FILLY is carving out a space entirely of her own. As a singer, songwriter, DJ and producer, the Vienna-based artist brings together glossy club production, sharp pop instinct and an emotional honesty that gives her music real depth. Her sound pulls from hyperpop, trance, Eurodance and early-2000s electronic nostalgia, but never feels like imitation. Instead, FILLY twists those influences into something she describes as “pixelated pop” — playful, futuristic and full of feeling.
With her latest single, “Chemical Love,” FILLY captures the rush of desire, distance and escapism, setting emotional fallout against a sleek, late-night sound built for the dancefloor. There is a sense of contradiction at the heart of her world: chaos and control, fun and vulnerability, fantasy and truth. In this conversation, FILLY opens up about creative freedom, club culture, emotional honesty, and the evolving universe she is building around her music.
For readers discovering you for the first time, how would you introduce FILLY in your own words, and what kind of world are you inviting people into?
Maybe one could describe my music as pixelated pop?
(Jojo Siwa = inventor of gay pop; FILLY = inventor of pixel pop) something like this xD.
I always try to combine as many interesting sounds as possible with the universally known formula of pop. But anything goes, really it just has to feel right. Playing around and not being afraid of sounding weird is my approach at the moment. I am also excited about everything electroclash recently.
Hopefully, my music invites people to lose themselves on the dancefloor and enter a space where everything feels figurative.
You’re a singer, songwriter, DJ, and producer. How do those different sides of you feed into one another when you’re creating music?
Everything you’ll ever learn pours into everything you’ll ever make. But it’s also important to forget everything you know when you are in the process of making. It’s all about making quick decisions and not overthinking it too much. Trust yourself.
You originally spent years toplining for other artists before fully stepping into your own project. What made that shift feel necessary, and what did claiming full creative control unlock for you?
I just became very attached to every song I was making, and letting it go was always the hardest part. I started having ideas for visuals and creating the bigger picture for songs that weren’t “mine”. That’s when I realised it was time for my own project. I was very lucky to have friends who encouraged this process and helped me figure it out. It’s just infinitely more fun now.
But I must say it’s also a challenge to create for yourself, because all of a sudden everything you do is about you, for you, with you. Me, me, me. It can make you go a little crazy too. That’s why I loooooove to create with people. It’s so important to have this constant exchange. It doesn’t matter if it’s music, fashion, fine art… whatever it is.
Your music feels futuristic and fluorescent, but there is also something deeply emotional and diaristic at its core. How do you balance high-energy production with that level of vulnerability?
I just don’t want to take myself too seriously, and this is the perfect way for me to do it. For me, the dancefloor is the perfect setting to be vulnerable. You move together, you scream together, you listen to the music together no judgment. It’s awesome.
“Chemical Love” captures the rush of a relationship that feels intoxicating but unstable. What first sparked the song, and what emotional space were you in when you wrote it?
I was freshly in love when I wrote the song, but I was also very far away. Time difference sucks.
The “chemical love” line came to me after a long night out where me and my crush kissed for the first time (aaaaahh), and I remember walking home and everything looking more saturated than usual.
The title “Chemical Love” immediately suggests addiction, desire, and something potentially destructive. What did that phrase mean to you personally?
Yes, something like that. I don’t want to glamorise it, and I don’t want to ignore it either. My music always comes from a place of curiosity and trying to understand. “Chemical Love” has a lot to do with escapism.
Sonically, the track feels glossy, club-ready, and late-night, but lyrically, it carries emotional fallout too. Was it important for you that the song lived in both of those spaces at once?
As I said before, the dancefloor is the perfect setting to be vulnerable, and I love when songs can thrive in multiple spaces.
There’s something very relatable about writing about the kind of love that feels amazing in the moment but leaves damage behind. Why did you want to tell that story now?
I guess it was an important lesson I had to learn, and it took me some time to be able to put it into words.
Was “Chemical Love” one of those songs that came together quickly, or did it take time to find the exact emotional and sonic balance you wanted?
The chorus came really quickly. UHD did an amazing job with the “jumpy” bassline. Then it was time for me to figure out what route to take with the rest of the song. When I was in the studio with AO Beats and Danny Parra, we built everything around the bassline. We couldn’t stop dancing haha. atlgrandma gave it the finishing touches. My main goal is always to do what’s best for the song — or what I think is best.
