An Interview with googly eyes on Collaboration, Confidence, and Her Most Expansive EP Yet

If you’ve been orbiting the indie-pop corners of the internet over the past few years, chances are you’ve come across googly eyes. The singer, songwriter, and producer has been steadily building a world that feels both diaristic and digitally native, where demos are shared as freely as finished tracks and the creative process is never hidden behind a glossy curtain.

I had known bits and pieces of her music before, but I really took notice on TikTok, where she transparently documents her production process, posts rough cuts, and “googlyfies” covers of other artists’ songs, a series that has become a personal favorite of mine. There’s something magnetic about watching an artist let you into the room while the song is still forming. It makes the finished product feel earned. So I was especially excited to talk to her about her upcoming EP, paint me like one of your fav american girls, which arrives on March 13, and the collaboration that helped shape it.

How are you feeling and spending your time in this in-between moment between finishing the EP and releasing it?

“This is new for me. I’m used to finishing music and almost immediately putting it out. So this has been quite a long period where the music has been finished, and I’ve had to just kind of sit still, which is really hard for me to do. I’ve been making a lot of music in the background and, of course, trying to think about what music I want to come after this. Because I think this EP is so incredible. I’m so proud of this music, and it makes me want to make great music. I’m really excited to be working with Flume and Tove [Lo], but it kind of raises the bar for what is expected from me as an artist. In the meantime, I’m just making lots of music and trying to share this in all the ways that I can.”

Take me back to the moment when you saw Flume and Tove Lo post in 2023 asking artists to send demos. What did you end up sending them and saying in that email?

“Obviously, I was immediately elated because how often do you get the opportunity to send things to legends of the industry that you’ve looked up to for so long? I had this gut feeling that I would be a really good fit. Of course, you have so little control over how people receive it, when they’re hearing it, and what their energy is when they hear it. But I was pretty certain that if they heard it at the right point in their day, they would love it. I sent them, I think, 40 to 50 songs, little demo snippets anywhere from a minute to four minutes. I had a whole playlist of stuff. Some of my demos had been released, so I sent those over too.

In the email, I said, ‘I’m confident you won’t hear anything like this.’ So I was maybe a little too confident at that point, but it was a really exciting day. In the days following, I had several friends send me the post and say, “You submitted for this, right? Did you see this? You’d be perfect.” It was really affirming to get that kind of confirmation from both my friends and from Harley [Flume] and Tove.”

Once you got selected, what was going through your mind? Did you change how you approached any of the stuff that you were working on to show them?

“It was kind of a slow bleed. Flume followed me on Instagram first, and I freaked out. I was like, ‘They’ve heard it, they’ve listened, something’s happening. They liked it.’ I started doing little video diaries that day when he followed me, saying [to myself], ‘Okay, I think this is going to happen.’ Then we got in contact and said, “Let’s get together and make some music.” It was all very low pressure. I think part of the blessing of working with two artists is that they know what it’s like to go through the ‘release rigmarole,’ so they were excited to just make music with me and see how that felt to start.

It was my first session as an artist in over five years when I went into the studio with them. I’ve been writing for other people in LA since 2020, and it had been a long time since I had gone in as the artist, let alone with two people I really looked up to. I was freaking out, but they were so welcoming, warm, exploratory, and creative. It was a really exciting week when we first got together, and I was ready to absorb as much information and knowledge as I could from the two of them. Making music that I really loved with them was amazing.”

What were they like when you came in that first day, or even while you were working? Were there any specific tracks by either of them that you brought up as references?

“I really tried to go in cold turkey. I had no idea what to expect, and I was just happy to be there. I was so nervous that I don’t even think I had the wherewithal to create some sort of vision or references. I was just like, ‘Hello, I’m here. I would love to write with you. Play me some tracks.’ Flume obviously had some stuff ready, and for a few of them, we started on the keys and played around. The overall energy of the room was quite playful and exploratory, and looking back, I’m really thankful that was the energy.”

Were there any aspects of working with collaborators for the first time that you enjoyed or didn’t enjoy?

“I’m a self-titled control freak, for sure. So a lot of the process around this EP was about what happens when I open my hands and let other people in. That’s easy to do when it’s people with such track records, but it’s still difficult in a lot of ways. I was stressed about navigating creative differences. But Harley and Tove were fantastic and always really artist-affirming. They would always turn around and ask, ‘What do you think? What do you want?’ They helped nudge me along the path. There’s always a challenge when it comes to creative differences, but that’s the cool thing about this project. It feels very much like a collaboration between the three of us. You can hear all three of us across the songs.”

Which song came together the fastest?

