Inside PinkPantheress’ evolving production workflow

From sampling in her bedroom to collaborating with some of the UK’s most in-demand producers, 25-year-old PinkPantheress has come a long way in how she talks about – and makes – music.

Speaking on a new episode of the In Proximity podcast, the 2026 BRITs Producer of the Year offers a candid look at her creative process, breaking down how her earliest tracks were built and how that workflow has evolved over the years.

“When I first started, I had a lot of songs that I really wanted to sample or manipulate.” she says. “Speed up, slow it down. That is a form of production. It’s sampling, but in terms of what I was doing, I was being quite low-lift with it.”

Using GarageBand as her main tool, PinkPantheress – real name Victoria Beverley Walker – would rip audio, chop it up, and layer drum loops over the top: “I would take a track, and I would basically take it and then speed it up, slow it down. And then I’d add things to an already existing bit of audio,” she explains. “This was what it was at the beginning.”

“[Then] as time went on, I started to gain a bit more confidence in what I could do, and I also started to collaborate with other people,” says the 25-year-old.

Despite now working with producers like Mura Masa and Oscar Scheller, PinkPantheress admits she was initially unsure about stepping into a traditional studio environment.

“My manager at the time was like, ‘Oh, I want to set you up to do a session.’ I was like, ‘What is a session? Like, I did all this myself – you want me to do a session now?’ I was not offended, but I was like, I don’t want to break this cycle that I’m in of making music my way. And I was all worried and like, I’m gonna hate it. I didn’t know what a session was. I just had no idea.”

According to Walker, that reluctance came from the fact that she viewed herself as a “producer first, and then vocalist last, or like, second, or whatever. So for me, it was like, ‘Well, what is this for?”

That said, that perspective shifted quickly once she began working with others. Watching collaborators in action became a turning point, particularly when she encountered new tools and workflows.

“I’d never used a MIDI controller in my life like that,” she says. “Before then I was just using my keyboard on my laptop, and I thought that was the only way to do it. Then I watched them do it. And I was like, ‘Oh, I can just buy a keyboard and do it myself.’”

These days, her creative process is a mix of working solo and teaming up with others. Some tracks start with ideas from other producers that she reshapes and builds on, while others begin with her own productions before bringing in collaborators to expand on them. Even so, she keeps her circle tight, typically working with just a handful of producers in rotation.

“It was very hard for me – I just wanted to do everything myself,” says PinkPantheress. “But after I collaborated for the first time with Oscar, I was like, yeah, this has to be the norm. It has to be. I mean, there’s a reason it makes your life easier, and I wouldn’t have these songs without these people.”