G Flip on How They Transformed Into ‘Butch Springsteen & Masc Madonna’ for Their ’80s-Inspired Album ‘Dream Ride’

Throughout their career, Australian pop artist G Flip has proven time and time again that they have all the skills necessary to be the pop star they’ve always wanted to see in the world.

A multi-instrumentalist who started out their career churning out synth-pop songs from their bedroom, Flip has evolved with each subsequent release to bring their sound to an even wider audience. Whether it was the diaristic songwriting of their debut LP About Us or the percussive pop-rock production of 2023’s Drummer, they’re bigger than they’ve ever been.

So, with the release of their third studio album Dream Ride, Flip decided to change things up yet again. Taking on another new sound — this time inspired by pop and rock icons of the ’80s — Flip found themself honing in not on any specific definitions of stardom, but instead focusing on what music would be the most fun to play. “I’ve had the album and songs for a while now, so it’s just like, I’m just ready to get them out there,” they tell Billboard.

The result is a panoply of dopamine-infused songs, each building on the energy of the last with reckless abandon. Whether they’re telling a friend to ditch their toxic boyfriend (“Cut His D–k Off”), reveling in societal disapproval (“Bed on Fire”) or giving themself permission to have as much fun as possible (“Exactly What I Like”), Dream Ride is a healthy dose of hedonism bottled into 10 superb new songs.

Fans wanting a taste of the singer’s energy will have plenty of opportunity to do so in the coming months, as Flip is heading out on their globe-spanning, headlining world tour starting on Tuesday (Sept. 9). With 36 dates in North America alone, the artist knows that they’re pushing the envelope. “It’s definitely a lot, and I think a lot of people wouldn’t recommend it,” they say with a laugh. “But then I’m just like, ‘Why not?’”

Below, G Flip breaks down the creation of their new album, how they developed a pair of ’80s personas throughout the production process, the latest instrument they learned how to play specifically for their new tour, and why its more important than ever for audiences to see a non-binary artist thriving in 2025.

Let’s go all the way back to the beginning of this process. Tell me a little bit about where the idea behind Dream Ride started,

Basically, the first little seed of Dream Ride actually started when I was writing my last record, Drummer. Me and Aidan [Hogg, G Flip’s co-writer and co-producer] were holed up in my studio all the time. When we made Drummer, it was all about drums, as you would imagine. And we wanted to do a song with those big, ‘80s-inspired drums at one point, but we realized the 80s was a whole world to venture into. So I remember flagging it and saying, “I should look into the ‘80s for my next record.” 

We started listening to a lot of ’80s music, and then started creating, and it just felt really natural. I think it’s got to do with the musicality of the 80s. There’s big drum solos, there’s a cappella moments, there’s guitar solos, there’s synth solos, and already my live show inherits all of those things without it being ‘80s. So putting the 80s lens on it just felt really natural.

I’m obsessed with the fact that you have given yourself this alter ego of “Butch Springsteen” for this record. What was it about Springsteen in particular that helped inspire your work on this album?

When I was listening to a lot of ‘80s pop music, people like Madonna and Whitney and others had this sound that felt really femme for me — it was almost a little bit too femme. So originally, I was going for something like “Masculine Madonna.” But with Bruce Springsteen, I just love his vocal delivery, where it’s almost like rhythmic, passionate yelling. I really like just how his melodies and rhythms are kind of sparse, and there’s space to breathe in between. 

So looking at Bruce Springsteen, I was like, “I just want a little bit more femme energy to make it this butch thing.” So it became Butch Springsteen and Masc Madonna as the sort of keywords that I was using to describe the album to my managers or my friends or my family. It became a language we’d use when producing, like, “We need to make this a little bit more Butch Springsteen.”

You also play nearly every instrument on this album. You’ve played a lot of instruments on your past albums, especially on Drummer, but what made you want to play almost all of them on this album?

My studio house in L.A. is just covered in instruments, and Aidan and I were just picking up instruments at every opportunity to see what worked. We’d set up with the guitar and pianos and record them as we went, when they sounded right. There was a lot of free flow, because we both play a bunch of instruments, so we’re just continuously both adding things. The only instrument that you know wasn’t played by me or Aiden on the record is the saxophone. But I have, in the last three months, practiced every day, and now I play the saxophone. So I’ll be playing saxophone live on my tour.

