{"id":1872121,"date":"2026-04-08T12:00:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T09:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1872121"},"modified":"2026-04-08T12:00:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T09:00:24","slug":"singer-songwriter-producer-the-next-wave-of-female-musicians-take-control-of-the-mixers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1872121","title":{"rendered":"Singer-Songwriter-Producer? The Next Wave of Female Musicians Take Control of the Mixers"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"oVA page-457582517\">.page-457582517{&#8211;slot7:#f6f6f6;&#8211;slot8:#000000;&#8211;slot9:#f6f6f6;&#8211;metaColor:#f6f6f6;&#8211;navColor:#f6f6f6}<\/p>\n<div class=\"cCV\">\n<div class=\"sWr\">\n<div class=\"Jr2\">\n<div class=\"gsz CfR\">\n<div class=\"d0B\">\n<div class=\"Rfb oL7\"><video autoplay loop muted playsinline class=\"fpC kOK\"><\/video><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"Vms lOB\">Juan Camilo Di\u0301ez; Ally Wei; Nicole Steriovski; Courtesy of Empress Of<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"_-P\">\n<div class=\"rkd qoI\">\n<p class=\"QwJ\">Music<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ckc ZKF\">\n<h1 class=\"aVX doc O2p QZE\">Singer-Songwriter-<i><em>Producer? <\/em><\/i>The Next Wave of Female Musicians Take Control of the Mixers<\/h1>\n<div class=\"r87 y0Q\">\n<p>A roundtable discussion with multi-hyphenates Tiffany Day, Empress Of, Coco &amp; Clair Clair, and James K  about creative control, collaboration, and not getting bogged down by genre labels.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mLI Q9a\">\n<address class=\"Fdy\">by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nylon.com\/profile\/sam-tracy-449803537\">Sam Tracy<\/a><\/address>\n<div class=\"DHw\">\n<div><time datetime=\"2026-04-08T12:00:24.970Z\">5 minutes ago<\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"QVH\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"Uf-\">\n<div class=\"Yte yjy wVh\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nylon.com\/the-music-issue-2026\" class=\"JVd\">The Music Issue 2026<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tn6\">\n<div data-adroot=\"true\" class=\"AOL Afg\">\n<p>When <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nylon.com\/entertainment\/pinkpantheress-astrological-sign-shinee-meme\" class=\"T3D\">PinkPantheress<\/a> won Producer of Year at the BRITs this year, she made history: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pinkpantheress\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"T3D\">Pink<\/a> \u2014 who has quietly reshaped the sound of pop with her signature feathery vocals and U.K. club beats she honed on TikTok \u2014 was the first woman to ever take the award home in the BRITS\u2019 49-year history.<\/p>\n<p>For such an essential role, the \u201cproducer\u201d title has long existed as a kind of invisible authority, often relegated to fine print in song credits and dimly lit studio corners \u2014 and usually occupied by men. But these days, barrier-breaking success stories abound in pop, from mainstream hitmakers like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/elviraanderfjard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"T3D\">Elvira Anderfj\u00e4rd<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/lukakloser\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"T3D\">Luka Kloser<\/a>, who cowrote and coproduced all of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nylon.com\/entertainment\/addison-rae-addison-review\" class=\"T3D\">Addison Rae\u2019s debut album<\/a>, to critical darlings like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nylon.com\/entertainment\/oklou-galore-album-interview\" class=\"T3D\">Oklou<\/a>, whose 2025 album, <em>choke enough<\/em>, dominated year-end lists.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sWr iGR vrU\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"BCT MJ1\">\n<blockquote data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DVgjqzIDD0z\/?img_index=1\" data-shortcode=\"DVgjqzIDD0z\" class=\"UyF\">\n<div class=\"yzx\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DVgjqzIDD0z\/?img_index=1\" title=\"View on Instagram\" class=\"y9v GmH\"><i class=\"icx g9F\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Part of the shift is structural: From YouTube tutorials to TikTok breakdowns, training in digital music production has never been more accessible or demystified . You don\u2019t need to be invited into the room if you can build one yourself. But it\u2019s also reflective of a cultural shift, as artists who may have once been relegated to being just \u201csingers\u201d or \u201csongwriters\u201d are taking the reins behind the boards as a claim to own their authorship and assert creative control in an industry that has rarely offered it on equal terms.