GG Magree does not so much ease into her debut album Spit Love as she detonates it, blood-splattered, hypersexual, deeply vulnerable, and defiantly self-authored. When we speak, she’s running on adrenaline and insomnia, toggling between editing videos, finalizing a zero-budget short film funded by a strip club owner, and reckoning with the emotional fallout of a two-and-a-half-year creative purge. The record emerged only after Magree scrapped dozens of songs, confronted a breakup, came to terms with her sexuality, and followed an instinctive late pivot sparked by a single track, “Wet Dreams,” that unlocked what she calls the truest version of herself yet. Equal parts Nine Inch Nails abrasion and Charli XCX abandon, Spit Love is less a debut than a rebirth.
That sense of reclamation runs through every corner of Magree’s world, from her cannibal-stripper short film, shot in three days with no dialogue, to her blistering critiques of an industry that once tried to sand down her edges. After years of being told to dress smaller, sound safer, and stop being “too gory,” Magree burned it down, cleaned house, and chose herself. What emerges in this conversation is an artist obsessed with connection — between sound and image, body and audience, chaos and control — who believes real art needs a pulse, a heartbeat, and the courage to be misunderstood. Spit Love isn’t asking to be liked. It’s daring you to feel it.
Hit Parader: So first off, congratulations on the debut album. It’s incredible, it’s fun.
GG Magree: I can’t sleep, man. I’m like fucking crazy. It’s so surreal, and I’m lying in bed, and I just keep thinking that like, I don’t know, I’m not doing enough, and I’m like, what more can I be fucking doing? I’m editing three videos right now, I have a short film that comes out with it, you know? You’re just never satisfied as an artist.
HP: And the short film’s phenomenal. Which is such a unique piece to accompany a record. Which came first in the process?
GG: The short film is crazy, and I was literally making my post about it right now. So basically, this is how the short film came about. I had finished my album, and I needed another creative outlet, so I went to do these really crazy pop-up renegade shows. And I was doing one of the rooms by the bridge and I met this girl and she comes up to me, she’s like “Oh my god, I’m such a fan of your work, I make music videos” and stuff like that, she’s like “We should work together” and I was like “Fuck a music video, I’ve done that. Let’s make a fucking short film.
I have so many ideas, I’m such a visual person, whenever I write music, there’s always a visual that comes with it.” So she was like, “Okay, when can you do it?” and like, you know, I’m a broke fucking struggling artist, I was like, “I have a show in Philly that I could then jump on the train and come down to New York in three weeks, so we could shoot it then?” So I wrote a short film, and we shot the short film with no budget within three weeks.
HP: That’s so wild to hear because it absolutely does not have the no-budget feel whatsoever.
GG: We literally got given a thousand dollars from a strip club owner.
HP: [Laughs] What?
GG: Yeah, that’s the most fitting thing that could have happened. And we paid for an Airbnb, which is the scene where I eat the heart, and I kill the victim. So we used the only budget that we had for that. And so basically I just wrote this short film, and I met this other girl on the interim, her name is Buttons, she’s also been the director with me because I was definitely biting off way more than I can fucking chew with this, I was like “I can do a short film that’s easy.”
HP: [Laughs] I feel you.
GG: So, she coached me, I’m very like… you’ll get to know me, and I’m very fast paced and ADHD, and it’s fucking fine. I have really good ideas, and I just sometimes need someone to help me execute the ideas. So then I met this girl called Buttons, and she came on as co-director and co-producer, and basically she came in and saved the day. And yeah, we did this short film, we wrote it in three weeks, we shot it in three days, and then we started editing it.
And basically, I always wanted to do a short film with zero dialogue, because for me, that was the most interesting. After all, you can say so much with dialogue, but when there’s zero dialogue, you can’t say a lot.
HP: True.
GG: You have to be very emotive. What I realized when I was doing this was that I had already submitted my album to Rise. I was like, hold on a second, I just made a fucking short film from my album. I now need to write songs that explore these emotions that I’m going through. Because for my album I had written 52 songs.
