Sydney singer-songwriter Gordi will have the opportunity to open as support act for a musician she has been a fan of for a “long, long time”.
The 22-year old cites Tallest Man On Earth (TMOE) as her biggest musical influence, with a simple re-tune of her guitar changing her sound to what it is today. “I've been a long, long-time fan. I remember when my brother showed me TMOE's song, 'The Gardener', when I was in early high school years.
"I've always said it's hard to name your all-time favourite song, but if I had to that would probably be it. It's influenced so much how I've written music, and as I was learning to play some of his songs, I re-tuned my guitar and every song I've written since has been that open tuning, which has really influenced my sound and that comes straight from him.
"So, you know, it's such a thrill to be compared to him let alone to tour with him. I can't really process that it's really happening, but yeah, it will be really exciting to meet him,” Gordi says.
For the Australian shows with TMOE (Brisbane and Melbourne), Gordi will be performing in some of the largest sit-down venues in Australia. “I guess they're always pretty special [playing your own shows] because they're filled with people who have come to see me play.
"From my experience of playing these much bigger venues, like when I toured with Of Monsters And Men, it's pretty unreal to play for that volume of people,” Gordi says.
Gordi's debut EP, 'Clever Disguise', gives listeners two variations of one of her most popular songs, 'Can We Work It Out', the piano version allowing listeners to truly understand the sombre lyrics. “I think at the heart of the song, it's quite reflective and probably quite sad, the song that everyone has heard and the biggest single that I've had to date.
“Sometimes the lyrical meaning can probably get lost, which is okay. I'm understanding of the fact that sometimes people are just engaging in the lyrics rather than the actual lyrics separately.
"But I felt like, putting out that slower, piano version stripped away all those excess things and just left the listener with the song itself,” Gordi reflects.
Gordi has been recognised for her songwriting ability with two nominations from the Vanda and Young Songwriting Competition, whose past winners include Kimbra and Megan Washington. “I've always looked at the finalists on the list and I've had a lot of admiration for the other people that are on it.
“It's hard in this industry. You don't get a performance review at your job or anything like that. I guess it can be hard to gauge from the industry how you're going and how you're perceived. So to get a more objective opinion from this level is a lovely feeling. I'm very grateful.”
Her 'folktronica' sound is so definitive, but Gordi cannot help but cite other artists who were the creators of the genre, although she knows her music is also challenging expectations. “There are a few artists that do it really well, like Bon Iver, James Blake, mixing the folk and the electronic.
"I didn't think I wanted to make folktronica music, I was just writing these songs and I guess I wanted to challenge the listeners idea of what a genre is. People try to put you in a pigeonhole no matter where you are. I guess that was what I was trying to, not change, but challenge the normal ideas of folk music and I guess trying to bring it into a more modern sphere.
“With the songs I've been writing, it sits really well and after we've had some success with it in the initial songs, I tried to push it a bit further and I'm still trying to do that with the stuff I'm making at the moment.”
Gordi supports The Tallest Man On Earth at the Melbourne Recital Hall 30 November and 1 December and QPAC (Brisbane) 7 December.
