Hannah Georgas: the little indie that could

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You're 27 and the Next Big Thing on the Canadian indie singer-songwriter scene, according to review after review of your debut full-length CD. Do you start to believe your own press? Let it get to your head? Not if you're Hannah Georgas. The level-headed Vancouver-based musician still gets a kick - even a shock - out of the most minor recognition.

Case in point: She's getting her hair done the day of our interview, and when she hands her credit card over to the receptionist, he can't believe it. "He's like, you're the girl who's been playing in our store and we're all huge fans and he's like my gosh and he all of a sudden started getting all weird around me," Georgas says over coffee in Vancouver's hip Main Street neighbourhood. "His whole attitude towards me changed."

She seems incredulous.

And frankly, not all that interested. Fame is not what Georgas aspires to.

"I love making music and that's the bottom line. ... Fame scares me but that's not the path that I'm going down."

Georgas burst onto the scene in 2008 with her EP The Beat Stuff. She followed it up this year with the bravely-titled This Is Good (imagine what fun the critics would have had if it wasn't). With brash, catchy pop tunes such as Chit Chat and Dancefloor, the record drew praise and Georgas had herself a little indie hit.

She's been touring fairly steadily ever since the release, and last week - with gigs in Victoria and Vancouver - began a cross-Canada jaunt with fellow Ontario native Royal Wood, the elder statesman of this indie pairing.

Last month, Georgas played her first European dates; three gigs in Germany. "It's always been like a dream of mine to go overseas and tour. So it's just awesome to see that nice progression."

Georgas grew up in Newmarket, Ont., just north of Toronto. At 20, she moved to Victoria for university. Two years later, she was in Vancouver, pursuing a music career.

What may have been her big break followed a poorly attended show in New York last year. After the gig (she says there was only a handful of people there; maximum 20) she was approached by a music supervisor who was working on a Walmart campaign. Georgas's You've Got a Place Called Home was selected for a heading-off-to-college TV commercial. She grappled a bit with lending her voice to the corporate giant, but ultimately decided to go for it.

Around the same time, Georgas was able to give up her day job at an after-school children's program (you can hear them on Bang Bang You're Dead). She's still on the substitute list, though. Two days before our interview, she was asked to pull a shift.

"The parents are like, 'What are you doing here?' I think the parents automatically think as soon as you're on the radio you're making a mad cash flow. Not quite yet."

If Georgas fantasizes about financial rewards, it's so she can buy more gear: guitars, synthesizers and maybe a touring van.

Last year, in the middle of recording This Is Good with producers Howard Redekopp (the New Pornographers, Tegan and Sara) and Ryan Guldemond (Mother Mother), Georgas's father died. It wasn't a shock; he'd been ill with diabetes for 10 years. But it's been a blow to achieve this success and have her father miss it.

The loss, like pretty much everything in her life, has translated into new material.

"It's kind of inspired me to write stuff about my mom too," she says. "I'll just be hanging out with her and I'll get all sentimental and cry and I realize after losing my dad how important my mom is to me."

The last year has been a whirlwind: her father's death, finishing the album, the release, the raves, the touring, her first official music video. (For Thick Skin, it features Georgas completely naked. "I didn't drink beer for a month before.")

If Georgas has a thick skin, it works both ways. She says as long as she's staying true to her vision, she's not bothered by criticism. But she's not buying into the kudos either. She's sticking to her path, setting realistic goals, and feeling good about that "nice progression," as she calls it.

"I feel like I've matured a heck of a lot," she says about the last, eventful year. "I have a more clear vision and I know what I want. I'm growing up."

Hannah Georgas's tour includes Oct. 12 in Edmonton, Oct 16 in Winnipeg, Nov. 3 in Halifax, Nov. 19 in Montreal and Nov. 26 in Toronto.