<\/p>\n<p>Over Zoom, NYLON convened a roundtable of four such acts: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tiffdidwhat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"T3D\">Tiffany Day<\/a>, a Los Angeles-based pop producer and songwriter who just released her album <em>Halo<\/em>, showcasing a bold new hyperpop sound; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/empressof\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"T3D\">Empress Of<\/a>, the longtime alt-pop shapeshifter who is fresh off the release of new single \u201cDream House\u201d and continues to push the boundaries of electronic-infused pop; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nylon.com\/entertainment\/coco-clair-clair-sexy-album-tiktok-atlanta-scene-interview\" class=\"T3D\">Coco &amp; Clair Clair<\/a>, the indie-pop duo known for their lo-fi, internet-born sound, who are headed to Just Like Heaven this summer with new material in tow; and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nylon.com\/entertainment\/james-k-yves-tumor-premiere-open\" class=\"T3D\">James K <\/a>who\u2019s following critical acclaim for her 2025 album <em>Friend<\/em> with a remix project that will further expand her atmospheric sonic palette. Via a virtual roundtable, they reflect on what it means to not just perform music, but build it on their own terms.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sWr iGR CEt\">\n<figure class=\"Qf5 E1M\">\n<div style=\"padding-top:75.9615%\" class=\"vmZ F8Y ap2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2026\/4\/7\/1ccc8353\/_0000_empress-of.jpg?w=414&amp;h=314&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces&amp;dpr=2\" alt class=\"EdX\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"Yte pt7 okb\"><figcaption class=\"rv9 TrI\">Empress Of<cite class=\"hW6\">Courtesy of Empress Of<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h2><strong>Let\u2019s start from the beginning: What was the first track you produced, and how did that happen?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Empress Of: <\/strong>I was probably 13, using our Skype microphone to record vocals, playing <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Suite_bergamasque#Clair_de_lune\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"T3D\">\u201cClair de lune\u201d<\/a> to write songs about my middle school boyfriend. My dad is a musician, but I didn\u2019t ask my dad for help \u2014 I was just poking around, failing, and learning.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tiffany Day<\/strong>:<strong> <\/strong>On GarageBand, when I was like 10. I\u2019d drag in pre-made loops like I was making a movie. I didn\u2019t know what I was doing, but it was fun. I even used an 808 as a synth and put a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/donaldglover\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"T3D\">Childish Gambino<\/a> vocal over it. I was so proud.<\/p>\n<p><strong>James K<\/strong>: I was writing songs on guitar around 13 or 14. A friend had a recording studio in his basement and just let me try everything. I remember realizing you can layer vocals and create depth \u2014 that was my first experience producing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Coco<\/strong>: We made our first song together over a Reading Rainbow-type beat before going to a party, freestyled it, uploaded it to SoundCloud, and it got 300 plays \u2014 we were like, \u201cOh, we\u2019re onto something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Clair Clair<\/strong>: We were using a Guitar Hero USB mic and literal kids\u2019 toys. That\u2019s how I learned looping. Very childish and extremely self-taught.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sWr iGR CEt\">\n<figure class=\"Qf5 E1M\">\n<div style=\"padding-top:75.9615%\" class=\"vmZ F8Y ap2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2026\/4\/7\/315f8058\/_0001_tiffany.jpg?w=414&amp;h=314&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces&amp;dpr=2\" alt class=\"EdX\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"Yte pt7 okb\"><figcaption class=\"rv9 TrI\">Tiffany Day<cite class=\"hW6\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/alllywei\/\">Ally Wei<\/a><\/cite><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h2><strong>How did those early experiences shape the way you build songs now?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>James K:<\/strong> I was in a lot of choirs growing up, that\u2019s where the layering comes from. I definitely love reverb. I was probably pushing the reverb too much at first, but I love creating these ethereal spaces.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Clair Clair:<\/strong> We\u2019re so freestyle-based. With that first song we made, I had gotten a text from an annoying person that we were hanging out with that night. We were just riffing on how we felt about that person and were like, \u201cWait, that\u2019s hilarious. You should say that in the song.\u201d And we still are like that today. It\u2019s not that thought out \u2014 it just kind of happens.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What does a good collaboration with an artist look like in practice?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Tiffany Day:<\/strong> It\u2019s about having a safe space to try things that might not work, even bad ideas. You need people who will keep it a buck but also support you. Without the people that I worked with on this last album, it wouldn\u2019t have been a safe space to experiment and do things that felt riskier. I was able to be like, \u2018Hey, this idea might be incredibly illegal, what I\u2019m about to do to the track, but just bear with me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Empress Of:<\/strong> It\u2019s an energy thing \u2014 we\u2019re co-pilots. I don\u2019t want someone to fly the plane for me. I have to chat, hear how their day is going, and get on a personal level because then you\u2019re going to dive into the craziest theme for a song about heart-wrenching heartbreak or PTSD. When I walk in, I\u2019m already turning knobs, making sounds. I\u2019m very hands-on.