On an unassuming Tuesday evening in the East Village, a sequin-studded popstar stepped towards the stage. The lights were bright, and the bass was loud as she made her way through the crowd. When the lights come up on Avery Cochrane, it feels like her three hundredth concert, not her third.

The Seattle-born singer embarked on her first headline tour after releasing her latest EP, Male Validation and Other Drugs, on March 27. Through seven songs, the project explores themes of heartbreak, femininity, and coming of age in a world that makes you work for it. At the show, Avery’s setlist showcased tracks from the beginning of her career in 2021 to her recent release. 

The Underground Edit had the pleasure of seeing Avery Cochrane perform at Night Club 101 in New York City at the beginning of April. Supporting Cochrane, Brooklyn-based pop artist Natalie Livingston, with an affinity for the 1980s aesthetic, performed four songs acoustically, with only one of her bandmates on percussion. She noted from her seat at the keyboard that she wasn’t used to playing without a full band. Nevertheless, her voice carried across the sold-out venue, leaving guests in awe. Her sound was a perfect compliment to the headlining act.

As Cochrane took the stage, the energy was palpable. Though the EP was only a week and a half old, the crowd had no trouble screaming all the words. Between songs, she spoke about the ability to finally play live shows with the label and team backing her. Before this, she had been performing at small venues, often with or in support of other artists. In addition to New York City, Cochrane took her music to Seattle, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. It was a thrill to visit parts of the United States that had once been unknown to her, she explained. 

After the show, Avery spoke to The Underground Edit about the many facets of her fast-growing career.

Cochrane’s musical infatuation began at a young age, when she would write her own lyrics to Taylor Swift instrumentals. She taught herself piano and guitar, and was part of the choir and vocal jazz in grade school. However, she pivoted to political science for her undergraduate career. “I always knew that being a musician was my calling, but I think I was too shy to say it,” she admitted. Cochrane began an educational journey at San Diego State University, but only had one semester before the pandemic sent her back to Seattle.

The sudden change proved to be exactly what she needed to fully immerse herself in the music industry. In early 2021, she recorded and released her first single, “Chelsea Boots.” “It was a thrill to create a song from start to finish,” Cochrane said. She explained that creating the world of a song and packaging singles were her favorite parts of the process in the early days.

Four and a half years later, Cochrane has now finished her degree, released an EP, and played live in five major cities. When asked if her political science degree impacts her songwriting, the answer was immediate—”Definitely.”

“I love to tie how the world is impacted by macroscopic issues, under capitalism and under the patriarchy, to my interpersonal issues,” she said. Listeners can see these connections in the lyrics of songs such as “Oh Mercy!” and “Loneliness in Numbers.”  

Now that she’s signed with a label, Cochrane feels serious. “Not that it was ever unserious, but now it feels like a step above,” she said.

Emma Guilianti and Marlena Lerner, members of Cochrane’s newfound team, have become some of Cochrane’s industry confidantes. Guilianti is the admin for Cochrane’s fan group chat on Instagram and runs @averycochranehq. Lerner was appointed as Creative Director after working with the singer on all of her music videos. The self-proclaimed “power trio” scoured vintage drag stores and couture boutiques such as Cosmo’s Glamsquad in Melrose, California. The latter is where Cochrane even scored her sequin jumpsuit for the New York City show.

Crafting the setlist for these shows proved to be a larger task than anticipated, as her newest project was her official immersion into the world of pop, compared to her previous release. “I wanted to fill at least an hour, but it was hard because my EP is only seven songs. I feel like my EP sounds different from basically everything else in my discography because this was my shift into pop music,” she explained. Ultimately, Avery performed 12 songs, including one yet to be released. “I’m excited to release more music so that I can have a more pop-oriented setlist.” 

Singing these songs live was a new beast to wrangle. In the transition to becoming a pop performer, Cochrane worked with a vocal coach and her sound producer, Nic Casey. She confessed, “It is hard to sing pop music! It’s so upbeat, and it’s so high, I had to totally train my voice in a different way.” Nic worked to create backing vocals for the tour, making Cochrane feel like a true popstar with backup singers (when it was really all her own gorgeous harmonies).

Despite her uncertainty, Cochrane put on a fantastic show, and The Underground Edit was not the only journalist in attendance. In addition to other online publications, media giants like Teen Vogue and Tumblr witnessed Cochrane’s NYC debut. When asked about how it felt to be seen by these outlets, Avery said, “I had a ‘pinch myself’ moment. Growing up, Teen Vogue was my only magazine subscription. I was obsessed with editorial photoshoots. In middle school, I would make my friends get dressed up and do editorial photoshoots with me.”

It’s been interesting for Cochrane to enter fan spaces without having much experience as a “fangirl,” and even expressed feeling FOMO about not diving into the 2010s fan culture in middle school. In the same vein, she admitted how it’s contributed to feeling clueless about approaching the creation of her fanbase. Therefore, she’s leading with empathy. She wants to “build a community of listeners and fans where they feel welcome and a part of something.”

Looking at the future of her career, Cochrane shared that she wants to release her debut album before the year ends, but she admits that she’s racing against the calendar’s clock to produce content that she’s proud of. Despite the industry calendar working against her, Cochrane is undoubtedly serious about her passion and understands the work that comes with the art. At the end of the day, though, pressure should help create diamonds out of her music, not stress: “If the pressure is making the art suffer, then it’s not worth it.”

Photos taken by Emily Rose | Interviewed in April 2026