June 3, 2022 • 37 mins
Jordan talks with the pioneering country artist about her new EP 'One of These Days,' performing on 'The Kelly Clarkson Show,' and their shared love of ghost stories.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Inside the
Studio on I Heart Radio. My name is Jordan run Tug,
But enough about me, let's talk about my guest. She's
an immensely talented singer songwriter who's refused her passion for
country music with her passion for grunge. You can get
a taste with her new six track EP One of
These Days, which features her empowering new single more Me,
(00:22):
and recent favorites like the euphoric Sweetheart and the deeply
personal title track, and if you still want more, I
encourage you to check her out on TikTok, where she
has plenty more songs that are as hilarious as they
are catching. There's a cautionary tale about a man with
a mullet, and my personal favorite, a track called Sherlock
Holme Wrecker, which, for my money, would do the Dixie
Tricks proud. I'm so happy to welcome Sophia Scott Well
(00:49):
first and foremost. Your new song more Me came out
a few days ago, and I love it so much
for so many reasons, not least of all that introduced
me to the phrase small truck energy, which we gotta
get on a t shirt or something that's so good.
Um right, yeah. Um, you said it's a song for
anybody who needs to find themselves again, which is such
a great message. Tell me about where that song came
(01:11):
from for you. Yeah. Well, first I was going to
say that maybe I'm not supposed to say this yet,
but it is being on it. It's coming on a
T shirt. Send you one. Yeah, Um, although it's gonna
say big truck energy, so I guess you'd probably sell more. Yes, yes, yes, yes, anyway, Um,
(01:36):
that song is cool because um it actually, although I
do tell it from my own point of view, in
my own perspective, it's actually from it transpired from a
conversation that I had with a girlfriend one night. We
were sitting and drinking wine on her couch and she
she was in sort of a toxic relationship in which
(01:59):
I feel like she was being controlled more or less,
and I think, you know, we we were just talking
a lot about it, and I think she was kind
of at the end of her rope, and she was like,
you know, I just need a lot less him and
a lot more me. And I was like, that's a song.
And I was actually going into the studio like a
(02:21):
few days later, and so I wrote that, and I
wanted it to be really fun and kind of not
like a diss on him, but you know, yeah, it's
a female empowerment song, and yeah, I think I don't know,
I hope that it's relatable. I mean, I I although
it's told from her perspective, I think that many people
know that feeling of just losing yourself in a relationship
(02:45):
with somebody else and needing to kind of maybe find
who you are again and get that boundary of how
much is, you know, time for the relationship versus how
much just for myself. Yeah, that's a really it's a
tough thing to learn, it is. Yeah. Sure, Um, you've
debuted a number of just amazing songs on TikTok. Sherlock
(03:06):
Holme record is a favorite of mine, But Mullet over
it is just donny, I mean, an ode to either
an ode or a cautionary tale. I can't really tell
which about a man with an F one fifty and
a mullet What are your plans for all these songs?
I'm just so blown away by how I mean. I'm
somebody who's never written a song in his life, so
(03:26):
this is just like sorcery to me, you have all
these songs, what are your plans for some of the
ones that are living on TikTok? Now? Are they slated
for a future EP, future album or so many of them?
I know there's a lot. I'm actually so happy I
answered or you asked me this question because I feel
like everybody's for the TikTok audience, especially because they're like,
where the hell are all these songs? Um? But yeah,
(03:49):
I I have plans to release. I can't say all
of them right now, but a large majority of them.
There is an album coming, and my debut EP comes
out next week, so some of them are on there,
and then some are still to come. It's just hard,
you know. I feel like people don't realize just how
(04:09):
much goes into like actually putting a song out and
all that, and so then I I've kind of tried
to scale it back now with releasing all the demos
because I feel like now I have angry fans that
are like, how is it all? They are so great?
But yeah, I'm glad you like Mullet, one of my favorites.
(04:30):
I did get some angry um men with Mullets that
did not like these songs so much. But you know,
it's not a dis on mullets. It's just a it's
a it's a guy. It's just on a guy. Yeah.
I was like, I actually love mullets, so I wanted
to be said that I love mullets. Speaking of just
(04:51):
this incredible wealth of music you have, not too far back,
you released another single One of these Days, which is
absolutely gorgeous song. I know it's a very special long
for you from a very personal place. Can you tell
me a little bit about that track. It sounds like
it was something that was kind of, uh in the
works for for years. He wrote that years ago, right, yes, yes,
well you've done your research. Um, I appreciate it. Yeah,
(05:14):
I appreciate your music. Thank you. Um So Yeah, I
wrote that song almost like four years ago actually, and
I've I've been holding it in my back pocket, I
guess because it is so personal and I think, you know,
since writing it really opened up a door to my
songwriting as far as like being able to become vulnerable.
