Gordi Paused Her Music Career to Work As a Doctor in VIC During the COVID Outbreak

And her album tour for Our Two Skins kicks off next month.

Singer-Songwriter Sophie Payten, better known as Gordi, has been working as a locum doctor in Victoria as the coronavirus numbers spiked, putting her music career on hold to help others.

Before her latest album, way back when she released Reservoir, Student Edge sat down with Sophie to chat about how she landed her Triple J Feature album whilst she was still studying medicine at UNSW. Now, just following the release of new album Our Two Skins and the cancellation of her US tour, the singer has spent the last few months putting her medical talents to good use.

As the pandemic situation in Victoria worsened, the 27-year-old musician spent weeks rotating between various hospitals in regional Victoria and inner-city Melbourne as a locum doctor. Hearing her experence on the frontline is eye-opening and puts the severity of the pandemic back into perspective.

"Healthcare workers are stressed and working outside of their comfort zone," she said in a statement.

"One hospital I was in had their palliative care ward turned into a ward with COVID patients on it requiring serious intervention measures.

"Nursing staff who work on the palliative care ward are used to end-of-life care and not to patients in such critical conditions."

As most healthcare workers have expressed, the pandemic has left working conditions extremely unpredictable. Sophie was no exception to this as she experienced the high level of caution implemented by hospitals in Victoria.

"Every time we enter a ward we have to put on full PPE which is really unpleasant to wear," she said.

"Every morning after I park my car I put my own personal mask on and wear it to the hospital foyer, then I sign in, get my temperature checked and exchange my mask for a hospital mask, wash my hands, then I get to the doors of the ward, I pack everything I don't need into my backpack, get out my stethoscope and clean it with sterile wipes, wash my hands, put a single-use very hot plastic gown on, wash my hands, put safety glasses on, wash my hands, and then go into the ward.

"If there's a patient we see who potentially has COVID-19 then I put on an N-95 mask, safety glasses, a face shield, a new gown and gloves (washing my hands between each new thing I pick up) - and then take it all off when I exit the room; the cycle continues!"

Sophie described how she and many other locums helped out in all the areas that they could.

"I've been filling the gaps where I can, in general medical wards, geriatrics, psychiatry. I'm also on the roster for shifts in emergency departments and COVID-wards in the near future," she said.

Releasing and promoting music during a pandemic isn’t exactly the ideal situation, Gordi explained how she had to adapt for her music to reach audiences.

"We just had to come up with creative ways to reach our audience and I think lots of artists and bands have really excelled in doing that. The main obvious difference is no touring, but I think the world is coming around to paying for a quality live-stream," she said.

"I'm pretty thankful that the free-living room set is slowly dying out. If the music industry is to sustain itself, we need to remember that when we change and adapt our style of engaging with an audience, we need to work out how to charge for it."

Since returning from the frontlines, Sophie has released two lyric videos from her newest album.

Watch her lyric video for Radiator here:

After her time in Victoria, Gordi announced an album tour for Our Two Skins with shows set for next month in New South Wales and Queensland. You can find out extact dates and get tickets for her tour here.

Unlike tours you’re probably used to, Sophie’s shows will be set up in a socially distanced format to protect herself and the wider public. (We are of course still in the middle of the pandemic.)

The album was produced by Bon Iver’s production team, Chris Messina and Zach Hanson, who set up a temporary studio on Sophie’s farm in regional Australia. It explores identity, community and isolation, during a time where Sophie herself was struggling to come to terms with her own identity.

Watch her lyric video for Look Like You here:

We reckon is worth a listen, especially considering The Australian described Our Two Skins as "an accomplished work that offers an aural solace and its an album to cry and reflect to during unprecedented times."

Gordi’s music, including her album Our Two Skins is available to stream on Spotify and Apple Music.

Header Image: Jess Gleeson via Liberation Records