Music Q&A with Sophia Marie
Photo courtesy of Sophia Marie
Singer-songwriter, Sophia Marie, is currently a student at Georgetown University and has been working on music during her time there. In this Q&A, Sophia Marie, talked about the music she has been releasing, her favorite album of all time, who she would like to see in concert, and more! Her EP, Foreigner Is OUT NOW!
You’re currently a student at Georgetown University. You’re majoring in something not music related, some would say, but how do you feel your college experience has affected your songwriting?
My entire songwriting process began the spring of my freshman year when COVID started, so my collegiate experience was the catalyst for much of my song writing, and has been a constant inspiration in my songwriting as I have evolved. I've been a student non-stop since the age of 5, so the concept of school is something I often draw upon. With respect to Georgetown specifically, the School of Foreign Service is essential to all my discussion of politics and international relations. The very geography of my school as well--its location in East-Coast DC, is something that inspires me a lot. Not as romanticized as the places in Europe I write songs about, but vastly different from my home-base in Los Angeles. My coast-to-coast relocation is something that comes up a lot in my music, particular in my debut EP Foreigner when I describe my own "foreignness" being a girl from across the country.
What’s your favorite song you’ve released so far?
I think that, lyrically, “What A Waste” is my favorite song I've released. I just spent so much time revising the lyrics over and over again, making sure it said everything I wanted it to say. It was by far the most personal song I've released and refers to places that maybe a lot of people don't know, but I do, places like Battersea and Pimlico, the latter a place that no tourist would ever say "I must go there!" that it's hilarious I even choose to write about it. I find that interesting--to talk about places that usually aren't romanticized or that objectively beautiful but are in songs because they make up the special history that is your life. I love when artists do that (Lana Del Rey does this a lot)--talk about really personal places and random events that mean so much to them but seem so abstract to listeners. It's like the listener has no understanding of what it might mean, only how it means in the context of the emotion of the song. The line like "Ten minutes late to my gate in Amsterdam" is not very relatable per say, but I know exactly what I'm talking about. And then the chorus is something I think everyone can relate to, describing the phenomenon of any time a person has been in a nauseatingly romantic ambiance without someone to be romantic with. The song I think is a perfect mix of the incomprehensible because it's so specific -- the "ten minutes late to my gate in Amsterdam," the "crush on the Russian teacher," the "bridge back from the Globe theatre," etc--and the universal, with lines such as "dressing up to go nowhere; dressing just to meet the absence of you there" being a sentiment many can relate to. I love playing with that because it allows the song to be specific and meaningful to me but also attainable to listeners. I think when a song gets too general, I can't cry to it because I don't recognize my own life in it. And when a song is so specific, no listener finds it worthwhile because it's too self indulgent to be applicable to their own lives. I like striking a balance.
What is your favorite album of all time?
I'd say of all time Lana Del Rey's Born to Die. I wrote a whole article on this in LA Weekly as well, but I think it is the perfect mix of youthful, energetic spontaneity and melancholy. It is the kind of direction I want my music to go into in its next chapter. It's very LA and very young, but with a kind of hint of disillusionment that makes the listener know that despite the young voice, the singer is full of wisdom.
At the current moment, however, I would say that my favorite album is Alexandra Savior's Belladonna of Sadness. I think her music in general is perfect. She doesn't have a bad song. The album is really dark, and there is this specific motif of carousel sounds that I find so hanting, and I want to play with that in my production down the line. The song "Girlie" has perfect lyrics.
What is one artist or band that you haven’t seen in concert, that you hope to see someday?
I just got to see Sidney Gish in concert at Georgetown University which meant so much to me. Her album No Dogs Allowed perfectly encapsulate my early-20s-self being so afraid to grow up. Her quirky lyrics are unmatched, so it meant so much to me to sing every single word right in front of her. Her songs for me remind me of my first time in London alone, which was the most formative experience in my life.
I would die the day I see Lana Del Rey live or just merely walking around in the flesh. Everytime I'm in Venice, I freak out that I might see her because she loves Venice. There are only like three celebrities I would freak out if I met--Edward Norton being another and probably David Tennant because the 10th doctor was the love of my life since the age of 10--but like I just feel like there's something so metaphysical about the way I relate to Lana. It would almost be otherworldly because my connection to her and her music doesn't operate in any kind of material way. I feel like no one gets me like she does.
We all have our days where it may not be going as well as we’d like. People deal with their worst days in different ways. What helps you get through the bad days? How do you stay positive?
I write most of my songs when I'm sad, so I often do that. It's just that I have more to say when I'm sad, also when I'm angry. I think that might be why a lot of my songs seem mean.
But I'd say the mere act of singing--like physically singing with my vocal chords--makes me happy. Even if I'm in open spaces, walking down streets, I'll sing just loud enough to get a rush of dopamine. I wonder if there's science behind it, like if the opening of vocal cords releases some kind of happiness nerves. Maybe it's just my own mind making it up, but it always helps.
Thank you for taking the time for this Q&A. Any last words or final message for the readers?
Thanks so much! I hope readers can relate to my music and also like it as well for its mere musical value, and if you want to chat to me about love, music, college, or anything else you think we might relate to each other on, I'd love to talk to you! I'm super active on Instagram, so feel free to reach out to me there!