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Clair Clair:<\/strong> We have our own language. We\u2019ll say, \u201cRemove that dingy noise,\u201d and people are like, \u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d But we know what that means. It\u2019s easier to keep it between us or with friends who understand.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Empress Of:<\/strong> I have to ask: Do you guys feel like you have telepathy when you write music together?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Coco: <\/strong>I think we do.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Clair Clair:<\/strong> We\u2019ll look at each other and just know, or say the same thing at the same time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Coco:<\/strong> I\u2019ll show her something and already know when she\u2019s not into it. When I know it\u2019s a weaker line but I\u2019ll still show Clair, she\u2019ll highlight it like, \u201cYeah, this one could be stronger.\u201d And I <em>wanted<\/em> her to say that.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sWr iGR CEt\">\n<figure class=\"Qf5 E1M\">\n<div style=\"padding-top:75.9615%\" class=\"vmZ F8Y ap2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2026\/4\/7\/034f512f\/_0002_coco-clair-clair.jpg?w=414&amp;h=314&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces&amp;dpr=2\" alt class=\"EdX\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"Yte pt7 okb\"><figcaption class=\"rv9 TrI\">Coco &amp; Clair Clair<cite class=\"hW6\">Nicole Steriovski<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h2><strong>How do you know when a collab is a fit for you?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Empress Of: <\/strong>As I\u2019ve gotten more experienced as an artist, I\u2019ve realized I love care and feminine energy in the studio. There has to be an equal exchange, listening to each other. That\u2019s how you know you\u2019re good collaborators.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tiffany Day:<\/strong> It&#8217;s been really nice to work with a small circle of people that make me feel safe. Without that, I wouldn\u2019t have been able to be as courageous in my decision making and the songs wouldn\u2019t have been the same. It\u2019s great to be in the room with somebody else and bouncing ideas around because if I\u2019m by myself too much, it can become an echo chamber.<\/p>\n<p><strong>James K:<\/strong> I actually worked with producers on this past record [<em>Friends<\/em>]<em>,<\/em> which was a new experience for me. So for my remix album, I asked people I respect deeply, my friends. Having them even say yes was an honor. I was a little scared to have people jump in for some reason. Maybe I\u2019m a little control freak about it. But I think there\u2019s also something nice about being vulnerable, letting people take the works out of my hands and getting to hear what they did without having any part of it. The energy was right, and I trusted the people in the room, so it worked out really nicely.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How do you make sure your voice is heard in the studio?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Tiffany Day:<\/strong> Being a woman in this space that is quite male dominated, there are moments where I get a little in my head because I\u2019m like, \u201cI don&#8217;t know if they\u2019re going to take me seriously,\u201d but I\u2019d rather say something than regret it. There\u2019s a balance between trusting yourself and still listening when someone genuinely cares about the project.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Coco:<\/strong> We\u2019re protective of what we do. It can be intimidating having a man in the studio like, \u201cYou don\u2019t understand, we\u2019re just two girls having fun!\u201d So we don\u2019t really let a lot of people in.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Empress Of:<\/strong> If someone expects me to sit on the back couch, that just doesn\u2019t work\u2026 I need to be part of the process.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sWr iGR CEt\">\n<figure class=\"Qf5 E1M\">\n<div style=\"padding-top:75.9615%\" class=\"vmZ F8Y ap2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2026\/4\/7\/ef4d5f86\/_0003_james-k.jpg?w=414&amp;h=314&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces&amp;dpr=2\" alt class=\"EdX\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"Yte pt7 okb\"><figcaption class=\"rv9 TrI\">james K<cite class=\"hW6\">Juan Camilo Di\u0301ez<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h2><strong>How do ideas actually come together?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Coco: <\/strong>We have tons of shared notes, whether it\u2019s a joke one of us made or a sentence we heard or a shirt we saw. Then when it\u2019s time, we pull from that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Clair Clair: <\/strong>It\u2019s almost like a math equation: a verse over here, choruses that don\u2019t have a home, beats that don\u2019t have a home. And things get made that I could have never thought of had I tried.