I was going through a lot at that point in my life. You know, I was going through a breakup, definitely was coming into a fucking midlife crisis, like coming to myself and my identity, and in terms of my sexuality. I then discovered I was bisexual, and just so much was happening. So I told Rise, I was like, “Can you give me a little bit more time?” and I wrote this one song called “Wet Dreams”, which is out.
HP: It’s amazing. One of my favorites.
GG: When I wrote that song, it unleashed this, like, what I think is the best version of my artistry. The last six songs that I wrote after I wrote “Wet Dreams” ended up being the six songs that are on my album, and the last song I wrote is now the lead single on the album.
So I’m one of those people who’s always like, “Let the universe guide you,” you know? I’m that person. And I did, and for that, I’m so grateful, because I’m like, “Oh fuck yeah,” I actually did it and it fucking worked.
My catalog of music now is just so stacked. [laughs] I feel like I really discovered who the fuck I was in this album, and it took that entire process of two and a half years of making all this shit to figure it out. Okay, this is what I stand for, this is who I am, and this is how I’m going to maneuver myself as an artist.
HP: One more thing on the short film, the cannibal stripper. Is her inability to understand traditional love a metaphor for anything deeper?
GG: For sure, you know, I lost my grandma in a super tragic way, and I have been in toxic relationships after toxic relationship, and abusive relationships as well. And it wasn’t until I had this day sitting in the fucking shower, something, maybe I was driving, I don’t really remember, I just had this “If you don’t get out of this cycle, it’s literally going to fucking happen to you.” I think that for me, not understanding what love was, or how to love properly, or you know, like ever again.
I was going through so much when I was writing this entire album process.
I was coming to terms with all this shit that had happened to me in my life that I just suppressed the fuck out of, and so it’s definitely like, I think that when I love, I love so fucking intensely. You know, I come from a really healthy family. My family is just so loving, and when you’re in these relationships with people that use love as manipulation and torture, it becomes really fucking confusing. Because you’re like, “Wait. The way that I am with my friends is so loving, genuine, and pure.” Then when you’re in these toxic relationships, you’re like “I don’t understand, is it me? Is it them?” and then I feel like the cannibalism and love mixture of it all, it’s like when you don’t understand love you’re just kind of fucking leaking it inside you and you mostly just want to get inside it… I don’t know, I’m a gory bitch.
HP: [Laughs]
GG: I just think that the metaphor of cannibalism and love in itself is so interesting to me.
HP: No. It totally is. Okay, actually just thought of something else on the short film. Hypothetically, if it were optioned for a feature film, are there any casting ideas you have in mind?
GG: I mean, Evan Peters is my number one.
HP: There you go.
GG: He’s always been my number one. He’s been my number one since I was… I think 20. Like, I love him. If Evan Peters ever reads this, like baby daddy, come on. Yeah. I would love to have him be the love interest that I get to eat. Just, actually fully eat him, you know?
HP: [Laughs] Yeah. Okay. Get in there.
GG: [Laughs] I love it. Get in there.
HP: Just get in there. So, back on the album. Is there anything outside of music itself that influenced your creative direction? I know the short film gave some direction when that was realized, but were you digging anything at the time that seeped into the album’s creative too?
GG: I definitely took a lot of references from Euphoria. I love really over sexualized imagery, so I really loved it, and I know a lot of people didn’t, but I loved The Idol. I really loved Anora, Spring Breakers, Kids, you know, I feel like there’s that whole world that I’m just super obsessed with.
That’s all in the short film, and I feel like for the album, I have to say that it’s a mixture between Nine Inch Nails and Charli XCX.
HP: Spot on.
GG: From really playful to dark and gritty.
HP: You mentioned early on in your career that you unfortunately ended up being molded into something that you weren’t, which is unfortunately all too common for talented women. What was the defining moment in which you just said “Fuck this” and emerged from all that?
GG: You know, through my entire career, I was told to dress this type of way, not be too crazy, not be too big, not dress scandalously, wear big boiler suits with a big t-shirt so that no one can see what you actually look like. I feel like it even came down to the music that I was making. It was like “Don’t be too gory.” And so a lot of my earlier music is like so light and fluffy.
