Isimene “Naomi” Udu, known by her stage name Hemlocke Springs, quickly entered the pop music scene after the bedroom pop songs that she started making as a hobby went viral on TikTok.
Udu is a North Carolina musician whose songs are drawn from indie pop, synth pop and lo-fi. Her stage name, Hemlocke Springs, was created through a random name generator. Udu added an “e” to the randomly generated “Hemlock Springs” in honor of Lorde, a pop musician Udu takes inspiration from. She is also influenced by Avicii and Caroline Polachek, though she listens to a wide variety of music genres from K-pop to electronic dance music (EDM) artists like Calvin Harris.
Her first album “Going… Going… Gone!” was released in September after her first songs became popular on TikTok in 2022, including “Girlfriend” reaching 22nd on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart. As she officially started producing music just last year, she has yet to create another album. She has mainly focused on producing singles, such as “Stranger Danger!” and “Sever the Blight.” Despite her debut’s recency, other music producers such as Steve Lacy have already acclaimed her work. This unexpected success in music for Udu has left her unsure of her future plans.
Udu’s interest in music started in middle school, where she listened to EDM. In high school, she started making electronic music using Garageband after a friend taught her about it. Udu never planned to pursue a musical career. She was studying at Dartmouth College, aiming for a master’s degree in medical informatics. She created music as a pastime, uploading it to SoundCloud and deleting it quickly after. Udu wrote her song “Gimme All Ur Luv” when she was depressed, procrastinating on an assignment and recovering from COVID-19.
When she finally decided to upload her songs to TikTok, they were more popular than she expected. She considered deleting the video but decided against it. After getting positive comments and messages from Grimes and Steve Lacy, Udu’s music quickly surged in popularity. People started calling her song “Girlfriend” the “awkward black girl anthem,” leaving her excited to see so many people listening to it. It was a shock to see the songs she made in her bedroom were compared to Marina and the Diamonds, Jack Stauber and Prince. While she still plans to get her Ph.D., she now aims to release more music in the future.
“It was a progression once people started finding me and I realized this could actually be an opportunity,” Udu said in an interview with Complex. “You can let it go by or you can go and explore it. So I was like, ‘Well, close your eyes, go for it and see what happens.’”
Udu is still unsure of what to expect from her music career. She grew up believing she would become a doctor. Now, she wants to see how well she can perform as a music artist. She is still learning the basics of music production and figuring out how to use a Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) keyboard. She looks to explore a new range of music styles and go through a “sonic reset” where she will begin to take her music more seriously. With her growing popularity, she is willing to see how far her music career will take her.
