vox likes to record her music in tunnels

For an artist who seemingly came out of nowhere, vox sure is making her way around the internet quickly. It’s been just a month since the LA-by-way-of-Minnesota musician (whose real name is Sarah Winters) dropped “Money” upon Soundcloud. But already, the haunting, electronic track has burst out of the shadows– and into the blogosophere. The song features a collaboration from the British Kyan, and a shadowy vibe, and lyrics such as “We’re all so hungry, bloodthirsty.” Needless to say, it’s only a matter of time before the rest of the world takes note. We phoned her before work one day (because, yes, she still has a day job) to see what this girl is all about. Here’s what we learned:

1. She played tons of instruments growing up. “Music has always been a big part of my life,” she told us. “My parents encouraged me as a kid, and always had me in choir, as well as piano lessons, guitar lessons, and voice lessons.”

2. Her lyrics first began as poems. “When I was a teenager, I was really into poetry. I had just started learning how to compose music and write little ditties on the piano, so I put the two together and started making songs.”

3. Bright Eyes first convinced her she could be a musician. “It wasn’t until I got into more underground music when I realized I could maybe actually do this. I was really taken by the current scene at the time, which was Bright Eyes stuff — not traditional music, but more experimental. I never thought I could be a Mariah Carey, but I was like, ‘This is music I could make.’”

4. Her song  “Money” came about through total fate (and hard work). “‘Money’ came about this year. We started working on it in January and it came together so quickly; it only took three sessions until the song was 90% done.” But, as for that collaboration with Kyan goes, Winters said it happened naturally. “We had been talking online for months and just basically getting feedback. So I sent him the song, and he was like, ‘This is amazing, can I add some vocals to it?’ I didn’t know that he would want to add vocals, I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m down!'”

5. Much of her EP was recorded outside the traditional studio setting. “The EP is basically five songs, one of them being an intro that is just a cappella. That one we recorded in this giant tunnel in LA, which was so cool. And the closer for the album we recorded outside of the studio, too. It was just in my bedroom downtown, where you could hear all the cars and noises and stuff.”

6. Her Instagram is inspired by fashion spreads. “About 10 years go, I remember being in my small hometown in the public library. Every so often they would take out old magazines and just let people have them for free. At that point but they were giving way old issues of VOGUE from 2003, 2004, and I took them all. I was obsessed.”

7. She likes art that makes her uncomfortable. “I don’t really strive to make people uncomfortable in my music— maybe I should? — but it just fascinates me that people can make art that makes people uncomfortable.”

8. She loves Kanye…and Kendrick. “My dream collaboration is either with Kanye West or Kendrick Lamar. It’s an exact tie at the moment, so ideally, I would just do a song with both!”