I always have the craziest imposter syndrome. Just like “This isn’t me,” and I feel like when COVID happened, I cleaned out my team, because I was just so fucking depressed. I just didn’t know who the fuck I was, and I’m standing up on a stage telling people to love me and to listen… and I’m just like “I’m not real.”
Then I just did a lot of self fucking healing, and then when I started writing this new body of work, this new album, I went on such a crazy journey. But it feels crazy. I was talking to my best friend, my housemate, and I was like, “I feel the most me I think I’ve ever felt in my entire life.” And that feeling, I didn’t think I would ever get here. I didn’t think I would be as proud as I am to carry such a forefront for women in the industry because I am super hypersexual. And I don’t do it to get attention or anything like that, I do it because it’s just me.
HP: That’s you, yeah.
GG: It’s really important to break the stigma of what society thinks you should be and just be your fucking self. You know, you’re gonna have haters, you’re gonna have people that say, “Oh, people only like her because she’s hot,” or “People only like her because she prances around in a fucking bikini.” Cool, if that’s what they like me for, go off.
HP: Totally.
GG: I don’t care. At the end of the day, I’m not trying to be chosen or picked. I’m just doing what I love.
HP: Going to side track here, but you’ve done Coachella, Ultra, Lollapalooza, so you’re familiar with the tradition of the fan totems. Do you have a favorite you recall seeing or one that resonated with you more than others? And then if we were making a totem inspired by Spit Love… what should it look like?
GG: I guess my fans started this thing where I would always just spit alcohol out on stage, and then all of a sudden it became like this whole “GG spit in my mouth” situation.
And my fans every show I have, they’re like screaming at me, “Spit in my mouth,” and obviously like I can’t because of like, you know, like you just can’t do that anymore. It’s just like the world is too sensitive. Just in case anything ever happened, I would just, you know, you just can’t do it. But I love when girls write GG spit in my mouth across their chest, and they pull up their shirt, and it’s on their tits.
HP: [Laughs]
GG: That’s the vibe.
HP: Totally the vibe.
GG: I think for Spit Love it would pretty much be the same, because I don’t know, I just have a fascination with spit.
HP: Don’t we all?
GG: Don’t we all.
HP: Right.
GG: I just openly admit it. It’s the difference.
HP: I remember that you had recently said that we as a culture are on the verge of weaning out TikTok influencer music, which I totally agree with, and that we’re returning to real music… What do you think is driving this change?
GG: I think that we’re just craving human connection. I think that music is the universal language. Everyone understands it, and I think that clickbait shit is just on its way out. It’s no way to connect — you can’t connect to people, or can’t connect to a song within three seconds. That’s just like not how it works, you know? I feel like, especially with AI music and shit that’s all coming out, art needs a pulse, it needs a heartbeat, and I just feel like the amount of shit that’s thrown at the arts every fucking day, it is really hard to cut through the bullshit. But when the bullshit cuts through, it really fucking cuts through. You look at artists like Yungblud, man, that guy’s fucking crushing it. And he deserves it, because he’s a true fucking artist.
HP: For sure.
GG: You know, he’s just… It’s so crazy, there’s a little rock scene in L.A., and I look at all the dudes and some of the people that are in that scene, and I’m just like… “You guys are not fucking rock stars.” Like… “You guys are just fucking pussies.”
HP: That was the thing when I was choosing the first cover and the exact reason why we went with Yungblud over a ton of others. It was something we took seriously.
GG: Oh my god, I totally forgot that you went with Yungblud! Oh hell yeah, go for it.
HP: So we have a club here in Nashville that’s also called Hit Parader, and he played there as the final stop on his tour, true rock star vibes. He jumped on the bar, broke things in our club, went over schedule, and hung out afterward.
