Luca George Wants to Be a Relatable Pop Star

This interview is part of our Future of Music 2026 series. Follow all the coverage here.

Luca George writes like someone trying to make loneliness feel less lonely.

The Aotearoa singer-songwriter has already built serious momentum, amassing more than 6 million total artist streams and a growing social audience, including a strong TikTok following. Songs like “Better Apart”, “Crying in the Bathroom”, and “brOKen” have earned support across radio, streaming, and student networks in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, while his debut EP You’ll Never Know Me Sober introduced an artist with a gift for turning heartbreak into widescreen pop confessionals.

That gift has not gone unnoticed. “Suit of Blue” earned a nomination at the 2024 APRA Silver Scroll Songwriting Awards, while Troye Sivan also hand-picked George as the only New Zealand artist to take part in an APRA songwriting camp he curated.

His second EP, Say hi to Paula, felt like a major step forward. Created with collaborators including Gabrielle Aplin, Spacey Jane’s Caleb Harper, and producer Konstantin Kersting, the five-track project — released late last year — moves between upbeat pop, mid-tempo ache, and devastating balladry, all while circling themes of heartbreak, loneliness, hope, and trying to feel less broken.

“We’re in the business of connection,” George told Rolling Stone AU/NZ. “If you can find yourself in any of those songs and feel a little bit less alone, I think that’s when I’ve done my job.”

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Now based in London after years of dreaming about the move, George is stepping into a bigger world with the same raw, open-hearted songwriting that first made people listen.

Read an exclusive interview with Luca below.

Rolling Stone AU/NZ: What does it mean to you to be included in Rolling Stone’s Future of Music series?

Luca George: It means a lot. I feel like it’s really reassuring to be seen by something as amazing as Rolling Stone. Growing up, Rolling Stone was always such an iconic thing to be recognised by. I literally have a big photo of Rolling Stone on my mood board this year, so it’s kind of a dream come true.

How did you first get your start in music?

I started writing on piano. I remember there was this one time where me and my mum were secondhand shopping for clothes, and there was this old dusty piano in the corner of the shop. I ended up playing it while she was walking around, and she hadn’t realised that I’d been practising at school. She was like, “Since when did you play piano?” and I basically told her I’d been trying to teach myself.

I ended up begging her to take the piano home and promised her I’d do all my homework and read my books every night — which I completely did not do. But I convinced her to buy me this piano for like 50 bucks or something, and ever since that day I played it every single night. I taught myself piano and then started putting melodies and lyrics to it.

From there, I entered one of my songs into a songwriting competition and ended up placing in one of the top categories. My music teacher then connected me with a retired music manager who put me into songwriting sessions with some amazing producers up in Auckland. From there, I ended up signing to Platoon and more recently I signed to Island Records/Universal which was one of my biggest dreams.

Describe your sound to a new listener in three words.

Cinematic alternative pop with a splash of blue.

Tell us about your latest release.

My latest release was a song called “Not Born for Love”. It’s a song about feeling like maybe I was not born for love really, and instead putting everything into my career and moving to the other side of the planet by myself away from my family and friends.

I use this metaphor of being a star in the middle of the sky surrounded by darkness and feeling alone. As much as I miss home and the people who raised me, I also have this massive dream and I am going to let nothing stop me from making it become a reality.

What’s your favourite career memory so far?

My favourite career memory is probably just having really intimate and connecting moments with my fans. Performing and meeting you guys after shows, hearing your stories and how you relate to my songs and lyrics. That is genuinely why I do this, to connect with people who have similar experiences and stories and relate to the music.

What are the positives and negatives of being a musician in 2026?

I think one of the positives is social media. The fact that we can reach millions of people from sitting in our bedroom filming videos is honestly crazy. I feel like we have never really had that in the history of music before. It has made it possible for anyone to connect with a fan and find people who relate to their music and stories.

I think one of the negatives is that sometimes it can feel a little overwhelming because there is just so much music and content online now making it harder for emerging artists to cut through.

What’s one thing you’d change about the ANZ music industry?

I think I would make it mandatory to have a local opener for larger international acts coming to Australia and New Zealand. I think it’s really important to support local artists because every artist understands how important it is to get those opening opportunities. Every bigger artist has been at that stage at least once in their career, and I think it’s really important to make sure local acts have opportunities to grow from those experiences and build their audience.

Are you hopeful for the future of music in ANZ?

I am hopeful. I feel like there are so many incredible artists coming out of that area of the world right now. Will Swinton, ratbag, Balu, Jude York, BEXY, to name but a few. I am so excited to see everyone grow and support one another over the next couple of years.

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Name one other ANZ act you’d like to see make our Future of Music series in the future.

BEXY. She’s an incredible artist from New Zealand and based in London now. She’s doing a very similar thing to me. She’s so driven and focused, and I genuinely can’t wait for her new music to come out soon.

What’s coming up for you this year?

I have got lots of amazing music coming out, and I am so excited for you guys to hear everything. I have another song coming out in a couple of weeks which I am really excited about. I feel like all the new music is an extension of what I have already released but even better. I have really been working on my songwriting and honing in on where I want to go sonically, and I am really excited for everyone to hear it.

I also really want to perform as much as I can. I’d love to get some awesome support slots and just keep playing to more people. More than anything, I just want to meet as many people as I possibly can. I love connecting with people — I feel like that is the whole reason I do this. So I want to meet you guys xx