Photo via the artist's TumblrWide-eyed and pastel-haired, Penny is the voice behind Skrillex's "All I Ask of You," but she's more than just a pretty voice on a mega-rave ballad. The LA-based singer is preparing to release her third EP, a dreamy pop record that will tip the scales away from her ravier excursions in dubstep and electro-house. Claiming to live in her car, the singer has been waiting to gather a bunch of material and develop a live show before performing her solo work.She's done studio time with heavy bass titans like 12th Planet and The M Machine, and has occasionally has brought her captivating and endearing shyness on stage to charm audiences with surprise cameos. Recently, her sound has matured and saddened, capturing moments from her life as a self-described "lost boy alien" who yearns to create.Penny directs and edits many of her videos, releases EPs for free, writes one hundred percent of her material, and genuinely appears to be goofing off with friends in her videos and online. Seeing her progress from posting selfies in her waitress uniform to serving as the manic pixie dream girl of the dance world to evolving as a solo artist, Penny's breakthrough seems to be well on its way.Her Tumblr-era love songs vary from the girly power pop of "Run" to the heartbroken "Safer," sounding like Lights meets Postal Service—making her a serious contender for our top girl crush of the moment.THUMP: Who have you collaborated with and what artists would you say you're affiliated with?
Penny: Affiliated is such a strange word to me. It's hard to define the line between "affiliation" and "friendship." Over the last year or so, I've been working with a lot of really talented people, who I've grown close to. The features that I've done have been with Sonny, The M Machine, and 12th Planet and Mayhem.How did you get involved with the dance world? What made you want to work with that type of music?
I was up in LA, hungry to just make music when I met Sonny. He introduced me to dance music, and the opportunity to be a part of the dance world presented itself and I took it. The rest just happened.Was there a period of time where you were interested in solely doing vocal features over dance tracks? Or had you always been planning an independent release?
Who only does features? My name isn't "featuring Penny." It's Penny—short for Pennybirdrabbit.On occasion, you've provided live vocals for artists on stage. Have you performed your solo material live?
I actually haven't performed any of my own music live—yet. I've been in a rehearsal room getting ready and after this next release I'll have three EPs worth of material to perform. I feel really excited about that.What has changed with this EP? How has it redefined you as an artist?
I didn't know who I was as an artist before, so I'm really happy that I took so much time to try things and discover myself musically. I was an equal part in the production process and I've directed and edited all of my music videos. There's nothing out that isn't 100% me. I guess that's the most different thing.Do you mind being "that girl from a Skrillex song?" Was your name change in attempts to break away from this?
No, of course not. Up until now, it's the most predominant thing I've been a part of. So it makes sense to me that there's a connection there. It's obvious. And I feel pretty blessed to be viewed that way. It's awesome to keep making more friendships like that and to be attached to other incredibly talented artists. It wasn't much of a name change really—I just couldn't be simply "Penny" for some strange legal reasons.What are you currently working on and what can we expect?
I'm about to put out my third EP, and I'm honestly pretty excited about it. It's a little bit of a different side of me—a little mellow and a little sweeter sounding. It's pretty romantic.What is your favorite thing about living in LA? What are some things you do for fun?
I guess my favorite part of living in LA is my friends. Plus, there's this awesome bowling alley that just opened in Little Tokyo by my old neighborhood. That's pretty tight.Lina been had interviewing everybody. - @linalovesit
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Penny: Affiliated is such a strange word to me. It's hard to define the line between "affiliation" and "friendship." Over the last year or so, I've been working with a lot of really talented people, who I've grown close to. The features that I've done have been with Sonny, The M Machine, and 12th Planet and Mayhem.How did you get involved with the dance world? What made you want to work with that type of music?
I was up in LA, hungry to just make music when I met Sonny. He introduced me to dance music, and the opportunity to be a part of the dance world presented itself and I took it. The rest just happened.
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Who only does features? My name isn't "featuring Penny." It's Penny—short for Pennybirdrabbit.On occasion, you've provided live vocals for artists on stage. Have you performed your solo material live?
I actually haven't performed any of my own music live—yet. I've been in a rehearsal room getting ready and after this next release I'll have three EPs worth of material to perform. I feel really excited about that.What has changed with this EP? How has it redefined you as an artist?
I didn't know who I was as an artist before, so I'm really happy that I took so much time to try things and discover myself musically. I was an equal part in the production process and I've directed and edited all of my music videos. There's nothing out that isn't 100% me. I guess that's the most different thing.Do you mind being "that girl from a Skrillex song?" Was your name change in attempts to break away from this?
No, of course not. Up until now, it's the most predominant thing I've been a part of. So it makes sense to me that there's a connection there. It's obvious. And I feel pretty blessed to be viewed that way. It's awesome to keep making more friendships like that and to be attached to other incredibly talented artists. It wasn't much of a name change really—I just couldn't be simply "Penny" for some strange legal reasons.What are you currently working on and what can we expect?
I'm about to put out my third EP, and I'm honestly pretty excited about it. It's a little bit of a different side of me—a little mellow and a little sweeter sounding. It's pretty romantic.What is your favorite thing about living in LA? What are some things you do for fun?
I guess my favorite part of living in LA is my friends. Plus, there's this awesome bowling alley that just opened in Little Tokyo by my old neighborhood. That's pretty tight.Lina been had interviewing everybody. - @linalovesit