OGA News
Girton Grammar School
Travel plans replaced by creativity for two former students
With challenge comes opportunity, and for two former Girton students, this year of uncertainty has provided the fuel.
Like many, Nadia Phillips (Millward, 2019) had hopes of international travel after completing Year 12 in 2019. She got one trip to Borneo in, but all other plans were abandoned.
More time at home than ever imagined, gave her time to develop her passion for music.
Nadia began piano as a five-year-old. Ukulele, violin, mandolin, guitar and singing followed. At Girton, she participated in Girton singers, composition with Mr Martin, piano classes with Ms Long, singing lessons with Mrs Vine and violin with Ms London.
“In my mid-teens, I started writing and releasing demos on Soundcloud, and played a few shows when I could,” she muses.
Following an upload of tracks to Triple J Unearthed as the pandemic took hold, a Sydney publishing company wanted to get involved. Now Nadia’s debut song ‘On Reflection’ has been released globally on all streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, etc.
Emotive lyrics, brooding guitar, and undeniably catchy refrains underpin the break-out single. Capturing the tender and often painful realities of youth, the song finds a resolution in a classic Indie folk-rock style.
To complement the song release, it was the chance meeting of filmmaker Henry Evans (Jones 2014), another former Girton Grammar student, that led to a video clip being made. As a piece of work, it will hold its own whilst also complementing Nadia’s musical trajectory.
“I’ve worked and travelled in 39 countries since leaving Girton six years ago, said Henry. It’s been incredible and I feel so fortunate to visit so many places and meet so many amazing people along the way!”
"With the coronavirus situation, I found myself back home in Castlemaine for the time being.”
“Fortunately I crossed paths with Mr Phillips, my former Digital Media teacher, and this led to me meeting Nadia to assist with her project."
“With a small local team, we did three full days of filming around the Mt. Alexander Shire, with locations like Golden Point Reservoir, Dog Rocks, the Pine Plantation and the Oak Forest in Harcourt to name a few,” he said.
"Then Henry worked his magic by editing the hours of footage into shape,” said Nadia.
"I’m so pleased with the end result, but most of all, I loved working with someone who had a similar creative drive to me. Much better than bemoaning a lost year of exploring the world!”, she laughs.
Please enjoy the video clip below.
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