G Flip Embodied a ‘Butch Springsteen’ Character for New Album (Exclusive)

When approaching their third album Dream Ride, G Flip wondered, what if Bruce Springsteen was a lesbian who played drums?

It wasn’t just a fleeting thought. The Australian musician, whose real name is Georgia Flipo, decided to shape an entire world that was defined by a character they dubbed “Butch Springsteen.” For G Flip, who identifies nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, their new album Dream Ride became an ’80s fever dream homage to Bruce Springsteen, flanked by a vintage, pink Barracuda, neon font and bold synths.

“When we talked about what I’d sound like, it was like masculine Madonna, “Butch Springsteen” — pop, but also rock,” the “Be Your Man” musician, 31, tells PEOPLE over shrimp cocktail at Sant Ambroeus in New York City.

Over the course of three months beginning last fall, G Flip wrote, played and recorded instruments and produced the album. While it was a “really tight turnaround,” G Flip’s last album cycle for their 2023 sophomore LP DRUMMER lasted for two years. “So, I wanted to get straight into it for album number three,” they declare.

Their latest effort Dream Ride — released Friday, Sept. 5 — is a nostalgic and queer trip back to a time when muscle tees, big hair and acid-washed jeans were en vogue.

G Flip spoke to PEOPLE about how Dream Ride helped them dig into their experience as a nonbinary person, how their wife Chrishell Stause came up with the album title and more.

PEOPLE: How did you come up with the title Dream Ride?

G Flip: I really struggled with finding a title, and it was literally the last thing. It was actually Chrishell that came up with the title. One day, I had so much workload on my plate, and I was pretty stressed, and Chrishell’s like, “Darling, is there anything I can do for you today?” I was just like, “If you can just figure out what the title of my album is, that’d be a real help.” 

I said it, not being completely serious. I had my family over — we weren’t on the topic of album titles — and she got a font app up where you put in a title. She put it in ’80s-style font and was like, “What about Dream Ride?” And I was like, “Oh my God.” It was either going to be called “Butch Springsteen,” because that was a big part of the whole record…or “Baby I’m a Winner,” which is another track on the album. But none of them felt like the one. 

PEOPLE: Why was Dream Ride the name that stood out?

G Flip: The first song starts with a car driving up, and the last song ends with a car driving away. There’s always been these car themes in every single song, and it’s this fantasy world I built of like, if I lived in the ’80s, what car would I drive, what haircut would I have, what songs would I write? And that’s where the “Butch Springsteen” thing came up. I was like, “Oh, I’d kind of be like if Bruce Springsteen was a lesbian that played drums.” It became the language of how the album came about. So, when Chrishell mentioned Dream Ride, it made sense. Chrishell took that one off the list and hit the nail on the head with that one.

PEOPLE: That’s what spouses are for. How did you land on “Disco Cowgirl” as the lead single?

G Flip: I really wanted the first single to start with a car driving up, which “Disco Cowgirl” has at the start. That song felt like the best introduction to the ’80s world. It’s also just more upbeat, colorful, more playful kind of song rather than hitting someone with a first single of the album being really emotional. It felt like a really nice way to be like, “This is the next era of the G Flip project, and we’re going a little bit more camp, a little bit more ’80s, and a little bit more, kind of fun, sonically.” There’s sax solos, guitar solos, big a cappella moments and key changes.

PEOPLE: How is Dream Ride a departure from your previous two albums?

G Flip: I know that my production skills are better — my musical skills playing guitar, bass and piano. I know different techniques in production to identify what I want to get out of a song. I’m definitely more mature in my writing and production. Also, just having fun with sonically diving into a genre. About Us, my first album, was me just in my room, literally f—— around and doing what my ears liked — and I didn’t have a lot of gear. I was just using the plugins on Logic. My second album was all centered around drums, drum production and drumming parts. [Dream Ride] was like, “Let’s dive straight into the ’80s. What synths were popular? What techniques, what reverbs did they use? How did they tune their drums? What drums did they use? What size shells and the depth of those drums?”

PEOPLE: One of the tracks that stands out immediately is “Cut His Dick Off.” Tell me about how you landed on that one. 

G Flip: I went to an all-girls school, and I’m still friends with the whole group that I was friends with in high school. I’ve seen them date the biggest pieces of s— in my life, and even to this day, I have friends who are dating people that are so not worthy of them. I’m not sure if it’s an Australian saying, but we would say, “If that man does that again to you, I swear to God I’ll cut his d— off.” You’re not actually going to do it, but it’s just a playful thing to say because you are protective of your people that you love, and when they’re in toxic relationships, you are like, “You could do so much better.” So, it came from this loving, protective place.

