Locals Only: Luca George on Anika Moa, selling houseplants to fund singing career

Luca George is sassy, funny and very nice. He knows how to put a ‘fit together, and his general enthusiasm for music, you, and more or less everything going on around him is so engaging you forget you haven’t even heard him sing yet. This guy must be a star.

And then you hear him sing.

His is a standout voice that is confident and polished, with room for the nuance of vulnerability; George is a pop princess of high calibre, and at age 19 his career has only just begun.

Having first tried his hand at songwriting through New Zealand’s inaugural lockdown – he wrote a song each day we were in solitary – the artist recalls that he, “just got this spark of inspiration. I’d never had it before, and after that lockdown I was like, I want to do this for the rest of my life.”

Emerging from the cocoon of that time, George entered the Play It Strange songwriting competition and won a recording session at Auckland’s lauded Roundhead Studios.

“I recorded a little song there,” he tells, “and that made me realise, oh my god this is actually doable, people actually think I’m ok at this.”

Among those that do are an impressive roster of producers that George frequently collaborates with, including the likes of Josh Naley aka Wells*, Harry Charles, Ben Malone, and Simon Gooding.

And then there’s A&R expert and artist manager Rodney Hewson. Hewson was on staff most recently at Sony BMG, before retiring and relocating to Wānaka at what would prove a fortuitous juncture.

George also called Wānaka home at the time, and right after he returned there from Roundhead his high school music teacher “Mr Doyle” was approached by Hewson, who was seeking out local talent to mentor and work with.

Doyle suggested Hewson meet with George, endorsing his student’s vocal ability and songwriting skills. Meanwhile, George was simultaneously connecting with a special champion who would further align his stars.

Having done his research and found that Hewson had previously managed Anika Moa, George set about stalking Moa online.

“I went onto Anika Moa’s Instagram – I actually didn’t even know who she was, it was really bad, I love Anika now,” he confesses. “But I went onto Anika’s profile and I liked three of her posts, and followed her. And she saw that and she saw my story – at the time I had a singing video up – and she messaged me. I’ll get the message, it was so insane.

“She was like, ‘hi Luca, you have the voice of an angel, are you signed or do you have a manager?’ And I was like, hi Anika, I’m not signed and I don’t have a manager, I’m kind of just getting into this, I’ve just been to Roundhead last week and I’ve just produced a song for the first time. And she was like, I love it, I love Roundhead. My ex-manager Rodney just moved to Wānaka. Could I show him your page?

“So Anika calls Rodney being like, I’ve just found this kid, he’s in Wānaka, you need to meet him. And Rodney’s like, what is his name? And she’s like, Luca. And he’s like, I’m literally meeting with him in 10 minutes.”

From there, things have panned out well for Luca George. The star quality so obvious to both Doyle and Moa also struck Hewson, who now manages the young performer.

George has released several singles, and is working towards an EP release – all the while fielding industry interest and opportunities.

Performed here for Locals Only, Ruin My Life captures the bittersweet pain of falling for someone you just can’t have.

“No one can control love, you can’t help who you fall for,” George philosophises. “I fell for this straight guy that was actually my best friend, and there was nothing I could do about it.

“I told him about it before the song was released, I made sure that he was comfortable with it. It’s been really hard, but honestly, I’ve been able to process the whole thing through music.”

Beyond song, George is a green-thumbed hustler, collecting and selling rare plants to fund his music career.

“Music is expensive, like everything, so I sell indoor plants to support all my studio time, my photo shoots, music videos.

“The people that have purchased all my stuff over the years have built this person, who always thinks forward, making sure of the next steps.”