Sound Advice: spill tab

Join spill tab on Sound Advice, the weekly interview series covering artists’ journeys and their creative process. In this episode, we discuss the making of spill tab’s debut album ‘ANGIE,’ her musical upbringing, how she approaches the art of collaboration and much more. Plus, spill tab shares essential tips for leveling up your live show.

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Welcome to Sound Advice, the series spotlighting artists’ creative process and their SoundCloud journey. We’ll get the inside knowledge straight from the source on how musicians, producers and creatives are leaning into everything SoundCloud offers to elevate their sound, get heard and catapult their careers. Sound Advice is now available in audio format on the SoundCloud Stories profile. 

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On this week’s Sound Advice, we talk to Los Angeles-based alt-pop favorite spill tab, whose angsty-yet-sunny and undeniably catchy songs have become favorites on everyone’s playlists. Real name Claire Chicha, spill tab burst onto the scene in 2020 with her debut EP ‘Oatmilk,’ and since then she’s been hailed as “one to watch” by NME, SXSW and Complex, opened for the iconic band Air, toured the world and released her debut album ‘ANGIE’ this year, on May 16. 

We talk to spill tab about the making and the meaning of the record, developing her own voice and the importance of collaboration. Throughout our in-depth conversation, spill tab shares insights into her creative journey, from growing up in a post-production studio to teaching herself guitar, learning to sing in French and English, and navigating the pop world to land in just the right spot. We also got some great insights into things that you can do as an artist to boost your self-confidence, grow creatively, better your stage presence and invest in yourself.

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LISTEN TO THE AUDIO EPISODE OF SOUND ADVICE FEATURING SPILL TAB

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LISTEN TO ‘ANGIE’ BY SPILL TAB

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HEAR SPILL TAB DETAIL THE MAKING OF ‘ANGIE’ ON SOUNDCLOUD'S VOICE NOTES

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Things We Talked About In This Episode of Sound Advice

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The Making of spill tab’s 2025 Debut Album ‘ANGIE,’ Writing and Arranging Vocal Harmonies, and Learning To Let Go Creatively

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• We begin the conversation by congratulating spill tab on the releasing of ‘ANGIE,’ her 2025 debut solo album. Speaking about the inspiration behind the record, and who or what “Angie” is, spill tab explains that the record is a reflection on the period in her life when she started to do music full time. After doing many writing and recording sessions with different people, almost every day, spill tab was feeling burned out and overwhelmed; unsure of her own writing and playing, and lacking in the self confidence needed to keep making original music. It was during this period that she began focusing on ‘ANGIE.’ 
• By learning to be kinder to herself and creating a better routine to look after her physical and mental health, she explains how this allowed her to focus on her craft. The biggest lesson she learned from this time, she says, is that even though the practice of making music introduces you to so many talented and interesting people, you have to focus on your own wellbeing and artistry first.
• When it comes to the foundations of her sound, spill tab playfully confesses that she’s a “choir kid at heart”; that her greatest affection lies for beautifully-written and arranged vocal harmonies, and that she aims to infuse her music with that sense of gentle wonder. By thinking about the voice as an instrument that works with her guitar, it becomes a more interesting source material for her. 
• Another important element of her craft is the attention to detail she gives to the production process. We hear the story of the making of “De Guerre,” a track from ‘ANGIE,’ and how spill tab worked on the sound design, bass, and texture, tone and delivery of the vocals to make it all come together. You can hear more about the making of other essential tracks from ‘ANGIE,’ exclusively on SoundCloud’s Voice Notes.
• When it comes to making her debut album, spill tab shares some lessons that she’s learned throughout the creative process. For her, the biggest takeaway from ‘ANGIE’ was learning to let go at the right moments; not feeling the need to be in absolute control at all times, which sometimes stifled her. Admitting that she used to be “very militant” about the studio recording and production process, she now sees that while perhaps a track can be perfectly in pitch, or in time with the metronome, that technical perfection can sometimes come at the expense of the track’s unique character. 
• Now, spill tab’s learning to “use her ears more than her eyes” in the studio, which has informed the character of ‘ANGIE;’ on the track “Hold Me,” she learned to trust the others in the room and let go enough for creativity to happen authentically. 

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Growing Up In a Recording Studio With Musical Parents, Learning Guitar and Building Confidence Through Writing Honest Songs

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• We learn more about spill tab’s musicianship and its deep roots. Here, we get into her childhood, and how her musician parents played a major role in developing her artistry. When spill tab was a kid, she effectively grew up in a recording studio owned by her parents. Her Algerian father, a lifelong fan of jazz and composer, worked with her South Korean mother, who played piano and bonded with spill tab over harp lessons. 
• As she explains, while she was immensely lucky to have the chance to try different instruments — from piano to harp to violin — it was when spill tab picked up a guitar and realized that she could learn an instrument autonomously, not within the confines of classical music performance, that she felt empowered to become an artist in her own right.
• Through her parents and the myriad people she’s worked with over the years, spill tab has learned to collaborate with others. Giving advice to fellow artists who may be starting out on their collaborative journey, she reminds us that everyone brings their own, special voice to a session, so remember to take that into fair consideration. Don’t spend time in rooms where others make you feel small, she insists: nothing great comes from that feeling and if you’re going to create music that’s meaningful to you, it has to come from a place of honesty and being in tune with yourself. It’s something she’s reflected on a lot during the making of ‘ANGIE.’ 
• Across the album’s 12 tracks, there are five years of spill tab’s life: some tracks touch on grief and loss, others on love and longing. Reflecting on the record, spill tab finds comfort being able to listen back to periods of her life when she was processing difficult feelings; realizing that life is cyclical, she feels more confident in her ability to recover from future setbacks or losses.

