Indie-pop artist Corook, known for blending humor, vulnerability, and catchy melodies in their music, originally garnered widespread attention in 2023 with “if i were a fish,” a joyful song about self-acceptance. Their overall work often explores themes of identity, mental health, and growing older.
Their newest album, committed to a bit, showcases a wide variety of talent and inspiration, while remaining extensively cohesive. We had the opportunity to sit down with them before their Atlanta show of the “committed to a bit” tour.
Have you been to Atlanta before?
My first show in Atlanta was here [at Terminal West] in 2022 probably. I remember getting off stage and going to sell merch. I was the first of three and it is a really tough slot – I didn’t have any music out, it was truly ground zero. I walked out to the merch table and I had a line of people waiting for me. I was super confused. I was like, “are you guys waiting for the next person?” And they were like, “no, we’re waiting for you! We’re here for you.” It was a very cool moment.
With the way “if i were a fish” went viral, what is your relationship with the internet because it’s something you talk about often?
I think it’s an incredibly weird time to be the level of artist that I am. Like somebody that obviously has a fan base, but also can’t avoid the ease of interacting with the internet, you know? I’ve had to create a lot of boundaries just within the last few months around it. It kind of feels a little bit like I’m abandoning a bit of my audience by not interacting with it as much, but at the same time, I actually think I’m having a far higher quality of interaction with people elsewhere.
The name of the album is committed to a bit. “I’m committed to a bit that I don’t even get anymore.” What’s the bit right now, in 2025?
I think that the album, what I really meant was just being a people pleaser. I feel like a lot of people feel that way and as they become an adult, they have to figure out what is them and what is just what they’ve done to survive or fit in.
You know, I have seen toddler Corook fans and I have seen 70-year-old crew fans coming to these shows. I think that that’s one of the coolest things. Ultimately what I talk about is a lot about being an adult and trying to take care of a younger self. I think that there are adults that relate to trying to do that, and there are younger kids that relate to wanting to be taken care of or wanting to be that when they grow up. So it’s kind of both. It’s kind of all of the above, which is what’s so fun about it.
How do you feel about the album?
It feels really good. I’m really, really proud of it and I think it’s such a good encapsulation of what I feel like is my best work right now.
I saw you went to a performing arts high school [in Pittsburgh].
Oh yeah, I did. No one ever asks about that. High school was something I had to go incredibly far out of my way to go to. It was like two and a half hours away from my house. I would wake up at 5:00 AM to go and get home. I guess going to that school and spending half my day on music—it felt like I was very privileged to be able to spend that amount of time on music that young. Because, I just felt so at home in myself and in what I was doing, and felt freer than I did in any other subject.
For your younger fans, do you feel having your passions and interests nurtured and fostered at a young age made a huge difference for you?
Yeah, for sure. I think that I have a love-hate relationship with my childhood as many people do. When I look back on my childhood, I had a lot of resources, like my dad, even just finding the school. It was a charter school, so it was free to go to. It was just a lot of time and effort on my part and my family’s part.
So it was a really great opportunity and also I was exhausted. I maybe didn’t need to do all of that in order to nurture my relationship with music. You know what I mean? I truly believe that you can do it either way. ‘Cause I was obsessed with songs. It didn’t matter if I was going to public school or not. I would stay up until 4:00 AM writing songs.
So it sounds like maybe, ‘I always knew I wanted to be a singer. I always knew I wanted to be a pop star, but the Performance Arts High School showed me that I could do it maybe?’
Yeah, that’s a good way to put it. It just showed me that I was taking it seriously. I feel we all have dreams as a kid. When I was in second grade, they asked me what I wanted to be and I was like, “I want to be a professional guitar player.” I guess technically that’s what I do now, but not really. I wanted to be playing music in some way, and then whenever I started going to that school, it was like, “oh, I’m gonna do it, you know? I’m gonna do it.”
If somebody was in Pittsburgh for 24 hours, where should they go?
