By the time that North Carolina-raised muso, hemlocke springs, became viral on TikTok with her first two songs, “girlfriend” and “gimme all ur luv”, she was also hitting the books for a Master’s degree in medical informatics at Dartmouth. After completing her studies earlier this year, the singer (whose real name is Isimeme “Naomi” Udu) is back with a brand-spanking new EP that combines her signature, introspective lyrics with zany instrumentals that are chock-full of nods towards EDM, hyperpop and ‘80s synth.

We recently caught up with Naomi to chat about her experience of landing internet fame, her creative process behind making Going…Going…Gone! as well as what she has lined up for the near future.

Howdy from Australia! What is it like in your neck of the woods? Hi! My normal day consists of me waking up and thinking, “Where am I and what’s going on?”. I have an app that has my schedule all laid out that I follow, and I sometimes do a fair bit of travelling. But I also like to spend my day sleeping!

How would you describe your own relationship to music? Sometimes, I listen to something that I’ve made and I think, “Wow, that was really cool!”, or sometimes I just hear all my mistakes and just think “What was that?”. It’s really a push-and-pull of emotions. But I really like to make happy music because music just makes me annoyingly happy!

When “girlfriend” and “gimme all ur luv” became bona-fide hits on TikTok in 2022, you were studying at Dartmouth. What was it like being hit with sudden viral fame at that time? It was honestly unbelievable. I was very excited but I was also like, “What is happening!?”. I wasn’t with any label at the time and when people asked me why I was making music, I just told them that I was in a silly goofy mood and just thought, “Why not!”, and here we are! I kept studying and so many people were confused as to why I was still in class, but seeing all the support online really helped me keep going.

Achieving fame via the internet isn’t exactly a new concept, but what are the pros and cons of internet popularity? I’ve been able to meet a lot of great people – it’s still so weird to say fans! I’m still trying to come to terms with it all, and I’m a bit more anxious releasing music now because there’s this added pressure to make hits that go viral again, when I used to just release whatever I wanted because it wasn’t the source of my income.

Do you ever feel like you have to keep up with the fast pace of the internet? Yeah, definitely! I think about how I can make more viral moments all the time, so much so that I really had to take a step back and think about longevity rather than just pumping out new hits. Seeing people be so engaged with my music online really helps to remind me that it’s okay to take it slow, be patient and really take my time with whatever new songs I want to release.

What is the best headspace to be in to create music? Honestly, I don’t know. I get inspiration from anywhere, especially when I’m in the shower or just in the corner of my room. I don’t really thrive when I’m in a professional or studio space, it’s really when I’m in a personal area in my home where I really come up with my best stuff. Sometimes I head back into the shower when I’m already clean because I need inspiration!

Talk to us about your creative process. Do you usually come up with lyrics or melody first? Melody, usually. With “gimme all ur luv”, I came up with a melody and then I just ad-libbed lyrics; at first, it was about teddy bears and hugs. I recorded it and went into the shower again, and I came up with much better lyrics. I come up with the melody and the sound and then I literally just talk out loud, close my eyes and then the lyrics come to me. When all else fails, I hop onto RhymeZone and try and find rhymes for certain words – it’s the best resource when you have writer’s block!

How do you come up with concepts in your music videos? I work closely with someone whom I met when I only had small snippets of my first stuff for my videos, and it’s a lot of back-and-forth ideas. For “sever the blight”, I just half-heartedly said that I wanted to be a knight and we just went on from there! I’m lucky to work with such a talented team.

Your most recent EP, Going…Going…Gone!, discusses a lot of complex issues such as loneliness, isolation and the pains of growing up. What is it like dissecting these complex issues into your lyrics? It’s really cathartic. I write about things that have happened in my life, which can sometimes become a bit jumbled because there are so many emotions. It’s nice to try and figure out what it is I want to say and unjumble these complex feelings into a song.

Is it ever scary to be so vulnerable publicly? I don’t think I’ve ever been scared; I don’t really think about it. I like talking about my life and personal things, especially when other people listen to it and can find similarities to their own lives and struggles. I like putting weird stuff out there and seeing what sticks.

These personal lyrics are often accompanied by upbeat and funky sounds. What inspired you to combine these two elements in your music? I low-key think it might just be inspired by K-Pop. I love listening to songs that are really upbeat and fun, only to really read the lyrics and think “Oh, God, this is heavy!”. It’s like an element of surprise, and I like to recreate that. It’s like, “Let’s dance, but is there someone out there who loves me?”. I just really love those unexpected sad songs.

What’s next on the horizon for you? Definitely working on the debut album. I’ve gotten so many questions on why “sever the blight” wasn’t in the EP, which is honestly understandable. When it came to making this EP, I was really just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. I want the album to be the absolute best, and I’m excited to show it to the world very soon.

In February 2024, hemlocke springs will take the stage at Laneway Festival across Australia and New Zealand. Tickets are available now via the Laneway website here.