GG: I went to this show back in L.A., I’m not going to say who it is because I don’t believe in doing that, but it’s someone that, you know, they’re “a Rockstar” out in L.A., and it’s like they’re all just sitting there in their fucking leather jackets just not doing anything. What happened to the spontaneity, the fun, and the excitement? Then you see the girls, and they’re up on the fucking bar, they’re dancing and pouring water on themselves, they’re creating havoc. Like, I even watched back in the day, you know that one video of fucking Bush, and he’s like singing out in the rain with his fucking shirt off.
HP: Absolutely.
GG: We don’t have that anymore.
HP: We do not.
GG: No, it’s dying. But then artists like Yungblud come along, and his trajectory and how big he’s gotten. It’s so fucking deserving because he’s a true fucking rockstar.
HP: Yeah. He really is. He’s a good dude, too. You see him, the way he interacts with his fans, and he cares.
GG: That’s another thing, you know, I was always told “Don’t talk to fans,” by my team when I was coming up, and I would be so confused. They would usher me out, and
I just felt so isolated. What is the point of being an artist if I can’t connect? I’m making music that’s not me, I’m standing up there in a fucking boiler suit, and I’m told not to talk to anyone. Now I like to hang out after my shows for at least 30 minutes, sometimes an hour, and just fucking chat. Because at the end of the day, the fans are the reason I even get to do this. Like, the only fucking reason.
HP: You got the right head on your shoulders.
GG: I’m trying. It took me a while to get here, but I’m here. And that’s what I’m saying, I feel like the most me. The most grounded I’ve ever been in my life, and it just happens to be at the time I’m releasing an album, so I’m just like UGH.
HP: Yeah. I know we’re on a tangent here, but that’s another thing about Yungblud that I thought was impressive. He talks about how he’s still having to evolve, and he had these people in his ear on a previous record telling him to do this and that, and that it didn’t turn out how he wanted it to. So now he’s saying how this newest record is one that he’s proud of because he was able to just do himself.
GG: And that’s the thing, you have so many people in your ear telling you what to do, and because the dream is so big and you want it so bad, you have trust in people. You have trust in the team that they’re guiding you, and most of the time, they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing either. You know what I mean?
I’m currently managerless because I had an indifference with my manager, and it was down to the point where it was either going to be the album that I wanted or the album that someone else wanted. The only way to break the cycle is to choose the album that I want. Navigating doing an album by yourself, I mean, my label is the fucking best man.
HP: Yeah, Rise is great.
GG: The girls on my team and the guys on my team, I talk to them every day, and I would be fucked if I didn’t have these people. And they’re out of their office helping me shoot a visualizer down at the beach. Like, tell me another label that would help you do that. It’s so crazy because when I met the girls, I had such an instant connection. I felt so unsafe in my career for so long, and when I met them, I felt, oh my god, it felt great.
HP: That’s so important, especially when you’re doing such a vulnerable project.
GG: Yeah, and that’s what they said. They said, “Give us you,” and that’s what I did.
HP: I’m curious, if I logged into your Pinterest account right now, what would be the wildest thing I would see?
GG: Hold up. Hold up.
HP: Oh god.
GG: I have it open right now. It’s like a really bad addiction, actually, because you know how everyone is like “Oh yeah, I’m doom scrolling on TikTok or Instagram,” I’m just like “No, I’m just out here making fucking Pinterest boards.”
HP: [Laughs]
GG: Oh, okay, it’s not that bad, honestly. It’s a girl, because I want to put a bunch of piercings all over my face for a photo shoot. It’s got a bunch of piercings. It’s a poster that says “Filthy” on it. It’s a girl with a scorpion on her fucking mouth. [laughs]
HP: [Laughs] Okay, all right.
GG: It’s a tank top that says “Wet” and “Sex” on it. And it’s some nail designs.
HP: It’s a good mix of stuff.
GG: It’s a good mix of, I feel like I always, I don’t know, I just go on Pinterest and I just get ideas of photos and things like that. I don’t know, I feel like I’m always trying to write out of the box. It’s so easy to write about generic shit. And I even do this when I write songs for others.
