blackwinterwells started singing because Lil Peep passed away. With deep reverence for emo rap and rock—Nine Inch Nails is a key influence—the producer and key architect of a burgeoning online culture of musicians sometimes referred to as digicore found her voice when it became clear life was not promised. wells’ music is not pop, not dance-pop, and not indie. It’s a product of her being a trusted collaborator to internet underground artists like 8485 and midwxst as much as it is a reflection of the time spent in her creative cave uncovering the weirdest sounds imaginable.

“It was dubstep, initially,” wells tells Audiomack World. “I was playing World of Warcraft, and I was talking to some guys and they were like, ‘Have you heard of dubstep?’ [They] linked me to a song, and then I made bad dubstep for a year.”

Years removed from her “bad dubstep” phase, wells credits the terseness of quarantine for accelerating the evolution of her sound. “It was a hyperbolic time chamber situation, where I was constantly going through different ideas,” she says. “Also, a lot of the progression of my career is owed to listeners being stuck inside as well. It was this big underground bubble because people weren’t going outside.”

After dropping monthly three-packs of singles for a year, wells refined a sound that makes you feel like you’re floating through a digital abyss, culminating in late April’s Crystal Shards. This is music meant to make you feel otherworldly things. “cry ice” and “star cluster” pulse with an alien-like freedom, while “temple” bends time. Crystal Shards, and the blackwinterwells project as a whole, represent the importance of embracing strangeness to create a new music history.

Is music-making how you express yourself?

It allows me to process what’s going on with me. Any time a friend dies, [or] I am overwhelmed, happy, or have a bad breakup, somehow, I have to translate that. Even if something isn’t going on in my life, I just want to paint a picture. Music is how I do that. It’s an escape. I need to create a fantasy world to forget how boring everything is in my life. Definitely a lot during the pandemic.

How would you describe the evolution of your sound within the pandemic?

It happened much quicker. I was making so much music at the time when everything was closed, so it felt like I would pick up a new sound and drop it within days. Then I’d move on with another three songs. That slowed down because I take more time than I did back then. I was dropping three singles a month for a year.

You’re touring with 8485 and fish narc this summer. What are you hoping to get out of that experience?

As soon as I had a taste [of live performance] it was, “This is what I should be doing.” Making music? That’s pretty cool. But performing is absolutely my single favorite thing. I’m chomping at the bit, basically.

On the new LP Crystal Shards, you bring in your own vocals. Was there any fear putting yourself out there like that?

It’s so natural to me at this point. It feels like I have always been doing it. I feel like everyone’s a little bit embarrassed about their songwriting. You write lyrics, look at them, and you’re like, “This is corny.” It’s really funny—when I used to DJ, I would be scared to be in front of people. Being in front of people while singing is not scary at all. It works for me very well, compared to a lot of other things.

When I’m singing, I’m so occupied by the act of singing I don’t have space to worry about people looking at me or anything like that. I just get lost in it.

Are you a creator that “blacks out”?

There’s definitely a zone I get into, with making stuff and also with performing. It’s something 8485 has kind of yelled at me about, because we’re working together and I’m so… I’m just singing and we get onstage and 8485’s like, “I’m trying to interact with you, and you’re [in your own world].” It’s something I’ve had to work on.

There’s times when I’m making a song and it becomes automatic. When I make music, I’m just locked into the thing and know exactly what to do, and I do it until I’ve got it. It’s less like being enveloped in a world and more like being on autopilot. I have this idea in my head, and I’m methodically putting it together in pieces.

How many songs didn’t make Crystal Shards, and was it hard to let them go during the two-year process of making the album?

Of all the albums I’ve made in my life, none were made for an album. I looked at the songs and was like, “Oh! These make an album altogether.” Also, I have a pretty huge pile of demos, but it’s all about the feeling, and color. I feel like this is a very blue album, and the mission statement of the blackwinterwells project is very blue. It wasn’t even picking demos I liked, it was picking the ones that fit that color.

Are there any colors you wouldn’t touch?

I don’t know if I have made a song that’s very bright. A lot of times, the color of the song is reflected in the cover art. I have a lot of yellow, blue, some red. I have stuff that’s pretty pale. I don’t make a lot of green. Maybe I should make more green. I’m glad you asked.

Your music scene is becoming a bigger and bigger phenomenon this decade, which leads to a lot of obvious problems and misunderstandings. What do you absolutely need people to get right about wells?

It’s not pop music. I’m not pulling from that. I like Nine Inch Nails. The point isn’t to be catchy. It has a verse-chorus structure, but so does every rock and metal song.

I also feel like just because it’s electronic and has vocals, doesn’t mean it’s dance-pop. It’s important that people understand this project started because I like Lil Peep and emo rap. It’s not rock, but that’s what I draw from.

Photos by John Stobie.

blackwinterwells Is Charting a New Music History