Name: Emilie Fromm aka Blossom

Nationality: American
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, producer, DJ
Current release: Blossom's "On my Own" is out now via Pink Planet.

If you enjoyed this interview with Blossom and would like to find out more about her, visit her on Instagram, Facebook, Soundcloud, and twitter.



What was your first studio like?

My first studio was in a shed in the backyard of my house!

After I finished music school in LA in the summer of 2015, I moved into a friend’s house back in Arizona. I knew there was a shed in the backyard that they used for storage but I didn’t take a look inside until a few months of living there. Turns out the shed was more of a workshop and it had cabinet space and power. I ended up moving all of my gear into this room and having my own little music oasis in the backyard.

My roommates at the time weren’t in music and were very excited to not have to hear the same 8 bar loop over and over through the walls of my room. Only downside was no air conditioning (made it very rough in the summer, as you could imagine in Arizona).



How and for what reasons has your set-up evolved over the years and what are currently some of the most important pieces of gear for you?

My studio is now elevated from what it was before and I have a separate room in the condo that I live in. I graduated from using a DJ Controller as a soundcard to having an actual audio interface (I use the UA Arrow).

I also use my headphones a lot more than monitors—I’m currently using Beyerdynamics DT 770 Pro. These have gotten their fair share of use over the years so I’m looking into getting something new.

I’m now using an Arturia KeyLab 49 vs. my old Akai LPK25 from my early days of producing.

Some see instruments and equipment as far less important than actual creativity, others feel they go hand in hand. What's your take on that?

Personally, I’m happy with my laptop keyboard for plugging in midi and writing chords. When it comes to getting an idea down on paper, I want to be able to do things as fast as possible before I lose that original spark.

Sometimes using hardware can take me out of the zone and I’d rather just work straight on my laptop. But it really just depends on what the vibe is for the day. If I just want to jam out and experiment, then I’ll play with my keyboard.

I used to have a Maschine MK2 but I just didn’t use it enough to make it worth having.

A studio can be as minimal as a laptop with headphones and as expansive as a multi-room recording facility. Which studio situation do you personally prefer – and why?

I like both for different reasons. At home, I like creating the songs. It’s a very safe and low-pressure environment for me to explore different ideas and really get lost in the vibe. At the recording studio, I like wrapping up songs and doing my final details and mixdowns.

I also prefer working with other people in a recording studio because there’s usually more equipment there than at home, plus more space for people to hang out. I love collaborating in the studio space.

How would you describe the relationship between technology and creativity for your work? Using a recent piece as an example, how do you work with your production tools to achieve specific artistic results?

In my newest release ‘On My Own,’ vocal processing really worked hand in hand with my creativity and my general vision for the song and forthcoming EP.

In writing the song, I wanted to create a vocal that felt robotic and futuristic, and ultimately that led me to the concept for my entire EP (post-human Blossom off to discover the universe!).

I think production techniques and the creative outside of the song can work in tandem in a beautiful way.

Within a digital working environment, it is possible to compile huge archives of ideas for later use. Tell me a bit about your strategies of building such an archive and how you put these ideas and sketches to use.

Sometimes you’ll work on a tune and it just won’t have legs. I tend to just save all of my projects regardless of their viability and sometimes I’ll end up coming back to them a year or two later.

I think it’s important to let some ideas simmer for a while and return to them when there’s more of a spark. I do this pretty often with my own vocals too; writing lyrics for a melody and just letting that sit in the archive until the right moment.  

To some, the advent of AI and 'intelligent' composing tools offers potential for machines to contribute to the creative process. Do you feel as though technology can develop a form of creativity itself? Is there possibly a sense of co-authorship between yourself and your tools?

I think there might be a way to work with intelligent composing tools to help push the creative process along, although I’m a little wary about AI creativity tools. Maybe it’s overly cautious but I’m not super keen about AI in art.