It’s like when you go through the session, and people are like, “Can you write a song about a boy and a girl that are in love and he cut?” And it’s like, I can, but let’s write it from a different perspective. Or you know what I mean? So I’m always trying to get as creative as I can. Even when I was writing my album, I had a song about joining the cult. Like a cult of finding yourself in a way that’s not… that sounds so culty. [laughs]
HP: [Laughs] Right.
GG: With us, you’ll find yourself.
HP: [Laughs]
GG: But I love this journey. It’s more like I feel like the journey that I kind of went on, and it’s more like a self-help cult.
But yeah, I don’t know where I was going with that. I was like looking at photos, and it was like a bunch of witches dancing around, and I was like, “Oh, that’s a kind of a vibe, like freedom expression, blah, blah, blah.” and then, you know?
HP: It’s a vibe for sure, yeah.
GG: It’s like a cult.
HP: Back on the album itself, Spit Love, I know you mentioned writing a ton of songs that didn’t make the record. Out of the ones that did make the record, is there one in particular that you gravitate towards right now? Whether that’s liking it the most, feeling like it represents the album the best, or whatever.
GG: I think “Siren” is my favorite. It is, for me, musically, the direction that I want to be known for. It’s definitely the most dancey. It’s kind of what I like to say, it’s like punk trance. It’s very sort of Florence. It’s Crystal Castle-y.
HP: Mmhm, I hear that.
GG: It’s really like the melodies in it are super catchy, and I feel like it’s really unique, sexy, and mysterious.
HP: With the show dates coming up, any locations that you’re most excited about playing again? Any places that you love to visit?
GG: Honestly, I’m really excited for the next little run because I have Coming Out in San Francisco, and it’s going to sell out, which is great. And we’re turning a warehouse into a strip club.
HP: I did not see that, that’s incredible.
GG: Then my show in L.A., we’re actually installing these like hose-like cylinders on the top of the ceiling, and we’re creating a real blood rave. So the blood is going to just [downwards motion] on everyone.
HP: Sold.
GG: It’s not real blood, though.
HP: Bummer.
GG: [Laughs] And then I’m playing the House of Yes for the first time in New York, and that’s been on my vision board because you know, I’m a club kid at heart so I just like love the LGBTQ+ community and I love, you know, when people get super dressed up and that’s the most iconic venue.
Also, I’m announcing my Denver show, which will sell out too, because that is my biggest market in the US.
HP: So much going on, that’s awesome.
GG: Lots of cool shit. And I’m pretty sure I just landed a booking at one of the craziest sex clubs in Germany.
HP: Oh shit.
GG: That’s right.
HP: So, how do the fans receive the music over there? Do fans react differently in certain countries?
GG: I’ve never played in Germany, but it’s my second-highest streaming country.
HP: Well, that’s cool.
GG: Yeah, it’s really cool. The show will be at KitKat Club. I’m just trying to finalize all the things right now. But I’m really excited because I have a lot of fans out there, and I’ve just never played there. And to do it at a space like KitKat Club is just so iconic because it’s just the coolest, like Berghain. But Berghain isn’t really a sex club, like, you can fuck in there if you want, but KitKat is a sex club. So I’m really excited, and also I don’t have to wear clothes, like, fuck yeah! You know? [laughs]
HP: [Laughs] No, that’s awesome.
GG: I can actually DJ naked.
HP: I love it.
HP: So, if we’re concocting a Spit Love cocktail for that club, what would it contain?
GG: It would be some type of bloody margarita because margaritas are my favorite thing in the world. If I could drink one drink for the rest of my life, it would just be a margarita and watermelon, and then I would love to put human blood in there because like, why not?
HP: Yeah, not fake blood, human blood this time. Let’s go for it.
GG: Let’s get fucking freaky with it. But I would be like, “Oh no, it’s just fake blood.”
HP: Yeah, just tell them it’s fake blood.
GG: Literally, but maybe it’s like a watermelon margarita with a little dash of blood, and we’re just like, “It’s just fake, don’t worry.”
HP: Now we’re talking. A watermelon margarita sounds so good right now.
GG: Right?