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How do you balance making what you want vs. what people expect?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Empress Of: <\/strong>I try not to think about people listening. Once it\u2019s out, it\u2019s not yours anymore. This is the one time it\u2019s mine.<\/p>\n<p><strong>James K: <\/strong>It\u2019s a fool\u2019s game to get into the loop [of labels]. I\u2019ve gotten this tag of \u201ctrip pop\u201d a lot recently, but the sound I\u2019m making is all over the place constantly. I\u2019ve even made a noise record, pretty hard and aggressive, I just never put it out. You can get stuck in a loop and then you\u2019re kind of not living up to the idea of what people want from you, either. It doesn\u2019t work for the listener or you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Coco:<\/strong> Some of our biggest songs hit years later, so it\u2019s like, just keep doing what you like. It\u2019ll click eventually. With that potential in mind, it makes it more freeing and also possible for us to keep experimenting and pushing boundaries where we see fit.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tiffany Day:<\/strong> My biggest streaming song \u2014 I actually hate it. I never want to repeat it. I actually came up in indie pop, but when I started to drop hyperpop singles, no one was biting. It was really frustrating to me because I felt happiest making the more electronic stuff. <em>HALO<\/em> was my first step into being like, \u201cI don\u2019t give a F.\u201d I had to stop thinking about numbers for a second and just purely focus on what\u2019s going to make me happy. It\u2019s interesting because, like Coco said earlier, sometimes it just takes time for something to hit. I\u2019d rather make what I love and trust that people will catch up.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How has the streaming era changed how you work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Empress Of: <\/strong>I think about song length, like, \u201cThis is too long for a playlist.\u201d But beyond that, I try not to think about it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>James K: <\/strong>I don\u2019t use streaming. Music exists in another place for me. I have to keep it that way to keep it enjoyable.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What do you hope the future of production looks like?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Empress Of: <\/strong>Make more music with your friends \u2014 that\u2019s where it starts.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Clair Clair:<\/strong> Work with people you\u2019re comfortable with and not people you\u2019re told to, or that you think you have to just because they\u2019re the \u201chot new producer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>James K: <\/strong>Holding each other up is really important. I know that working with my friends and finding a community who believe in me has enabled me to believe in myself and feel the confidence to keep producing. And I\u2019m going to put out that noise record, I\u2019ve decided.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tiffany Day: <\/strong>I would just hope that there&#8217;s just more representation. More women producing, period.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"fX2 rhF jIS\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"lqj TnP\">\n<div class=\"BMP\">\n<div class=\"oHL\">Style + Culture, delivered straight to your inbox.<\/div>\n<div class=\"wCn\">\n<div class=\"Yte yjy DSW\"><\/div>\n<p><button class=\"Ex8 qgj\"><span>Submit<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"uxm\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"g-0\">By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bdg.com\/info\/terms-of-service\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Terms of Service<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bdg.com\/info\/privacy-policy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Privacy Policy<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nylon.com\/newsletter\">Subscribe to our newsletter &gt;<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>.page-457582517{&#8211;slot7:#f6f6f6;&#8211;slot8:#000000;&#8211;slot9:#f6f6f6;&#8211;metaColor:#f6f6f6;&#8211;navColor:#f6f6f6} Juan Camilo Di\u0301ez; Ally Wei; Nicole Steriovski; Courtesy of Empress Of Music Singer-Songwriter-Producer? The Next Wave of Female Musicians Take Control of the Mixers A roundtable discussion with multi-hyphenates Tiffany Day, Empress Of, Coco &amp; Clair Clair, and James K about creative control, collaboration, and not getting bogged down by genre labels. by Sam [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,256],"class_list":["post-1872121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nylon-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1872121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1872121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1872121\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1872121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1872121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1872121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}