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How spill tab Uses SoundCloud And Her Live Shows to Test Music And Tracklist Her Album

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• Having been on SoundCloud for several years, spill tab has always used the platform to organize her music – and with the recent release of ‘ANGIE,’ she’s been leaning into the platform's features more heavily. By uploading her tracks while they’re in demo form to private playlists, spill tab is able to listen to different versions of her tracks as the process evolves. 
• She also uses private tracks for album tracklisting changes; being able to have the URL remain the same, even as tracks are swapped out and around in order, has been immensely helpful to her creative process with her collaborators, and to getting her music out on private links to the press and industry people. This interfacing is “intuitive and practical,” she says, and “makes her job easier” as an artist.
• Another way that spill tab tests out her tracks in demo form, or before they’re officially released, is by playing them live. While playing as the support act on tours for Sabrina Carpenter and Wallows, spill tab got to see which tracks got the best reactions from the audience, which guided her thinking about how to organize her album and her live set. 
• Reflecting on the tours, she says she was pleasantly surprised by which tracks got the most sincere and vocal receptions, which in turn challenged her own biases about which tracks would work best in a live setting, like “Splinter” and “Uneasy.” 
• When it comes to the aesthetic of ‘ANGIE,’ spill tab teases that she’s made music videos for eight of the 12 tracks, after changing her mind many times over about which of the tracks should be singles. Here, she talks through the process of deciding how she came to the four, final singles, the benefits of being able to sing in English and French when it comes to promoting her music in different markets, and what things she takes into consideration when deciding what will elevate a track to a single. 
• Going deeper into the theme of her bilingual singing, spill tab gives more details on what singing in English and French on ‘ANGIE’ achieves. While English is her first language, spill tab finds French to be a fascinating language to write and perform music in. As she sees it, the language is constantly evolving, with new idioms and colloquial expressions, and this makes her use of French a never-ending source of lyrical and structural inspiration for her songwriting. She dives into what about a track makes her decide whether it should be sung in English or French, and which of her Francophone songs on ‘ANGIE’ she’s most fond of. 

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Crafting a Live Show, Working With a Music Director and Lessons Learned from Performing Live

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• Going deeper into her process of putting together a successful tour, spill tab offers advice to other artists who may be looking for ways to improve their live show. First and foremost, she says, “Have fun!” Even if there are technical difficulties, or you mess up during a performance, the most important thing is to be present and enjoy the experience. Speaking from experience, spill tab confides that, yes, the audience can tell when an artist isn’t enjoying their own show; being in the zone, even when things might be going wrong, is important.
• On a more technical level, one of spill tab’s biggest, most productive changes has been hiring a musical director to help her craft her live set. Here, she goes into detail about what exactly a musical director does, breaking down how they help structure her live set to get the most of the tracks and get sincere and memorable audience reactions. She also explains how working with a music director has helped her work better with the venue and front of house staff to make her sound as clear and powerful as possible on stage.
• On this last point, spill tab drops another gem of advice: always show up happy and helpful to those stage staff members, because they’re there to bring the best out in you. 
• Looking back on all the preparation she’s done, and the highs and lows of putting together a tour, spill tab is grateful that she’s able to take ‘ANGIE’ out on the road. You can check out spill tab’s upcoming tour dates here. 

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Links and Extras

Follow spill tab’s journey on SoundCloud.

Press play on spill tab’s 2025 album, ‘ANGIE.’

Listen to spill tab’s episode of Voice Notes here.

Hit play on a Francophone track from ‘ANGIE,’ titled “De Guerre.”

Listen to “Uneasy,” the 2021 collaborative track between spill tab and Metronomy.

Check out spill tab’s 2021 EP ‘Bonnie,’ which features Gus Dapperton, JAWNY and Tommy Genesis.

Spill tab is on tour right now. You can check out her upcoming tour dates here.

Go back to where it all began with spill tab’s first-ever track, “When U Call.”

Listen to the New Era Indie playlist on SoundCloud.

Never miss an episode and follow the official Sound Advice playlist on SoundCloud.

Getting The Most Out of SoundCloud

• Learn more about using DMs to connect with fellow artists and potential collaborators.
• Learn more about how to make a custom playlist on SoundCloud.
• Learn more about unlimited uploads, available with an Artist Pro subscription.
• Learn more unlocking access to unlimited distribution, available with Artist Pro.
• Learn more about getting heard with SoundCloud’s updated algorithm, available to Artist and Artist Pro subscribers.

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_{CREDITS Host: Vivian Host, Executive Producer: Mike Spinella, Producer: KC Orcutt, Audio Engineer: David “DibS” Shackney, Coordinator: Trevor McGee, Editorial Associate: Lauren Martin}

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