Getting To Know: Pool Girl

Today, we’re sitting down with one of the most exciting new voices in indie music, Pool Girl. Since launching her artist project just a few months ago, Pool Girl has quickly become a name to watch, blending dreamy melodies with indie dance vibes and already amassing over 185,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. With her latest single *‘Spinning’* now out, she's taking her genre-bending sound to new heights. From navigating the LA music scene to crafting her deeply personal and eclectic debut EP, *Trophy Wife*, Pool Girl is more than just a rising artist — she’s defining her own space in the music world.

1. "Spinning" feels like a very personal track, especially with its ties to your move to Los Angeles. Can you tell us more about how that experience influenced your songwriting and creative process?

At the time, I was working a 9-5 job and commuting everyday for at least 2 hours a day. That meant that I had nights and weekends to dedicate time to writing music.  In that season, my creative process was really just showing up and consistently trying to write new songs. Although I was so exhausted all the time, the excitement of living in a new city was so inspiring to me. For the first time I was meeting other creatives that were pursuing music and that definitely influenced my belief that I could also do it. That was truly such a special time — I was meeting so many new people, living with two of my best friends, and really getting to know Los Angeles for the first time. 

2. You mentioned that "Spinning" was the first track you learned to produce yourself. How has learning production shaped the way you approach your music now compared to when you first started?

Learning how to produce has given me so much more creative freedom. I think when I first started writing songs a lot of the time they would sound the same to me because I was writing them on a guitar or piano. But now I approach writing music so differently — I think about the entire landscape of the song. Honestly, I was so tired of trying to find someone else to produce my music… I knew what I wanted it to sound like, but I was having a hard time properly executing that through my acoustic voice notes, so I figured the only way I could show people my “sound” was to actually get into the weeds and learn how to produce out a demo myself. I’m so happy I did that because it’s now become such a huge part of my creative process. I feel more like an artist with a full color palette now, not just a paper and pencil.  

3. Your blend of indie dance and melancholy synth-pop has been gaining a lot of attention. How do you balance these different genres and moods in your music to create the unique sound of Pool Girl?

I genuinely love indie dance music so much. It’s the first genre of music that I discovered by myself when I was like 12 — I remember feeling like it was made for me. I think it’s been in my 20s that I got more into some pretty melancholy music like Beach House. I’ve found myself naturally gravitating towards writing music in both of those genres, and have intentionally tried to cross them over into my songs. I haven’t wanted to necessarily box myself into just one specific sound or mood, so it’s been fun to try and find a sweet spot where multiple musical influences can be represented.

4. With over 200,000 monthly listeners and placements on major Spotify playlists like "All New Indie" and "Lorem", how has this rapid rise in recognition impacted you as an artist, and what has surprised you the most about your journey so far?

Aw, well it’s definitely been exciting and super encouraging. As an independent artist you just really don’t know how something is going to land and if it’s going to get any type of recognition at all, so I’ve been so grateful for the support. I think it’s just encouraged me to think bigger about my project and dream about what the next couple of years could look like. 

5. Your upcoming EP, Trophy Wife, delves into themes of mental health, loss, and femininity. What do you hope listeners take away from these deeply personal themes and your music as a whole?

This project was written when I was processing a lot of pretty difficult things. I hope the listener feels like a lot of care went into this EP. There’s only myself and my producer/collaborator, Michl, who worked on these songs, so it feels very intimate in a lot of ways. I really hope people like this EP and resonate with the feeling I’m trying to capture through my lyrics and music.