They discuss the creation process and communication themes behind their new LP, Chit Chat, finally touring outside of the midwest, continuing to be two best buds making music together, and all of their thoughts and feelings about Panic! At The Disco.
"This record is a result of us just continuing to give ourselves grace in trying and failing and trying and succeeding." - Bridget Stiebris
DJ Ninja: Hey all, this is a CHIRP Radio artist interview. I am Ninja hanging out with Haley and Bridget from OK Cool. How's it going today, guys?
Haley Blomquist Waller: Great. Thanks for having us.
N: So you all released your first full length back in August. How has that gone so far?
Bridget Stiebris: Oh, my gosh. As well as we could have hoped, I think. Yeah, we just did a hometown show as well as a couple out-of-state shows in New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Pittsburgh. And those were all really fun.
HW: Yeah, we had a really good, really show. It's been well received. It feels good to have songs recorded and have them out there.
N: And had you toured much outside the midwest or at all before this?
BS: This was definitely our furthest run from Chicago. We've done some midwest states before. Largely, it's going to be like Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin kind of vibe. So this time, it was really cool to get to as far out as we could to New York. Like, I haven't even been there since I was 10. So not only just for band purposes, it was cool to play New York, but also just as a personal achievement.
N: Any fun road stories, any show that was unique or weird or crazy?
HW: They're all kind of unique and weird and crazy in their own way.
BS: Especially like for DIY touring, like, you could be in a, you know, a standard bar venue one day and then the next day in someone's house, which is exactly where we were.
HW: Some good sandwiches. We got some good food.
BS: Got attacked by bees in Toledo. Yeah. And then, of course, all the people that you stay with on the road. For in this case, it was like a lot of my family members because they just so happened to be on the East Coast. And so that was really, really sweet to see them as well. Because I haven't seen them in like six or seven years.
HW: Shout out Bridget's aunt and uncle. They treated us like a bed-and-breakfast and it was great.
N: That’s awesome. Getting the whole family reconnection stuff while you're actually out promoting this brand new awesome thing that you made.
BS: I know. It's so cool to be doing things that fulfill you, and artistically and personally and emotionally and just getting to have it all wrapped up into one week. It's just awesome.
N: New album is full length. You hadn't recorded that many songs before. The songs got longer for this record. So, what were some of the things that you had to challenge yourself, extend your skills for the breadth of what you were doing for an LP?
HW: We knew we wanted to make them longer. We knew we wanted to play with some different instruments, like, adding some synth keys and stuff in there and just kind of messing around a little bit more in the writing process and kind of seeing what sticks.
BS: This record is a result of us just continuing to give ourselves grace in trying and failing and trying and succeeding. And as much as we have now that's out, like, there's a lot more hours that nothing came of, or that we were trying things than that didn't work. But I think having now this proof in front of us that some of it does in the end is a good motivation to keep that going.
N: Is there any specific thing where you're like, I really want to try this, I don't think it's going to work out, and it definitely worked out?
HW: I think I was listening to a lot of Rosie Tucker and I was trying to make a melody with Safety Car that I felt like was reminiscent of Rosie Tucker's melodies because they kind of go up and down and all over the place in a way that I admire. I don't know that I fully pulled that off, but I think that it was a fun challenge and it kind of inspired a melody that maybe I wouldn't have thought of otherwise.
N: So Haley, last time we talked, you were just starting to sing on the tracks, and you're obviously on a lot more of them now. How's that been for you? You were just getting comfortable with it. Do you feel good about it? Is it still scary?
HW: Well, I don't want to say I feel good about it. I think it is just kind of a thing that happens at this point. So when me and Bridget started it, it was very apparent that we didn't feel like singers and we didn't ever sing before that. So it was just kind of like, how are we going to make music just the two of us? And we had talked about it for a while before that even and said, well, too bad we can't do this because neither of us sings. We got to the point where it was like, okay, well, let's just try it and see and Bridget was more willing to do it and I think she has a better voice so I think that that worked out.
BS: No…
HW: I'm not doing a false compliments thing!
N: Good title of the record, Chit Chat. Is there any kind of theme in the record that relates to the title?
