Sir George is a talented Synthwave artist who when I heard him I was hooked. Knew I had to interview him.

1. How did Sir George come about?

Sir George came from my love for old-school pop culture, music, and a funny conversation with a close friend. At the time, I’d been playing guitar for about eight years, creating tracks and covering songs, but I didn’t have a public outlet in a traditional sense. Though, I have always had the desire to release my music – and in a way – help to bring back guitar solos (still trying).

One night, before heading out to a local Christmas party, my friend and I were joking about this story we’d heard: Apparently, Falco, a big European musician, once turned down an offer to do a duet with Madonna back in 1985. We found it hilarious and spent the rest of the night drinking and quoting Falco’s supposed words of rejection every time we got the chance: “What am I supposed to do with Madonna?”- But really any woman’s name as we got more drunk – to the great dismay of our female friends. Don’t get me wrong: Falco is an icon where I’m from, so turning down Madonna seemed both bold and, well, a little unwise. I can only imagine his manager’s outrage. I promised my friend that I’d make a mashup as a tribute to that specific moment in music history, and that led me to create my channel so he could check it out.

The name “Sir George” is a nod to an old club from the 80’s near where I grew up, something I’d occasionally hear my dad talk about. So, in a way, I guess I owe Madonna a nice E-Mail for sparking the 

idea – as for Falco… well, that’s a bit more complicated.

2. Are you happy with the response to your music?

Absolutely, I’m incredibly happy and grateful for every little nice word, whether it’s a comment online or a friend saying they enjoyed a track or a solo. It can feel surreal sometimes, especially since I’m not doing this professionally, and some of it is still very new to me. It’s a bit strange, in a good way, to actually hear the kind of praise I would usually say about other artists. I’m really grateful for the chance to create music and share it, and it’s a privilege that my life lets me do this, even if I have such a limited time schedule as I get older, sadly. Praise God!

But honestly, one of the craziest things that I discovered about this whole thing is that my music helps to bring back memories in people that actually have been there: I never thought about it in that way, you know? I love Miami Vice as a show and it looks cool as hell, sure, but to then see people get emotional, because they catch a glimpse of it in one of my videos, makes it all worth it to me. They usually say, it reminds them of something they haven’t thought about in years. It’s very special, almost eerie. And then you can also look at it from the other perspective: Imagine there is a young kid watching a video like Ocean Ryder and it creates the same type of fascination in him as it does for me, even if he has no idea who Sonny Crockett is. If I ever get to the point that someone would say that they have picked up the guitar because of something I made – I would really have beer to that – guaranteed.

3. How does a song start for you?

When I write a song, it starts with the basics – chords and intervals. Even though I’m a guitarist at heart, I often sit down at the piano to experiment with intervals and play a melody over them. If something clicks, I start building around it, adding a chorus, a bridge, or a breakdown. Sometimes, I’ll even start on guitar, playing around with chords or humming a melody, which feels natural to me – kind of the classic song writing tale in a way.

Here is the thing: While Synthwave involves a lot of drum machines and structured beats similarly to 80’s pop music, I try to keep the core of the song fluid and organic with a breakdown for example. Change it up for once. It’s not a robotic process: it’s more about letting the song find its shape if that makes sense. John Oates once said that you will recognize a good song at how many facets it has: Can you play it off as a pop song? Great! Could you rewrite it into a reggae flick? A slow blues? Rock? Or is it just stuck to that one initial genre? And while I try to take his words to heart, this is something that I will try to really work on myself. I truly believe that it is one of the keys to writing a timeless song. It is what they all have in common for me. I recently listened to some demos I recorded when I was 16. Yes, there was some questionable stuff in the mix, but there were also tracks where I thought, “Hey, that guy had imagination!” Back then, song writing was more about capturing an initial feel for me than structuring everything to perfection – maybe I should take some inspiration from that approach.

4. How important are sites like newretrowave to what you guys are doing?

I think NewRetroWave and similar sites have done a phenomenal job at popularizing Synthwave. Back around 2017-2018, I thought Synthwave might have reached its peak in the years prior, which made me sad in a way, but looking at it now, it’s bigger than ever. Platforms like theirs have been key in growing the genre, which is amazing. Personally, though I don’t have too many direct interactions with them specifically: I upload on YouTube and Soundcloud and I usually work by exploring sounds and plugins on my own or by emulating classic gear like the LinnDrum or DX7. I might even pull inspiration from old magazines rather than one particular website. But for the Synthwave community, NewRetroWave is definitely an important Hub – especially when it comes to platforming artists. I’m glad that they exist!

5. If you guys could play with anybody, who would it be?

That’s a fun question! Right now, I’d probably say John Mayer – he’s just phenomenal. His guitar work is insane, and he’s constantly sharing tips and insights, which I’ve learned so much from him in the last years. Beyond him, there are other major influences, like I’d love to play with David Gilmour of course: I’ve always loved Pink Floyd and his sound had such an impact on me. And, thinking of Australia, Angus Young would be another top pick: I played a lot of AC/DC in my teens, and his style had me learning the pentatonic scale like a complete maniac. I’m also really into blues musicians like Christone Ingram aka. Kingfish and Eric Gales. There are so many incredible contemporary blues artists at the moment.

