MY MUSIC with PENNY X

Berlin based PENNY X is a young Alternative-Pop artist that has defined herself as straightforward with her story-telling and lyrics. Her sound is built by a mixture of electronic and organic elements that simultaneously showcase her versatile voice: A vocalist who’s range varies from belting to whispering in one song, PENNY X writes her songs like short stories. After releasing her first singles in 2022, which already displayed different facets of her music, the singer now shows a louder and darker side to a Riot Grrrl interpretation with her new single ‘back to your dad’s’ likened to Olivia Rodrigo, Tate McRae, GAYLE and Maggie Lindemann.

1) Can you tell me a bit about yourself and how your music taste took shape?

I’m PENNY X, I’m a singer and songwriter based in Berlin. I grew up a very small town and neither of my parents has a specific music taste so we were just listening to the radio a lot which probably is the reason why I really appreciate and love mainstream pop music. Also during the 2000’s German radio played quite a few Pop Rock bands like Silbermond, Juli and Wir sind Helden and we also had Teenage stars like Tokio Hotel and LaFee. So I think those artists might be the reason I love me some rock music. Around the age of ten I started surfing on YouTube and that’s when my music taste took an unlikely turn. I found Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift who I absolutely adore and through her I discovered the whole country music scene that I fell in love with. During my time at college I began appreciating the legends like Nirvana and The Beatles but also loved acts like The Pretty Reckless and Keane. Then when digital streaming services took over the music industry I discovered so many cool pop artists especially female that I didn’t know before. And that’s where we are today. 

2) What was the last song you listened to?

Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift because I showed it to someone as inspiration in a songwriting session yesterday.

3) How is your local live music scene – and are there any exciting artists you recommend? 

There’s many concerts happening every night in Berlin since all the international acts are coming here as well. The last concert I went to was Tove Lo – can only recommend! 

4) Which artists have influenced your sonic style the most and why?

Taylor Swift is the reason I started writing songs and also Ed Sheeran inspired me a lot during my teenage years. Later on Lennon Stella and Fletcher very much influenced my songwriting. 

5) Which musicians do you think paved the way or revolutionised the industry?

Can I say Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran again haha? But honestly both of them managed to be successful in different genres and music styles because their songwriting is just so good that it translates to almost every genre. 

And then of course Billie Eilish. I remember the first time I heard her music I was kinda confused and impressed at the same time because it was so special. She paved the way for that darker kind of pop music.