Oh man. They should go to Pamela’s for breakfast for sure. Pamela’s in the Strip District and then walk the Strip District and get some cheese and bread and stuff.
Cheese and bread, okay. We love cheese and bread.
Could you talk about some of the inspirations, if there was anyone in particular, that you feel this album really drew from or was inspired by?
I think that I just love expressing my songs in different ways because they’re just such different feelings for me.
So it’s based on a feeling rather than a sound?
Yeah, usually whenever I think of a feeling or have a feeling I think of a certain artist, and so I like being able to reach into different areas of different music that I like because I like a lot of people. I like a lot of different music. I just like being able to express myself in a bunch of different ways. It’s purely vibes because the songs themselves come from such different emotional landscapes, it feels like the production landscape should also be able to display the range of human emotion. So, I like that. I mean, even Chappell Roan coming out with “The Giver” and it being a country song and her being like, “this is a country song, but I make pop music.” I just feel artists nowadays should absolutely be doing that. Just like spread out, do whatever you want.
I think that’s what’s so successful about Chappell Roan is the un-apologeticness, the “it doesn’t matter if it’s country rap, funk, pop… It’s me.”
Exactly. That’s, that’s perfect. Some advice that I’ve just received from different people in the industry and just as a kid is find a niche and stick to it. I’m like, fuck that, fuck the system. It’s just so expansive. Why should we box ourselves in?
What was the reception of “They/them”?
The general reception of the song has been incredibly mixed, obviously within the political climate, but the people that love it, fucking die for it. And people that hate it will, you know, they’ll die for it too in their own way. I was just like, “those who get it, those who know, know.” I like being non-binary. So, I wanted to write a song about that. I think the chorus came first and then I knew that I wanted the bridge to be that, “they/them energy! they/them energy!” thing because I thought that’s incredibly dumb. Like, I want do that.
I think that that’s also why it gets so much hate is because it’s truly the dumbest part of the song, in such a joyful and fun way. It’s me being silly and people take it so seriously, they’re like, “this isn’t music.”
You mentioned stopping drinking in “ok getting older.” What’s your relationship with sobriety been like?
I think I stopped drinking around the time I actually made Corook, and I wasn’t sure if it was gonna stick. I think the biggest reason I stopped drinking was I wasn’t being myself, and it gave me an option to not be myself in a very loud way. And while that was sometimes an easier route to feeling comfortable around people, it ended up really disconnecting me from who I was and stifling my progress of getting to know myself as an adult. That was kind of the biggest reason I stopped was I wanted to know who I was, which I think I say in that line.
Do you have anything to say to people about sobriety?
I guess what I would say is that it’s cooler than most people think. And while sometimes I miss the spaces that I felt comfortable in like a dance club, when I go do that, which isn’t as often anymore, it’s a million times more fun because I remember it! I like to go home and I like to get to be high on being alive in the room rather than crashing at the end of the night and being like, “okay, when can we go back to that high?” I think remembering all of it and getting to really cherish it is way cooler. I think a lot of people are scared to not relate and it was hard to suddenly be unable to fit into these spaces that I loved.
Do you have a mocktail that you love ?
Oh my god, I do! Anytime I’m anywhere, what I order is a ginger ale. With a splash of cranberry juice and a lime.
What’s next?
I don’t really like the internet anymore. I like real people. I think really what my next thing is, is “Cool. How can I connect deeper with people and not in this three-seven second interaction” where they scroll past my face. I make music for people that feel like they don’t belong. I make music for people that are into pop music. I make music for people that like something catchy. I think there’s lots of different audiences and different avenues that people have found me through.
I love bringing like-minded people together, especially right now. People really need it. I need it. I need to see other people like me in real life because my comments are flooded with bullshit. Bullshit. You know what I mean? I’m sure that doesn’t really matter. This is what matters.
Follow Corook on their social pages: TikTok // YouTube // Instagram
