Electric Sheep’s Georgia Collins “Getting Weird and Wonderful”
Music and sound is one of the most important aspects of the world we live in. It’s a uniting force. We dance to the beat of our own drums and we develop the most beautiful orchestras.
Sound is what fills our everyday lives, the beeping of the light at the crossing, the whirling of a coffee machine, the little ring when we get a message. Sound informs us, lets us know when it's safe, when there's danger, and it lets us know when it’s time to get out of bed.
Georgia Collins, Electric Sheep’s sound designer has made a career out of the magic of music and sound. With over a decade of experience, she has worked with notable brands such as, Nike, Adidas, VW, Google, RM Williams and Jeep.
Georgia spoke to LBB’s Casey Martin about the new role of AI within the industry, and the best pieces of advice she’s received.
LBB> When you’re working on a new brief or project, what’s your typical starting point? How do you break it down and how do you like to generate your ideas or response?
Georgia> From the moment we start thinking about a project, even before the brief, I’ll be pulling a library of references and thinking about ways to incorporate and combine ideas to create something special, while remaining true to the concept.
There is something special about getting your initial ideas down as soon as possible, before you get too analytical - working out what are the big emotional beats of the piece, and intuitively jotting down ideas. From there we’ll be chatting through thoughts and inspirations with the director and creatives, amplifying each other’s ideas and building a world together.
As soon as I can, I’ll jump into a session and start laying up sounds. The music brief is such an important part of where we will take the sound overall, so I like to plan how both sound and music will work symbiotically, while having their own moments to shine.
I draw a huge amount of inspiration from electronic music. I’ll hear weird and wonderful effects and techniques used and then try to work out what, and how it’s been achieved. I’m also an avid cinema-goer, so I always find myself breaking down whatever I’m watching and thinking of ways I can incorporate similar ideas into current projects.
LBB> What’s the most satisfying part of your job and why?
Georgia> Aside from the obvious, “wow I’m watching my work in the cinema”, you can’t beat the feeling of ending up with a piece that you know couldn’t have been made in isolation. I take real pride in making sure that not only is everyone in the room having a good time, I also want people to be excited to come in and get creative. I think that’s something we really foster from the outset with the initial creative mind-melding we do at the beginning of a project. It’s so special to finish a job where you’ve pulled a variety of ideas together into a cohesive piece, and know that everyone has had a great time in the process.
LBB> As the advertising industry changes, how do you think the role of music and sound is changing with it?
Georgia> AI and its role in advertising is such a hot topic at the moment, but there will always be a place in ad land for bespoke music and sound. Fundamentally we’re all here to create and connect, and I think there will always be a natural desire to preserve that.
In the past couple of years there has been a noticeable shift toward crafting more authentic soundscapes, leveraging the emotional impact and memorability you can harness through music and sound. The more we’re inundated with content, the more important authenticity and craft becomes if we’re looking to capture the audience’s attention. As part of that, clients are becoming more open to pushing the boundaries and getting weird and wonderful with sound design especially, which I love.
LBB> On a typical day, what does your ‘listening diet’ look like?
Georgia> I listen to music and sound all day, everyday, so I tend to start my mornings listening to a podcast on my way in. Tone Benders is a personal favourite, they interview sound designers on their recent films and it’s a great source of inspiration to get my creative mind whirring. On my way home to wind down, I’m usually listening to Warpaint, Otis Redding, or my famous early 2000s mega hit playlist.
LBB> Is there a particular project that you’ve worked on that has stuck with you? If so, how has it continued to impact your work?
Georgia> I recently did the soundscape for Mode music festival. It was one of those treasured jobs where we had permission to go all out, and we did. The directors, Kids of Bill, gave us total creative freedom to experiment and create, and it was a joy. Having the opportunity to create a soundscape for a piece with no restraint is so beneficial for your overall creativity.
LBB> What is a secret about the industry that not everyone knows?
Georgia> What's said in the suite stays in the suite!
LBB> What is a piece of advice that has stayed with you?
Georgia> You don’t need to hear it to feel it. This ethos has really stuck with me. Sometimes it’s a matter of having everything in a mix, but turning it right down to the point where even though it’s barely audible, you’ll still feel its emotional impact.
LBB> What’s your background, and how did you find yourself creating music and sound for advertisements?
Georgia> Like many other sound designers, I started out as a recording engineer in the music industry. The engineer industry is fairly tight knit in Sydney so I would meet sound designers here and there, and eventually was asked to work on a little web series. It’s a similar process to sound design in the sense you’re trying to piece together multiple elements to create a cohesive body of work, so there was definitely a natural progression to move into post production.