I love the idea of someone else playing the saxophone in the studio with you, and you going, “No, I can figure that out. I can do that.”

Yeah, basically, that’s what happened! There’s so many songs that we’d be like, “Oh, my God, a sax solo here would be so good.” And then I’d just be like, “Why don’t I know how to play sax?” So rather than just hoping to hire somebody to come out with us on tour, I just decided to learn it. 

I also really want to talk about the songwriting on this album, because you and Aiden and Jesse and the whole crew did such a good jobe. The writing is really cutting and effective in a way that feels really disarming as you are listening. When it came to those actual writing sessions. When it comes to the lyrical content, what were you focused on?

Well, the lyrical content has to come from some situation in my life — stuff that’s happening around me, my diary, things my friends are experiencing, or things I’ve overheard, or stories that have happened to me. I might embellish it because it’s dramatic and it’s the 80s. 

That’s how we get a song like “Cut His D–k Off,” for example. 

Yes, exactly! My whole life, I’ve had all my best friends date all these d–kheads, and I’m the protective lesbian friend. It’s like, “Why the f–k are you dating this piece of s–t?” 

But yeah, every song’s different. Like with “Big Ol’ Hammer,” we’d written three or four songs that day, and then I invited Jesse [Thomas, a co-writer on the song] over. We were just dancing around the room drinking a bottle of wine, being so stupid. I was a little bit drunk, and I was just singing a lot of Prince, and I was trying to work out how to do a falsetto that’s a bit more masculine, if that makes sense. I just started dancing around the room doing that, and everyone was like, “Wait, that’s sick.” So, all of this is to say that every song has a different process. Some were serious, and some were just us having fun and being tipsy.

We also have to talk about the queer anthem “Bed on Fire,” tell me a little bit about how that one came together.

I was thinking, the 80s is really dramatic, which then got me thinking, “What are the most dramatic chapters in my life? What are some of the highest and lowest points in my life?” And for me, one of the highest points was feeling so euphoric sleeping with a woman for the first time. But then that was followed by feeling like, “Oh, well, I’m going to hell,” because I was raised in a Catholic schooling system. I just love the lyric in there, “If the wine don’t taste good, what am I drinking it for?” 

That sense of defiance that is on “Bed on Fire” is all over this album, especially in a time where we need to be hearing these messages with everything going on politically. How have you been coping with everything coming out of this administration, especially as you’re about to head out on tour through the U.S.?

Yeah, it’s a pretty wild time around the world and here. And although it’s a shocking time, it’s also really showing the resilience of our community and how we can come together and lean on each other. So for that, I can’t wait. 

I did some Pride shows not too long ago, and it was really beautiful seeing the community come together, especially in some more rural, smaller towns. I went to Baton Rouge and did Pride in Louisiana, and it was so good to be with people who really need Pride, who need queer people to look up to. So I’m really excited to go on tour and see my trans community and my non-binary community, my allies, and the whole LGBTQIA+ fam. Because all my shows are kind of like a Pride show, to be honest. I’m so excited to get out there and preach how beautiful and wonderful we are and how needed we are in this world. 

I was looking at the run of dates that you’ve got coming up, and this has to be your biggest headlining tour, right? I mean, you’re playing two shows in one day in New York, going from All Things Go to a solo show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg

Yeah, it’s about five shows a week. I like playing lots of shows, and I’ve been working a lot on making my body fit enough to handle five shows a day. I used to play a lot of basketball, and I’ve found that playing a show is like a sport. I jump around a lot, and then I do drum solos, and I’m singing, and then I’m playing saxophone, and then I’ve got a guitar on me, and then I’m running around. 

I really am my happiest and healthiest self when I’m on the road, because I finally have a routine. My job is so all over the place that when I get on tour, I have a schedule. I’m waking up at the same time, going to bed at a similar time every night. Everything is so planned out that I can make sure my body is functioning and it gets used to the routine.

What can fans expect to see at this live show that’s maybe different from your past tours? 

Oh, there’s heaps that they can expect. I will say, I’m bringing something back that I used to do on my very first tour that my number ones know about, and I’m bringing it back, but in a bigger and better way. They can also expect a few saxophone solos, a huge drum solo, I’ve got some new band members, it’s going to be really fun.