Anyone who watched ‘The Simpsons’ knows the whole “stay cool” scene where our favorite family is on vacation and Lisa is taken in by the cool crowd, and being the nerd that she is – she has to remind herself to fit in. While some people out there are innately confident, the rest of us are constantly worried about remaining cool in new (and familiar) settings. All of this came to mind as I had “Stay Cool” on by Feds. Her latest single from an EP we cannot wait to hear, we talked about the music that’s coming, the beauty of radio, and more in this back and forth exchange.

Kendra: It’s one thing when someone discovers they can sing, but I feel another story when they realize their ability to pen a song. Looking back, is there a song or album that got you interested in songwriting?

Feds: I remember the exact moment – it was the age of YouTube becoming a thing. I was scrolling through live performances and came across an Abdul Lavigne performance where she spoke about having written a song and gave this really heavy performance. I remember in that moment it just clicked – that people can pen a song alone! Just them and a guitar. Not too sure where I thought they came from before but for some reason it hit me specifically watching that video – and I’ve been writing ever since.

Kendra: You relocated to London back in 2013 to learn more about the art of songwriting. Are there any initial lessons you learned that you still fall back on today?

Feds: The biggest lesson of all is that you need to write as often as possible to get the good stuff out. And to make sure to finish a song regardless of how it’s not clicking. Just get it done.

Kendra: Well, what you’ve learned seems to be paying off well because “Stay Cool” is such an anthemic track for those of us who have that inner monologue playing on a loop in our head like, “Just be cool!” Was this song inspired by a singular event or a myriad of moments?

Feds: Possibly a combination of moments. One that frequently occurs for me when scrolling through social media. Seeing everyone’s happy picture-perfect life – everything looks so effortless online. It triggered a little something that made me think if only my unfiltered self was almost worthy of a post like that. I’m sure it’s something we all feel when seeing everyone’s life online. I just really wanted to have a bit of fun with how I was feeling and almost make fun of myself in a playful way.

Kendra: This is just a taste of what’s to come as your debut EP is expected to drop this year. If you had to sum this EP up in three words – what would they be?

Feds: Five More Minutes. And ironically is the name of the EP too.

Kendra: When you’re not making music, you’re working as a radio producer. Now, there are some that hate on mainstream radio and those who live for it. Me? I love a great Top 40 song. I think they’re the backbone of pop culture in terms of music. Now being in London, is your radio different than in the states? We have sort of the same dozen songs that play all the time for a while and then move on…

Feds: I think radio is brilliant. I am a massive pop fan and do love getting caught up in the catchiness of the charts! But the beauty about radio is there’s so many different hosted stations and shows that you get a whole curation for everyone. Some people love the familiarity of a chart show – others love the anticipation of discovering new music and you can find a bit of all of that by turning on the radio in every country.

Kendra: Lastly, it’s getting a little easier with the vaccine rollouts, but it’s still kind of hard to have a definite answer when it comes to future plans given the current state of everything, but as far as what you can control when it comes to your career and creativity – what do you have planned in the coming months for yourself?

Feds: My priority is getting this EP out into the world. And then hopefully finally getting out into the live scene and playing these songs with a band.