A State of Independence with Sophie Grey.

A State of Independence with Sophie Grey.

Sophie Grey. is a singer/songwriter ready share her sonic artistry to a great big world.  Kicking off a career in music right before the pandemic, Sophie Grey. kept of creating with a vibrant state of independence and has emerged with a deeper knowledge in production as well as performance.  Sophie’s latest single is entitled Boys Tell Those Lies, featuring the participation of charlotteisyourgurl – another talented artist you should have on your radar!  Highwire Daze recently caught up with Sophie Grey. at a Jack Lue photo shoot over at Dystopian Studios to find out a whole lot more about his amazing artist on the rise.  Read on…

We’re here with Sophie Grey. First of all, where are you based out of, and what is your local music scene like there?
I’m from LA, but I do have a background also in Kansas City.  So, I’m kind of hybrid in that sense. Kansas City has such a strong jazz background. I definitely think there’s some influences in my music with jazz, alternative music, hip hop. I kind of have a mix of genres in my music and pop obviously. But yeah, it’s kind of the scene and I think LA is really all types of music.  It’s just a melting pot.

Boys Tell Those Lies, tell me about that song and the collab that you did with charlotteisyourgurl and how that all came about.
Boys Tell Those Lies is just a song that I just started writing it in my kitchen actually. I was fiddling with my computer, and I produced all my music, so I just started messing around with some chords and I really liked what I came up with. I decided to have kind of an ’80s feel to it. So, I added like a drum machine kind of sound with the kit. And then Charlotte is actually my little sister.

I was talking to her because I came up with these lyrics and I was like there’s a lot of liars out there and we’ve all been in relationships where we feel like we know someone, but we really don’t. I was like, “Do you relate to this?” She was like, “Yeah, I love this song!” So, we kind of just decided to get in the studio and we came up with some great harmonies together. And I felt like because we had this sister bond, it even made it stronger. We were like kind of teaming up and supporting each other, and then we were like let’s make a video that kind of is girls supporting girls. That’s kind of how it came about. It was just a song supporting other women and trying to make us all feel like we’re not alone in this relationship process.

Had you and your sister ever done anything music-wise before?
No. This was like the first release that we’ve done, so it was really fun and special because it had a lot of meaning to the song.

Have you performed it live with her yet?
No, not with her, but I performed it live at The Mint a few days ago, and I’m performing it live on May 17th at Molly Malones.

You have a song called Fool, tell me the inspiration behind that one.
Sophie: That song is… Again, as you can see, there’s a pattern with relationships in me.  But that one was I wanted to do something really different that I had never done production-wise, so I wanted to do an electronic-based song – kind of mixed EDM with my alternative music and jazz background. Fool is just about being vulnerable and you know you are aware that you’re being manipulated by someone, but you don’t want to leave it. So I think it’s an interesting subject because it’s not like you’re being fooled, you know you’re the fool and you’re okay with that. So that’s kind of like that angle to the story and it’s like a bad habit. Hopefully, there’s other people out there who relate and have that similar situation – or maybe not, hopefully not.

Heartstrings, tell me about that one.
Heartstrings. That’s a good one. I love the production on that. As you can see, I really start my songs and my songwriting with producing because I get inspired by the sounds that I create, and that inspires my lyrics. But that one is also kind of a similar idea about you’re with this person, they’re new, and you don’t fully trust them, but you’re okay with it and you’re just wanting to have fun and live spontaneously. I think that’s good and bad because spontaneity lets you be exposed to new and different experiences, but also to learn from that and to finally get to what you want in life. So that’s kind of what that story’s about. It’s just really fun and lighthearted.

Your first singles No Hate and Dark Lights was released right before the Pandemic. What was that experience to start out and then have to create during that historical time of the Pandemic?
That’s a great question. The Pandemic was really hard on everybody, especially in music because it prevented all of us from collaborating and getting into the studio. It almost seemed like music wasn’t going to stop, but really, it just kind of flourished during this time because for me at least, because I wasn’t able to collaborate, I really just self-taught myself music programs to learn how to produce, learn how to mix and engineer, and just be very self-sufficient in my music creation. That was great. Now I use all these skills. Later on, I have a vocabulary to talk to different engineers, mixing, mastering engineers, producers. So for that, I am thankful for the Pandemic. But I do think a lot of my songs were kind of gloomy during that time. Another song I wrote during that time was Alone Tonight, and it came out recently, but it was written during the pandemic and just talks about the desire to just see another person, to talk to another person. So yeah, that’s kind of how I felt about The Pandemic. It was definitely a very difficult time, but I think some good did come out of it for music.

How did you wind up working with Smash Mouth? How did that collaboration come about?
I am really good friends with Zach Goode. He’s Smash Mouth’s lead singer now. He’s an amazing performer. I mean, who doesn’t like Smash Mouth?

Absolutely!
They’re amazing. They’re part of the culture, I would say, especially with the Shrek memes and resurgence of that. Everyone kind of has a connection to Smash Mouth. So, it was an honor to be asked to be on their holiday album, and especially to cover a Wham classic Last Christmas. I love George Michael and it was an honor to do that. So, when I got the call I was like, “Absolutely! When and where?” I think it turned out really great and it’s got a very interesting style to it and a different feel and genre to it. It’s a great song.

What can one expect from a live of Sophie Grey. show?
I think you can expect fun jokes. Maybe not super funny, but I think everyone laughs with me because either they feel bad for me, or they actually enjoy the jokes. It’s just a really good time. When I play live, I am just so excited, and I feel like everyone in the room is my family member. I feel very vulnerable but in a good way. Like, I’m ready to just expose myself 100%. I think everyone rolls with it. I do some fun covers. A few nights ago, I covered Fool in the Rain.  So that was a really good time. My band is outstanding. Obviously, we tried to do it justice because it’s Led Zeppelin, it’s a classic.

If you could open for any band, either now or from the past, or any artist, who would it be and why?
I would say one of my favorite bands is Toto.  I love Toto.  All of them have such great musicianship and they’re just so talented.  Everybody knows their songs, so that would be an honor. They’re playing Hollywood Bowl, so I could still get a call.  And I love Tame Impala. One reason I love him is he’s very self-sufficient in his music, he produces it, he mixes it. That’s something I think is just great to have. I mean, it’s great to collaborate, but it’s also great to create the vision that you’re seeing. So maybe one of them.

What’s up next for you?
I have a show, May 17th at Molly Malones. I have a couple of singles coming out for the summer, and I have music videos coming out with pretty much every one of my songs, so stay up to date with that. I’m just exploring, creating music. It’s all you got to do at this point.

That’s what you got to do. For sure.
Yeah. It’s my life and I’m happy I’m able to do that.

(Interview by Ken Morton – Photos by Jack Lue)

Sophie Grey. on Instagram