BS: I think the idea for the title, I don't know exactly when it spawned. Originally it was the name for the intro track and that track is just about a situation of my life where I had to really instate some boundaries and saw them broken over and over again. And when something like that happens to you for the first time, it's a very jarring experience. And so I think part of the title is kind of a tongue-in-cheek reference to that experience of, like, I only know my experience. So for this person breaking a boundary, this could be something they don't think twice about, right? This could be just chit-chat for them or something like that. For me, it feels like such a violation, you know, as someone who has, like, put the boundary in place to see it continuously violated. But there's a lot of lyrical content about communication in general in this record, kind of also a testament to us sending demos back and forth to each other, which is usually how we start off ideas. It's just initially one of us alone in our room, like, making something pretty basic and shooting it off to the other and being like, is this any good? And that's kind of how it starts.
N: It seemed like it would be appropriate for your guys' relationship, just thinking about the 25 minutes that I spent troubleshooting and you guys are just like, we got stuff to talk about.
HW: Not actual stuff to talk about, for the record. We were talking about Panic! at the Disco albums getting worse.
N: Last time I talked to you, I think Haley, you specifically said, we're just two buds hanging out making music. Sounds like that still is probably the vibe or is there anything more serious about it now?
HW: That's definitely the goal is to try to keep it close to heart because I think it can get away from you quickly if you are focused on like, oh, we have to, you know, arbitrarily we made an album at this point, so we have to make an album now or we have to do–like, to put pressure on yourself in a way that keeps you on it and not straying too far, but also not feeling disingenuine. So yeah, definitely that's still the goal and something we try to do all the time.
BS: I just kind of felt like we were in a place to take a swing at a record. You know, it's something we had never done before and I was interested in seeing what that would be like, but I'm definitely not telling myself that we need to follow that record with another record.
N: I feel like this is also a challenge consistently, for musicians, is spreading the music. I will say, I was able to Google your band name much more easily this time than last time, and it's not because Google got better. So are there any codes you've cracked in the last two years, thinking about spreading the word, spreading the music.
BS: I think about this constantly. I mean, I also work in the industry, so my life is bands, pretty much, and looking at data and looking at shows and looking at lifespans of bands.
HW: Bridget likes this part. I don't like this part.
BS: One code that I've cracked is that there is no one-size-fits-all with music and music careers. There are avenues that work really well for some people because it plays to their strengths, in reference to things like TikTok. We have a TikTok, but we're not a TikTok band, like, quote unquote. I'm not posting videos every day. I'm not really focusing on content creation for us. Playing to our strengths, what that looks like for us is, well, we can balance a budget and we can reach out to some people and we can get some quotes for PR and whatnot. And we can try to find a way to, you know, knowing that this is DIY, knowing that we're only five years into this band, knowing that we're obviously still both working on being singers and writers in general. Like, as cool as it would be to spend that money on a studio, I don't know that that would make more of an impact on the songs as a whole then it would to instead spend that money in marketing. I keep everything on Google Drive. We got spreadsheets, we got docs, just keeping track of what you're doing, knowing why you're doing it, and using the results from last time to then lean into what works and move away from what doesn't.
N: If a record label came calling would you jump?
BS: The thing with labels, that's interesting too, is typically they give you a certain amount of money in advance and then you recoup it with the sales. And so with us, we independently released this, and we were able to put out vinyl through an awesome independent label, klepto phase, shout-out Nick. In this way we get the best of both worlds, where we’re able to keep our digital distribution and make our own CDs and control all of our merch sales, and we just have vinyl going through their website.
N: What's up next for you? You got any shows coming up?
BS: October 31st at Lincoln Hall. We are support for Yada Yada on their EP release show. We're very excited about that.
N: Is there anything that we haven’t talked about that you would like people to know or that you would have hoped to talk about?
HW: Just that Panic! at the Disco’s albums got worse. His time ran out.
BS: Now, there is no denying that, so make sure everyone knows that.
N: This has been a CHIRP Artist Interview with OK Cool, Haley and Bridget. Thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it.
BS&HW: Thanks for having us!
You can listen to OK Cool’s latest album, Chit Chat, on Bandcamp. See them live at Beat Kitchen on December 11, 2025 with Diet Lite and Courts.
Listen to the audio version of this interview here.
Produced by DJ Ninja.
Photo Credit: Tracy Conoboy