Pitchfork: A lot of young artists see building an online platform as crucial to their growth, but that’s something you’ve avoided for the most part until now. Why is that?

Tirzah: Because I don’t see it as my thing, I see it as our thing. It’s mine and Mica’s work. Calling it “Tirzah” was a split-second decision, and I didn’t have intentions to be a solo artist. It’s only through doing what I’ve done with Mica that it feels right. Any other odd bits I’ve done with other people always felt quite strange, because that’s not really why I’m doing it. I’m doing it because I like doing it with my mate.

Is your approach to being an artist shaped by what you sang on “Slow Jam” from your first EP: “Watched by everyone/Tired of the pressure/Under some giant thumb/People trying to stop your fun.”

That feeling to not give in to the way things are done is always there. Obviously there’s a sense of being generous to people listening, but you can’t let it govern what you are doing. It’s never been so intense and so heightened before—the way we live in connection to external factors being in our thoughts all the time, and not just living day-to-day with the people around us.

Tirzah: “Slow Jam” (via SoundCloud)

What is your writing process like?

At the start it was me and Meeks writing a lot together. Then eventually I was like, “I should just take care of the lyrics. I’ve got to do something.” They’re quite like abstract thoughts, really, just listed in a way. There’s never a plan. Or if there is a plan, I start writing and then it all comes apart and starts going somewhere else. A lot of the vocals on the album are first takes. Mica will take it away and then work her magic. It’s through years of doing it with her that I trust that I should leave it with her.

Do your lyrics draw on your own relationship experiences?

Yeah, it’s a combination. They’re just thoughts that I’ve had, a real mixed bag. There’s quite a lot of reading what I’ve written and being like, Urgh, no. It’ll take pages of writing crap just to get to one page of something that seems to make more sense. Usually it’s just the simplest thing.

What’s going on when you’re in the studio with Mica?

I’ll have brought the snacks. It will be a nice hangout. We’ll be catching up and then Meeks will show me some beats that she’s done, or some loops, and I’ll pick one of them to do. Some of them will just click. Then I’ll do something that’s really cringe and we’ll laugh about it. It’s pretty casual.

Are there any creative rules that you set for yourselves when you’re in the studio together?

Sometimes Meeks will try and get me out of my shell, because I’ll just be mumbling quieter and quieter into the microphone. She’ll be like, “Maybe just shout all the lyrics,” to see what happens. Even though I’ve known Meeks for such a long time, I still find it hard to come out of the [makes an exaggerated sigh]. So it’s easier to just have fun with it, rather than try and do something that’s a means to an end.