass line, compelling drum beats, and empowering lyrics, "BIG LOVE" is not just a song—it's a movement. Giorgia opens up about the inspiration behind the track and her journey as an independent artist in a music industry ripe for change.
1. Your latest release, "BIG LOVE," has been making waves across BBC Introducing Merseyside, AMAZING Radio, and more. What inspired you to tackle themes like fat phobia and body positivity in this pop anthem?
I have been in a larger body my whole life and I face fat phobia and societal beauty standards daily. I can just open my phone and I'm bombarded with influencers and ads on miracle ways to loose weight and that demonise you for being larger. Despite all the negativity that comes along with being in a larger body I use my music to promote positive messages such as being positive about your body to help change how we view ourselves and others around us. BIG LOVE is about finding love in a fat body and how difficult it can be, most guys want to keep you a dirty little secret. It’s also about overcoming those thoughts and accepting all the big big love we all deserve.
2. As an artist from Liverpool, how do you feel your city's rich musical heritage has influenced your sound and songwriting, especially with tracks that blend deep bass beats with catchy lyrics?
Being a born and bred scouser means we have music engirded into us. From The Beatles to The La’s I feel like this city has such a culture of blending genres and creating something new. Even though now I feel like we are over ran with indie rock bands and sweet acoustic music artists, there are still loads of artists like myself taking inspiration from the huge club and dance scene we have here in Liverpool. For me the Liverpool club scene has been a huge influence and having been involved in Cream Classical as part of the choir it showed me where I could take my sound and that there is a place for it! All you need is a good hook and a beat to move to!
3. "BIG LOVE" addresses societal beauty standards and the challenges of dating in a larger body. Can you share more about the personal experiences that led you to write this empowering song?
As a larger person from my perspective it’s either you’re trying to blend in to not be seen or be completely overlooked anyways, especially in circumstances that could lead to romantic situations. People are happy to swipe right and have this connection with you behind closed doors but when you want to progress it further it’s like they’re ashamed of it. I wanted to write this song about overcoming that shame. You obviously enjoyed being with that person in secret, so why are you so scared to show it out in public? It’s our internalised fat phobia and societal beauty standards that prevent a large majority from following their hearts because they’re scared they might be subjected to what a larger person is on a daily basis or what their friends might think. And from another perspective BIG LOVE is about ditching the fear and jumping in even if you might get hurt, accept the big love!
4. You've been praised for your stage presence and powerful voice. How do you prepare for live performances to ensure you connect with your audience and deliver a message of empowerment and self-love?
I try to prepare by rehearsing my songs, vocal and physical warm-ups and adding movement so that my performance will liven up the audience and help to get them moving! I try to add related important messages when I introduce my songs, to again empower the audience and hopefully get them feeling positively about themselves. I hope to leave my audience full of pep in their step and courage to go out into the world being their true authentic selves.
5. With "BIG LOVE" being your third release as an independent pop artist, can you reflect on the challenges and rewards of navigating the music industry independently, especially when addressing important issues like body positivity?
Being an independent artist can be tough especially when you don’t really have a music education. Everything you do is a learning curve and you’re constantly learning new things. Even though my life has always been about singing, I never thought I had the knowledge like most that went on to study music at university. I let my low self esteem at the time hold me back but I think it has all been part of this epic journey leading me here. I don’t think I would be writing songs about body positivity if I had took that different path because I wouldn’t have done work on my self worth and the steps to accepting myself and my body. I suppose another challenge has been that body positivity can still be a bit of a taboo subject because its been ingrained in our minds that fat is bad and its about trying to unlearn that as part of our society. I think that music like mine and others such as Lizzo and Elle Baez has a way of getting into peoples subconscious mind and starts to unravel that learned behaviour, or at least I like to think so. The rewards so far has been being able to see my growth not only as an artist but as a human and seeing how many lives my music has affected for the better.
6. What's next for Giorgia Bortoli? Are there any upcoming projects or themes you're eager to explore in your future music?
Im constantly working on new music, most recently covering the pop culture topic of “delulu is always the soulu”, which is turning out to be my favourite song to date! So watch this space, loads more to come! I run movement workshops for people of all ages and abilities to come together, get creative and meet new people. The members have featured in my music videos and other projects such as photoshoots and sponsorship deals with small brands.
Ive also recently set up @PopinthePool an organisation dedicated to supporting pop music artists from Liverpool and putting on gigs. I found as a pop music artist it was very difficult to get gigs as most promoters were only interested in indie rock bands of accousic acts. After networking for over a year, I realised that there where loads of pop artists out there in the same predicament as myself unable to find gigs to showcase their talents and that when I decided to create Pop in the Pool. We are working on our 2nd showcase which will be announced on our instagram soon!