Even though he’s not a guitarist, I’d love to collaborate with Dabeull, a French funk musician whose live shows are just incredible. He’s inspired by some of the same artists I love, like Midnight Star, or Zapp & Roger, Jackson etc – and it would be amazing to play a solo for him or just jam together. He’s such a great musician, and that’s something I’d truly love to do.

Yeah, that’s a long Wishlist.

6. If you could create the ultimate video clip what would it be about?

When I think about shooting the video, the first thing that comes to mind is a guy wearing an old Chevingnon jacket driving either a black C4 Corvette, or an old BMW E30. I would shoot it with an analogue camera and try to replicate the cinematography of the old chase scenes from back in the day, you know what I mean? Like in the beginning of The Cannonball Run with the black Countach, or the first Terminator film. Something about these specific movie parts always looked so dynamic and immersive to me. Almost infectious.

The setting would be a small mountain pass near where I live, kind of playing around with the imagery of the Touge Races in Japan. Then have something like Don’t Let Go from Wang Chung or I Don’t Need a Gun by Billy Idol playing in the background – that would be the type of sound, that would just be brutal with the visuals. The premise? I don’t know, maybe a drug deal, or the girlfriend in danger trope with some lone wolf energy. Corny as hell – yes – but I love making fun of absurdity.

Now, I just need to write a song like that – and buy a corvette.

7. How important is social media to you guys?

Social media is very important to me as “the musician”, if that makes sense, because it’s essentially my main and only outlet that I have. YouTube is where I share my music, and while I play guitar for friends, I’m not professionally gigging at all. Without social media, I don’t think anyone would know about my music, which is just the reality of the situation here. I’m often surprised by how many people tune-in to some of my uploads and I am looking forward to grow an even bigger audience, that would also justify me being more concerned with social media at large: Looking forward, if I hit certain milestones and have more time to create music, I will expand my social media presence and maybe set up an Instagram. For now, I’m keeping it simple because I want to stay focused on making music and gain a bigger presence on YouTube. I work a real job and on a coding project with my best friend as well, so it is always tricky to balance everything out, though I think I will get there.

I have to admit, though, I’m not the biggest fan of social media overall: I prefer to keep my life a bit more private. I don’t enjoy endlessly scrolling through content or watching shorts, so I try to keep my presence low-key.

8. Do you write out of inspiration or when it comes to you?

Quite frankly, to me, it’s both. There are mornings when I wake up with a gut feeling or a thought that I want to explore or express, and that then drives me to sit down and make music later that same evening for example. For me, creating music is almost therapeutic, whether I’m processing negative emotions or positive inspiration. Sometimes I can’t help but get lost in 2 hours of riffing and writing, only to move on and I realize “well I that was more of a therapy session than a workload, I guess.” It is where I create a score to my fantasy, my daydreams if you will. Usually some useful material will come out of that – that’s for sure.

Then on the other hand, there are also situations where I pick up my guitar after a practice session and get stuck on a riff I can’t shake off. I quickly find myself noodling around with it, and then something starts to take shape. For example, there’s a song called Double Vision, which came about in just that way: I loved the simple chord progression and built a song around it. It was written in minutes without much trial and error. In contrast, tracks like Electric Dreams or Metropolis were more influenced by specific feelings or themes. So, it’s a blend of inspiration that is either striking and affecting me immediately, in the way I write a riff for example, or it is about chasing a specific feeling or emotion, hence why it usually takes longer.

9. What next for you guys?

That’s a great question, and I really appreciate it! I currently have three main songs – technically four – that are almost finished, and I definitely want to release them next year, with one still possibly coming out in 2024. I have a lot of plans in the works, and I’m considering changing my approach a bit. I want to turn song writing more into a habit of mine, similarly how you would navigate through a practice session, in a way. These ideas aren’t just limited to Synthwave; I’m also exploring jazzy, funky, bluesy, and psychedelic sounds – genres I used to write a lot in when I was 16 or 17. Or just straight up authentic 80’s pop! I also plan to do covers and maybe some lessons, which I’ve enjoyed in the past when people requested them. Talking about music is a passion of mine in itself, and I’d love to teach and share that more.

I also birthed a weird new genre on YouTube during the Christmas season last year. I started to experiment with some AI voice cloning and uploaded a fictitious GTA Vice City in game radio broadcast (told you it would be weird) with new music and voice lines for the DJ’s. To my surprise, people like it A LOT. Like seriously, it seems to have struck a nerve. So, I’m dedicated to delivering some more of that. Scriptwriting is fun and creating music playlists is right up my alley. Also, I discovered a little passion for media of mine when I was younger, so this is really cool to do in a way. I hope I have another one up during this year’s holiday season.