Your sound pulls from hyperpop, trance, dubstep, drum & bass, and early-2000s Eurodance. What is it about those genres that continues to excite you creatively?
I guess I like the nostalgia of it all. There are so, so many incredible artists from this time period that I want to pay homage to. But — unpopular opinion — please don’t pull up the trance gate plug-in. I can’t hear it anymore haha.
There’s a strong Y2K and Eurodance spirit in your work, but it never feels nostalgic for nostalgia’s sake. How do you take those references and make them feel distinctly yours?
Just about every genre is in continuous development. I think it’s important to be playful with it.
You introduced an alien alter ego in “Whatever Happens” as a way of exploring the human condition. What does that character allow you to express that might feel harder to say more directly?
This character was a way for me to find joy in the most mundane things. There was a time when I was struggling to feel excitement, and it felt like my childlike wonder was slipping away. Bad, bad. I guess I was overworked maybe, and focusing on the wrong things.
So I created the alien who is on this earth for the first time and basically treated it like the best vacation ever. It helped me rekindle my creative side and see things all around me that I usually wouldn’t, because I am on my phone scrolling on TikTok. Lesson here: put the phone down. If this means you have to paint yourself green and waddle around Vienna, why not.
Your visual and sonic universe feels very intentional. When you think about FILLY as a world, what are the key emotions, images, or contradictions that define it?
I am glad to hear that. It’s giving party city on the outside and neeeerd on the inside.
You’re based in Vienna, but your sound feels completely international and club-facing. How has your environment shaped you, and do you feel connected to a particular local scene?
I think Vienna is a great city for creatives. It is relatively cheap, which gives you some kind of creative freedom. You are not necessarily trying to make music that pays the next rent. It’s just about making something that excites you. BIIIIIIG luxury.
If you are in a position to do so, I would highly recommend travelling. I go to cities, get inspired, make music, basically do as much as possible, and then when I get back I focus, recenter, and finish — and enjoy the beauty of Vienna.
The scene is so incredible and incredibly tight-knit. We all know each other and support each other. You should definitely check out Lino Camilo, Beaks, and Kid on Air.
Since your debut “Motorola,” you’ve built a catalogue that moves between fun, chaos, attitude, and tenderness. Looking back, how do you feel you’ve evolved since that first release?
I must say, with my first releases I didn’t really know what I was doing. We just all knew “Motorola” was special. I was lucky to be guided and protected around the time of my first EP. I learned a lot about myself, my artistry, and the music industry, and how important it is to stand up for yourself. Right now, I feel grounded.
Watching Strangers Smile and Cowgirl In A Cowboy World already hinted at different sides of your artistry. What did those projects teach you about yourself before stepping into this next chapter?
With every project, I try to give myself time to experiment. That’s the one constant throughout. Of course, as I am experiencing life, I’ll always be excited about new things, and you will most definitely hear it in the music I put out. But at the end of the day, it will always sound like FILLY.
You’ve performed on stages like Lollapalooza Berlin and supported SOPHIE & THE GIANTS. How has performing live changed your understanding of your music and your audience?
It kind of changes everything. I never had the live aspect in mind when writing my first songs, but to see people sing along and dance to my music (omggg) is the best feeling in the world. It’s all about connecting and trying to be as present as possible in those moments.
As someone who DJs, produces, and writes, do you approach a song first through feeling, through rhythm, or through world-building?
It’s mostly music first for me, then figuring out melodies and lyrics in the end.
There’s often a tension in your music between fantasy and emotional truth. Do you think people sometimes need a larger-than-life persona in order to reveal something more human?
Maybe, but I don’t know, to be honest. A larger-than-life persona is often just a shield the artist creates when the project becomes more of a product, in my opinion. I feel like the listener can always sense the intention of the artist.
You’re gearing up for a new project later this year. Without giving too much away, what can you say about the chapter “Chemical Love” is opening up?
It’s going to be more electronic and more nonchalant.
You’ve described music that is both fun and emotionally layered. Do you feel people still underestimate pop when it comes to complexity and emotional depth?
I feel like you can convey the most with a good pop song. It just depends on how you go about it.
What do you hope listeners feel when they hear “Chemical Love” for the first time at 2am, whether that’s alone in headphones or in the middle of a club?
I hope they can lose themselves.