“The first single, “I Don’t Go Out,” was pretty immediate. On one of the first days, I was explaining my personality to them. Tove had already gotten a lay of the land; she and I had met and gotten coffee. I was explaining how introverted I am and how much I love staying inside and getting high and doing nothing. She was so sweet and would invite me to things during the week. There were events she would invite Harley to, and then she’d say, “Hey, googs, if you want to come.” I’d be like, ‘It’s okay!’ That one came together really quickly. It was fun to write that with a party girl.”

Which track took the longest?

Probably “Made Of.” I tend not to go super dark, but “Made Of” was both Harley and Tove’s favorite out of all the songs. It was probably my least favorite. When we sat together and looked at the songs, we went through a lot of iterations of the production. One of the final pieces Harley added that made it click was that crazy intro where the vocal is glitching and glittering. That final piece sold me on it, but it took a minute to get there.

Were there any production tricks you brought into the process?

“One of my favorite stories is from “Bruises.” I was nervous to step on Harley’s work because I wanted to be a student of his production. But vocal production is my focus. For “Bruises,” I took all the stems back to my apartment and re-recorded the vocals. One fun thing I did was process the chorus vocal so it was super noise-gated and chopped in and out at odd places, almost uncomfortable in a creative way. I was so nervous to play it for them. Harley said, ‘What did you do to this vocal? It sounds so sick. We need to put it everywhere.’ It was so cool to have someone like him say that about one of my frequently used techniques. I noise-gate vocals, chop them, and auto-harmonize by stacking and hard-tuning them. It was a big honor for him to love that and want it everywhere in the song.”

What part of the EP are you most proud of?

“I’m proud of how I let people influence it. Having done all the demos myself, it was a big personal risk to crack open my creative worldview and let people move things in ways I might not have. My goal was to try it and see what happens. Don’t stop something good from happening just because you’re afraid of letting go of control. That’s what I’m most proud of: how much I rolled with the punches and allowed myself to grow.”

Has the collaboration changed how you work now?

“For sure. The scale and scope of the songs feel massive to me. Before working with them, my songs were very close to the heart and sonically intimate. Now I’m thinking, okay, we’ve hit this huge sonic world. How do we stay in it? How do we build on it? What other people can I bring in to elevate the project? It’s opened up so many options.”

Has it changed how you trust yourself?

“It’s easy to trust yourself when it’s just you. Collaborators test that trust against differing opinions. You get to process, okay, they don’t like that. How do I feel? Do I still stand by it? It increases your trust because you look back and assess which decisions you regret or are proud of.”

How are you feeling about the release show in LA?

“I’m so excited. I used to gig a lot when I was younger, and when I started googly, I stepped back from performing to focus on making music I loved. Being able to play these songs live is amazing. There’s a song called “everywhere” that I made by myself. It’s my little love ballad, and I get to belt my face off. It’s visceral and physical, and those are the most fun to perform.”

What does Substack give you that songwriting doesn’t?

“I was a writer before most things. I love long-form writing. I’m intelligent, but I’m not always eloquent in conversation. I have anxiety and sometimes fumble my words. Substack lets me sit, reread, edit, and dive into nuances. It allows me to go into every nook and cranny of the creative process and my life. It’s my favorite place I exist on the internet.”

How has that direct line changed how you see the audience?

“I think the audience is craving authentic, real-life experience. They’re smart and want to be in your world. Substack lets you bring people in deeper than just releasing music. I hope we’re on the heels of an intellectual movement where people crave longer-form posts.”

What about the music videos?

“It was a really fun process. Maya [Sassoon] led the first three videos creatively. We collaborated, but she brought incredible ideas. The final video coming out in March, I creative-directed the concept, and I love it so much. Maya did an amazing job helping create a visual world for my music to live in.”

What do you hope sticks with new listeners?

“I hope they hear the sonic thumbprint. The mark of a great artist is that you can hear something and know it’s them. I hope listeners hear Harley, hear Tove, and then hear this third thing. I hope that excites them and makes them want to dive into the rest of my music.”

What makes this EP so compelling isn’t just the co-sign from heavyweights or the scale of the sound. It’s the thumbprint she talks about, the willingness to crack open her process and let collaboration reshape her instincts without losing herself in the mix. The five-song EP really packs a punch, balancing massive sonic moments with intimate lyrical ones, and in my opinion, it’s perfect for those solo dance parties in your room where you need to feel everything at once.

When paint me like one of your fav american girls drops on March 13, you’ll want to press play immediately. And if you’re not already following along, make sure to keep up with googly eyes on TikTok for more behind-the-scenes “googlyfied” magic and subscribe to her Substack, where she dives even deeper into the stories and creative process behind the music.