Photo courtesy of Vanessa Horsey

When it comes to songwriting, multi-genre artist Fih finds herself more than comfortable with expressing raw, powerful emotions.

Getting to that level of comfort took some understanding of what music means to her. She also jokes that she is not the best liar.

“I think once I realized why music has had such an impact throughout my life, it became a lot easier,” she said. “Music has left such an impact on me because the stories and feelings were ones you felt you could relate to. So regardless of how many people come across my music, it would make me happy if I can bring that feeling out for one person.”

Fih is gearing up for the release of her album, La Brea Baby. Her debut project features eight tracks that reflect on the notion of discovering one’s self and specifically who she is as an artist. Although she has found that comfortability in being vulnerable in her music, she says that the feelings and stories mentioned on the album stayed locked away for quite some time. By releasing them now, she feels that she is able to move onto the next chapter of her life.

One of the details of the album she is most proud of is that everything was made from scratch.

“The most rewarding aspect of creating a project from scratch is getting that one ‘thing’ right,” she said. “Whether it's hitting a certain note, a specific cadence or a song finally coming together as one. It’s a mini victory that only you and the people you work with know about, which makes it that much more special.”

Something she found challenging during the creation process was execution. It isn’t always simple to take what is on paper and turn it into something tangible, which can easily discourage someone. It can be challenging in a physical and mental capacity, but it is part of what makes the process worthwhile in the end.

It also helped that she had a great group of collaborators on her side. La Brea Baby was executively produced by Chailatay and Nate Fox, known for their work with Chance the Rapper. Live musicians such as Stephan Hicks, Nigel Fergozo and Brooke Magidson were frequently used on the album. Summer Greer and Tatiana Snead were also brought in to assist with vocal arrangement.

“I realized how important collaboration is,” she said. “Every person played an important piece to the puzzle. I truly could not have done it without all my amazing friends. I also learned that everyone has their own specific talent which you can learn from and in the end makes you a better artist/musician.”

It was a journey to get where she is today, but Fih is at a place in her life where she is comfortable and honest with herself. It makes her songwriting that much more powerful, and gives the listener a chance to see her true self.