A Unique Collaboration
Gordi, whose real name is Sophie Payten, has made a name for herself in the music industry with her exceptional talent. She’s also had a career as a doctor and is in a long-term relationship with fellow musician Alex Lahey. This relationship plays a significant role in her latest single, “High Line.” The two songwriters collaborated on the track, but it ended up taking a different direction than initially planned.
“Alex and I wrote the song originally with entirely different lyrics for her,” Gordi explains. “She wanted to write a particular kind of song, so we wrote a song that was the same melody, same chords, but a completely different story. And, I don’t know, we weren’t totally in love with it.”
Gordi took the melody and chords and rewrote the lyrics with Alex’s consent. “I completely rewrote the lyrics on a 45-degree day in LA in someone’s back house with no air conditioning. I revisited the song because I was so in love with the melody and made it into this new thing.”
Navigating Relationships in Creative Industries
Dating within a competitive creative industry can be challenging, but Gordi and Alex have managed to navigate their relationship successfully. They both believe the world is big enough for them, and they have carved out their own lanes.
“If one of us got like, I don’t know, a Taylor Swift support or something like that, I feel like that’d be the day that might break the camel’s back,” Gordi says. “For now, we both churn out a lot of creative material.”
Knowing when something isn’t working and being willing to change it takes maturity. “I think in a way we feel not too idealistic about it, you just gotta go with your first gut instinct,” Gordi reflects. “The first gut instinct on the first rendition of that song was, ‘Eh, it’s not quite right’. Then I had rewritten it and showed it to her, and she was like, ‘Yeah, this is awesome. It’s a you song.'”
The Journey to Success
Gordi wanted “High Line” for her third record, Like Plasticine — one of the best albums of 2025 — but it didn’t fit. “When I was sequencing the record, I just kind of couldn’t find a place for it to fit,” she explains. “I thought that it could kind of stand on its own two proverbial feet.”
She had a plan, and the perfect moment for it came when she was back on tour. “I knew I wanted to be touring Australia again. I felt like I wanted some new stuff out before I went on tour. It’s a really special song to me, so I’m glad it’s out in the world.”
Humble Beginnings
Gordi’s latest tour takes her to parts of the country that don’t often host live music. Venues in towns like Coorabell, Castlemaine, Milton, Port Kembla, and Orange will host intimate shows through April. She will keep a close eye on her speedometer while on the road, having learned a hard lesson after playing a gig for $50 at a restaurant in Katoomba a decade ago.
“I set up my stuff in the corner of the room, and there’s one man eating by himself in the restaurant,” she recalls. “As I start playing, he puts on noise-cancelling headphones. You know when people win awards and they’re like ‘I’m truly humbled’. I’m like ‘Bullshit. You are not.’ What is truly humbling is playing in a restaurant to one person who’s wearing headphones.”
It got worse from there. Payten jumped in the car and set off back to Sydney to try and make the end of her friend’s 21st birthday party. “I’m tearing through the Blue Mountains and [reach] one of those zones where it goes to 60 for like 200 meters, otherwise it’s 80 everywhere,” she says. “So, I’m going 83 in a 60 zone. I pull up at the traffic lights, look in my rear-view mirror, and there’s police sirens behind me. It’s double demerits because it’s close to the Christmas holiday period. So, I pull the car over, I lose eight points and the fine is $600.”
These experiences have shaped Gordi into a stronger performer. “It was around a year later that I finally, like, got a song on the radio, which then actually turned this extremely expensive hobby into a career.”
Gordi plays Brisbane on April 10 before dates in Coorabell, Castlemaine, Melbourne, Ballarat, Sydney, Milton, Port Kembla, and Orange. She then supports Of Monsters and Men throughout May.
