To take their career to the next level, some artists release an album. Others perform their single almost 900 feet in the air while attached to a cable car over the Blue Mountains of Australia.
G Flip did both.
And while it might seem terrifying to play a full drum kit while suspended in midair, the multi-hyphenate musician is no stranger to practicing their craft in unconventional places. Take their recent music video for “The Worst Person Alive,” during which G Flip plays on a rig attached to a moving vehicle.
On the road, in the sky or feet on the ground, it’s no secret that the Australian artist is having a major year. They married “Selling Sunset” star Chrishell Stause in May, released an album in August and went on tour right after that.
“A lot’s going on. The two years since I moved to L.A. have just been really amazing and jam-packed. A lot has happened,” said G Flip.
Below, TODAY.com sits down with G to talk about their big year (and even bigger plans).
What it means to be "the drum kid"
G Flip is a vocalist, guitarist and pianist —but at their core, they say, they’re a drummer. Their new album, “Drummer,” is a testament to that. Drums take center stage in the pop tracks, providing the "heartbeat" to 11 songs about heartbreak, clap backs and true love.
“My instrument is drums,” G Flip tells TODAY.com. “That’s my core. That’s what I’ve been playing since I was 9 years old.”
Just as drums keep the rhythm in the songs, G says that the drums kept the rhythm in their life, allowing them to stand tall during difficult coming-of-age moments.
“I really feel like drums are the key to everything in my life … Drums gave me my confidence,” they added. “The drums helped me hide when I was queer, and I couldn’t come out yet. I got to just be the drum kid in school, not the gay kid in school.”
As the title suggests, the drums came first on the album “Drummer.” Before writing a single song, G worked on polishing drum grooves. They also reworked older unreleased songs to make the drums more prominent.
“Some of (the songs), I just didn’t like the production,” they said. “It didn’t have enough drums in it. It wasn’t rocky enough. It just wasn’t ‘me’ enough.”
In talking to G Flip, their passion and appreciation for the instrument seeps through.
“Drums are the heartbeat and the whole thing. They’re the core of it, you know, they’re the pulse. If you think about any song that you love, or going to a live show and just stripping the drummer away, the emotions that you’re gonna feel are a lot different.”
G explained that they had a lot of feelings about the release of “Drummer,” and that as a musician, “you only have a few album releases in your life.”
“I feel a lot of emotions.” they said. “And I’m so OK to cry. If I get overemotional or emotion hits too hard, then my eyes start watering up.”
A reluctant reality star: "I'm not a dramatic person"
G Flip gained a whole hemisphere's worth of fans in May 2022, when Stause confirmed, at the “Selling Sunset” Season Five reunion, that she was in a relationship with the Australian musician, following rumors.
Stause’s love life had provided the Netflix reality TV show many plotlines: After the fallout from her divorce from “This Is Us” actor Justin Hartley, Stause dated real estate brokerage co-owner Jason Oppenheim.
“I recently have been spending a lot of time with someone that’s very important to me. Their name is G Flip. They’re nonbinary, so they go by they/them, and they are an extremely talented musician,” said Stause during the reunion.
"Selling Sunset" fans might not have expected this plot twist — but neither did G. They were surprised to be pulled into the world of L.A. reality TV, too.
“I just feel like just this drummer from Australia (who’s) fallen in love with the most gorgeous, precious, beautiful human in the world and found myself in a strange position,” they say.
Even though they’re “not a reality TV kind of person,” they have now appeared on a few episodes of “Selling Sunset." But before going on the show, they had some requests.
“Going into it, I always said, If I do ‘Selling Sunset’, I just want to do scenes with Chrishell because I don’t want to be put into any drama. I’m not a dramatic person,” said G Flip. “It was nice to just do scenes with Chrishell because if I felt uncomfortable you know, my wife, my support system’s right in front of me.”
They said that filming a reality show was a strange experience.
“Just think about walking into a room. And there’s like eight cameras, and everyone’s just, like, ‘Just act normal’.”
Inside G Flip's married life
G Flip and Stause met in October 2021 at a Halloween party hosted by Tones and I, the Australian musician behind the 2019 hit “Dance Monkey.” They reconnected after G Flip moved to L.A. in 2022, and were married a year later, surprising fans with a Vegas wedding.
Until meeting G Flip, Stause said she thought of herself as straight, as she said on People’s “People Every Day” podcast. As they were getting closer, in fact, she was in the running to be the lead of a reality TV dating show (where the endgame would be a relationship with a man), Stause told Vogue Australia.
Stause opened up about how her understanding of her sexuality evolved since meeting G. “Some of you won’t understand this or agree with this, but for me, it is about the person,” Stause said in a video on Instagram shortly after announcing their relationship. “It is about their heart. And yes, there’s that part of you that’s like, what you’re attracted to. But for me, I am attracted to masculine energy and I don’t really care what the physical form is."
So, what’s married life like? G Flip gives the impression that they can’t find enough good adjectives to describe their partner.
“She’s just awesome. She’s my favorite person in the world. I’m so lucky to have her. She’s just like, the biggest light — so generous and so caring. And so caring of my heart.”
They also emphasized Stause's support in being an “advocate” for G Flip's nonbinary identity. “Her trying to teach people about that is so … I never asked her to do that. She’s just an angel and did that.”
But there is one thing to adjust to: the U.S. spotlight.
In Australia, G says,“People don’t give a f–-- as much.” The same can’t be said for the U.S.
“I’ve noticed that through being Chrishell’s partner. We’ll go to Gelson’s or something, and people will absolutely freak the hell out.”
When it comes to their relationship with their fans, G is not afraid to show their love and appreciation back.
“I feel like my supporters and the people who follow me, who are such legends — by the way, shout out to them — they’ve always got my back.” said G Flip. “So if anyone comes in with some crazy troll, you know, hom*ophobic, transphobic, genderphobic, comment, I’ve always got my like, army of supporters who are just so lovely and have my back all the time. They don’t need to be picking these battles for me, but they're doing it and they’re out there.
What are they drumming up next?
Once the album is out, G Flip said they are going straight into tour rehearsals.
“I love being onstage and I love ripping drum solos and guitar solos and just having fun running around.”
The U.S. leg of their tour will feature 25 headlining shows across the United States, starting and ending in the state of California; 11 of the shows are already listed as sold out.
With so much to look forward to, G Flip shares what they would say to their younger self if they could look back.
“I’d say that drums are gonna change your life. And that, just don’t let anyone say no, like, you know, I feel like a lot of my life. People have said, No, you can’t do that. And I’ve just said, well watch me. I’m gonna do it.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
