Inside the Weird and Wonderful World of Blums: An Interview with NYC's Most Interesting Artist
An interview with New York City’s Blums, the project of songwriter and musician Kelsea Feder.
Photo Credit: Eleanor Petry
There is something about the beautifully strange electronic soundscapes of NYC artist Blums that reminds me of Aphex Twin. Especially on ‘Salty’, an odd and vaguely unsettling song that I thought sounded like a Barbie doll was performing it in the corner of an empty apartment.
Below is an interview on the production process of her debut album ‘Sunk Cost Fantasy’, her recording setup, how signing to independent record label Take Care Records came about, the point at which she knew she had to bring a co-producer on board for the album, art she was consuming while making the album, and more!
The artist’s debut album ‘Sunk Cost Fantasy’ is out August 7, 2026. Presave here.
Eimear O Sullivan, Musicngear: Thank you so much for taking the time to do this, Kelsea! For some reason, both ‘Cashout’ and ‘Salty’ made me think of Aphex Twin - has he been an influence?
Thank you for having me :) Woah I love that thank you! Not consciously, but I admire Aphex Twin and that whole worldy/collage thing is definitely my jam.
Musicngear: What is your recording setup and general production process like?
I have an AKG C414 that has shared custody between my and my producer’s house. I have an Universal Audio Apollo Twin interface and ADAM Audio monitors in a lil music room in my apartment. There’s also an upright piano on her last legs (literally, one of the piano legs is broken and supported by a stack of books).
The production process was initially a couple of studio days, then a lot of shuffling between my and my producer’s apartment, and loopy walks around the park. Very stop/start. I believe in taking breaks.
Musicngear: How did signing to Take Care Records come about?
I met Rob (of Take Care) at a show when I was playing keys and doing backups in Fantasy of a Broken Heart a little over a year ago. He came to a few Blums shows and asked to hear the album. We met up to talk about it, and he had 3 pages of handwritten thoughts that pinpointed perfectly a bunch of my influences that weren’t the most obvious.
I felt like he got what I was going for; he told me about what he was aiming to build with Take Care, and it snowballed from there.
Musicngear: When did you decide it was time to bring a co-producer on board for your album 'Sunk Cost Fantasy'?
I think I always knew I’d want to but didn’t know what it would look like… I recorded a trio grunge rock version of the album in 2022, and a few stems are from that. After getting those recordings back, I realized I wanted to pivot the sound and go in a much poppier/experimental direction-that’s when I got serious about working with a producer-mainly Kirk Palsma, who’s also my bassist. The Fountain and Richard Orofino also have some co-production credits on a few tracks.
Musicngear: I love how bizarre and unpredictable the soundscapes from the album are; I find them to be some of the most interesting I have heard in a long time - could you talk about the decision to go down this route in the production process and how you went about achieving it?
<3 Thank you. I think a lot of making this album was a reckoning with learning what I liked and valued as an artist. I grew up listening to lots of musical soundtracks. They all tell a story, build a very clear world. I love movie soundtracks as well, big lush orchestras, etc. That stuff is what I knew first.
I love the idea of collage-y sound telling a story. Building a clear world was very important to me, and I think this avenue of production was a way to do so. A lot of it would be very slow, trying small things with Kirk. He would start with arrangements, and I would give colorful adjectives of what I wanted things to feel like (colors, textures, vibes, analogies), then we’d try something, Kirk would take a second to build more of what we discussed, take a couple days or weeks and reconvene, repeat the cycle more or less. Lots of taking walks and letting things percolate before knowing the next move.
Musicngear: What is something that gets you through hard or challenging times when working on a creative project?
Stepping away and completely putting it down. Walking is really helpful. I logged so many miles while working on this. Helps stagnant energy/mushy brain. I also love to go to the farmer’s market and cook a good meal at home with mindless TV or a couple friends over.
Musicngear: ‘Side of the Road’ has a menacing fairytale movie from the 1950s quality to it that I absolutely love - could you talk about the inspiration and creation of this song?
Yay, thank you. This was a happy surprise. Kirk was sampling the song ‘Celsius’ which comes before ‘Side of the Road’ on the album. The 1950s fairytale menacing thing - ‘Celsius’ has some beautiful Disney-esque magic (strings/vibraphone), so when it got all messed with during the sampling, that gives it the dark fairytale thing. Kirk sampled the song, threw some fuzzy bass on it, and was like “haha this is dumb look what I made” and I was like actually that’s incredible, keep it on a loop while I figure out a vocal line/lyrics.
I knew I wanted a couple interlude/glue tracks but wasn’t sure how they’d come about, so when I heard that I thought, oh perfect, this will do the trick.
Musicngear: And finally, what art did you consume while working on this album?
Movies: The Wizard of Oz, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Singin’ in the Rain, Spring Breakers
Albums: Blonde by Frank Ocean, The Dreaming and Hounds of Love by Kate Bush, Vespertine by Bjork, Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill by Grouper, Idler Wheel by Fiona Apple, New Moon by Elliot Smith, Lana Del Rey in general
Books: Notes from Underground by Dostoyevsky, Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke
Other: The color pink, sparkles, ugg boots, red velvet curtains
CONNECT WITH BLUMS:
YOUTUBE | INSTAGRAM | BANDCAMP
CONNECT WITH TAKE CARE RECORDS:
WEBSITE | BANDCAMP | INSTAGRAM | SUBSTACK
About Eimear O Sullivan
Eimear Ann O Sullivan is a multi-genre music producer, audio engineer and vocalist. After receiving a Masters in Music Technology from the CIT Cork School of Music, she went on to operate as a producer under the name Blakkheart. Her releases have received critical acclaim from Ireland's biggest music publications, such as District Magazine and Nialler9, alongside receiving heavy commercial radio airplay. She currently works in Cork recording studio Flashpoint CC. Previous clients of hers include the likes of Comedy Central’s Dragony Aunt star Candy Warhol, rapper Darce and Outsider YP. (Photo credit @Fabian Boros)
Contact Eimear O Sullivan at eimear.o.sullivan@musicngear.com
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