PEOPLE: How did you envision “Butch Springsteen” as a character?

G Flip: When you make an album, you talk about world-building. I really dreamt up the world of what I would look like if I were in the ’80s. So, I cut my hair off, dyed it blonde. What car would I drive? The car that’s in every music video and on the front cover of the album — it’s a ’70s hot pink Barracuda. Where would I work? I was like, “I’d probably be a lesbian mechanic with all my queer friends in the mechanic at Lez Go! Auto, which is where we set the “Big Ol’ Hammer” music video. 

PEOPLE: How does this record really dig into your experience as a non-binary person?

G Flip: What I discovered with this record is, when my vocal sounds too feminine, when I go into my falsetto, I hate the sound of my voice because it makes me feel feminine…unless it’s wrapped around sonics that sound like Prince. So I’ve got a song on the record called “Lush,” where I’m going into my falsetto, but it’s wrapped around a very Prince-style production, which makes me not get the ick about it. But there’s other songs that if I go into my falsetto, it’d feel too feminine, and it wouldn’t feel like “Butch Springsteen,” and that plays on my gender and being non-binary. It’s the same if I put on an outfit that felt too feminine, it just wouldn’t feel right.

[With] ’80s records, they would always hire backing singers. It wouldn’t be Bruce doing his own harmonies — he’d hire two chick singers who were guns at backing vocals. So, I hired my two mates who are great singers to do the backing vocals because a lot of the vocals for harmonies were quite feminine-sounding when I did it on my own voice.

PEOPLE: The “Big Ol’ Hammer” music video features a handful of well-known queer people like Fortune Feimster, Aisha Dee, Jacqueline Toboni and more. How did you get everyone involved?

G Flip: I watched [Grease] on a flight, and I was like, “They kind of look like just butch lesbians.” And I was like, “Imagine if there was a version of this with queer people.” “Uptown Girl” by Billy Joel is the same; they’re all in the mechanic and they’re dancing, doing choreography. And then Bruce’s “I’m On Fire,” he’s also in the mechanic, a working-class man working on the cars. 

I sent everyone a text two weeks before. Some people even flew in for it. And then Fortune, I sent her a message, and I was like, “This is such a long shot,” but I was like, “Is there any chance you’d be in the music video as the auto shop boss and you just yell at us?” So, Fortune rocked up and improv-yelled at us for half an hour,

PEOPLE: How does “Bed On Fire” reflect on your experience of growing up and your coming out journey?

G Flip: That song is about growing up, feeling like I’m going to be ostracized for coming out gay or telling anyone I had secret queer feelings. And then the moment of sleeping with a woman for the first time, feeling so euphoric. But on the flip side of it, feeling a little bit of anger that I suppressed this for so long because I was told it’s bad. You can feel in the tempo, in the musicality of it, it’s got a bit of power. Some of my favorite lyrics are, “If the wine don’t taste good, what am I drinking it for?” Very true to my experience.

PEOPLE: You mentioned “Lush” earlier. It sounds dedicated to Chrishell. 

G Flip: I just wanted sexy lyrics, basically about making love and finding someone so infatuating. Basically, just so delicious, so hot and beautiful that, even in their most glorious moments like stepping out of the shower, no makeup on, dripping wet, “You are like a goddess. You are so hot, so lush. Like, you’re it”. And I wanted to make a song in that vein. I played it for Chrishell, and [she] was like, “That song has to be on the album. Oh my God, I love it.” And I was like, “Oh, really? Because it’s kind of a different sound for me. It’s not like all my songs.” We listen to a lot of Dijon and Mk.gee, and that’s kind of inspired by their guitar tones and the smooth, richness of the production.

PEOPLE: Who do you dream of collaborating with in the future?

G Flip: I’m a huge fan of Chappell Roan. Would love to write with Miley [Cyrus] because I love how she really flexes her vocals. I think Post Malone’s great, seems like a good hang, too. Dijon and Mk.gee, I would like to just study them in the studio and see how things come together. Ethan Gruska, a producer I would love to work with Mark Ronson. I would literally work with anyone else who loves music and wants to write the best music they can…because I f—— love it.

Dream Ride is out now.