Gia Woods
Woods first catapulted to viral fame in 2015, with the life-changing release of "Only a Girl." The debut single not only marked the beginning of her career, but her coming out. "Since a lot of songs I wrote weren't specifically stating 'he' or 'she,' I remember the day that song was written, I just wanted to be honest," said Woods. Her music video for the track garnered over 10 million views on YouTube and attracted thousands of fans to the burgeoning pop star.
Growing up in LA, Woods was always interested in music. She played the violin as a kid, and eventually taught herself how to play the guitar. She would sort through her sister's CD collection looking for new artists, which lead her to one of her biggest influences — Madonna. "[I listened to] whatever my older sister was listening to, so I am really happy she had good taste in music," Woods said with a laugh. "When I have kids, I want them to have one older sibling that can put them on to the good stuff."
It was Woods' sister who secretly signed her up for the fateful choir class, that would lead to her being scouted her senior year. Still too afraid to sing in front of her classmates, she had originally opted for a different elective, but her sister intervened.
"It is crazy how that class kind of lead me to being here now. The person who scouted me happened to be in the crowd," explained Woods. "It kind of just spiraled and I started getting into studios and writing songs with actual producers. I was still going to school. I decided to just not go to college at that point — I was like this is what I want to do. It was crazy how it all happened at really the best timing possible."
It's in the studio that Woods did a lot of self-discovery, not only around her music, but also her sexuality. When she decided to drop "Only a Girl" four years ago, she hadn't even come out to her "old-fashioned" Persian parents or her manager, and at 18 years old, she was still getting comfortable with the idea herself.
"I had some difficulties accepting it in the very beginning, because I was conditioned to think that wasn't really a thing or not normal," Woods said. "I think that was coming out to myself. It was the perfect first record to introduce to whoever wanted to be part of my world."
Woods first catapulted to viral fame in 2015, with the life-changing release of "Only a Girl." The debut single not only marked the beginning of her career, but her coming out. "Since a lot of songs I wrote weren't specifically stating 'he' or 'she,' I remember the day that song was written, I just wanted to be honest," said Woods. Her music video for the track garnered over 10 million views on YouTube and attracted thousands of fans to the burgeoning pop star.
Growing up in LA, Woods was always interested in music. She played the violin as a kid, and eventually taught herself how to play the guitar. She would sort through her sister's CD collection looking for new artists, which lead her to one of her biggest influences — Madonna. "[I listened to] whatever my older sister was listening to, so I am really happy she had good taste in music," Woods said with a laugh. "When I have kids, I want them to have one older sibling that can put them on to the good stuff."
It was Woods' sister who secretly signed her up for the fateful choir class, that would lead to her being scouted her senior year. Still too afraid to sing in front of her classmates, she had originally opted for a different elective, but her sister intervened.
"It is crazy how that class kind of lead me to being here now. The person who scouted me happened to be in the crowd," explained Woods. "It kind of just spiraled and I started getting into studios and writing songs with actual producers. I was still going to school. I decided to just not go to college at that point — I was like this is what I want to do. It was crazy how it all happened at really the best timing possible."
It's in the studio that Woods did a lot of self-discovery, not only around her music, but also her sexuality. When she decided to drop "Only a Girl" four years ago, she hadn't even come out to her "old-fashioned" Persian parents or her manager, and at 18 years old, she was still getting comfortable with the idea herself.
"I had some difficulties accepting it in the very beginning, because I was conditioned to think that wasn't really a thing or not normal," Woods said. "I think that was coming out to myself. It was the perfect first record to introduce to whoever wanted to be part of my world."