(05:37):
I think I had written a lot of breakup songs
that sort of scratched the surface of you know, going
into that, but I had never it's very scary as
a songwriter to actually go deep and talk about things
that might make some relationships in your life uncomfortable. Um,
(05:58):
if that makes sense. Um, you know, just this song
talks about my parents divorce, and for a really long time,
I was so scared to play it for them, even
though it's not you know, it's not dashing really either
of them. It's just talking about a personal experience that
I had with that. And I think I have realized,
(06:19):
especially through writing it. And and that's only really one
aspect of the song. The song is about a lot
more than that, but that's the first verse. And I think,
you know, music to me growing up has always been
a healing that's something that can help heal me, you know,
or just at least make me feel less alone. And
when other songwriters or just other artists that I love
(06:40):
are willing to go there and willing to go to
that vulnerial place and talk about, you know, some real stuff,
I think, you know, I I, for whatever reason that day,
I was like, I gotta go there. I gotta like,
I gotta do it. It's like my therapy. And and
I hadn't I had never written with either of these
two other songwriters who I wrote co wrote it with
(07:01):
and they were like, let's like talk about some real
ship basically, and I was like yeah, and um, so
we ended up writing that. And I think the song
really has become this like because yes, the first verse
is about my parents, but then it it's about my
own realization with just love and life in my own
(07:26):
breakups and you know, then into my career and just
how you know. I think I hate saying everything happens
for a reason because I don't know that that's necessarily
the message, but but that there's through any difficult situation
that you go through, there's growth and their strength on
the other side, and you know you you can come
(07:47):
out of it. And I think it's it's become my
personal reminder of just knowing that I can. I can
do anything, and I can I can find strength through
any sort of bad situation I go through. I almost
got the sense that it was like the flip side
of your song Sweetheart in a way. I mean, the
one of these days it's all about the hard times,
and then Sweethearts kind of all about the good stuff
(08:09):
that can come the other side of it. Yeah, Well
it's funny because that so that actually leads me into
why I called the record or the EPs is called
One of these Days also, um, and I kind of
decided after going back and forth through a million different
titles and trying to figure out what I wanted to
(08:29):
call the project, we landed on One of these Days
because I think all the other songs fit into that
same message. And Sweetheart, you know, is the second verse
of One of these Days, essentially like shrilled into one,
if that makes sense. You know, it's about my high
school sweetheart, and you know, just wishing wishing him well
(08:51):
and knowing that there's I don't know that your first
love is a complicated thing, but also I think a
wonderful thing, and you learned so many lessons from that situation.
And I, you know, I wanted to we put it
out around Valentine's Day, and I wanted to like just
basically give an ode to all sweethearts and all first
(09:11):
loves and wishing them well and knowing that although it
didn't work out, you know, we can still appreciate it
for what it was and still see the sweet in
the sweethearts, you know. Oh, absolutely, I hope everybody looks
back on their first you know, love fondly and it
has that because that's such a special thing for me,
and I think of how much I learned and how
(09:32):
you know, special they still are to mean, wherever they are,
I have no idea where they are right now, but
I still, you know, think about them from time to
time and it's yeah, No, I think that's a that's
a wonderful place to be at. And I hope that
people have that. I'll call it a gift, you know,
that to look back on that time in their life
and that person in their life fondly. Totally. Yep, I agree.
I but one of these days maybe what an incredible
(09:54):
song I love. I love the two versions you have
the uh I think you called it the sad piano
version of a st down version of it too, But
it's it's it's such an amazing song. And I was curious,
and I love asking songwriters this because I always get
a different answer. Do you ever learn something about yourself?
When having finished the song and heard it back? I
(10:14):
liken it to like a dream reading. Do you ever
hear the song back? And I said like, oh my god,
this is this is what I meant by this. I
didn't know it at the time, But I honestly have
chills because I just was talking about this the other day.
Like with songs that I wrote three years ago, I'll
be like, I'll listen to and I'll be like, oh
my god, it's like I didn't even know what I
(10:36):
was talking about when I wrote it, but it was
like I got it out and now listening back, I'm like, this,
this is more real to me than it than it
was when I wrote it, if that makes sense, Like
three years later somehow it's like, oh, now this actually
makes more sense than it did when I wrote it.
I don't know how that's possible, but yeah, it's interesting.
(10:58):
It's yeah, it means something new. I guess, oh totally.
I mean it's like in dreams, you kind of disguise
whatever it is you're going through in other people their pictures,
other scenes, whatever it is, and then you need to
get some perspective from it to read into the metaphors
or whatever it is. I guess it's so interesting completely well,
(11:18):
and I think that even like you know, I think
not that history repeats itself, but it's like you go
through cycles of life, and so these songs that you know,
maybe they don't necessarily correlate to what you're going through
in this specific time. They will at another time in
your life when you're going through it again or whatever. Yeah.
(11:39):
Oh that's a great point. Yeah. We we definitely have
patterns that we return to and behaviors relationships, some good,
some bad. But for sure, is writing daily practice for
(12:01):
you like some people jog or do yoga. Is it's
something that that you do every day. Yeah, I mean
I do it every day, whether whether I'm in an
actual writing session. I do writing sessions. At least I was,
like in the past six months, I was writing like
four or five times a week, which ended up being
(12:21):
a little bit too much, especially once I had like
the music and I kind of had to take a
step back for a minute and live my life so
that I had things to write about. Um. But yeah,
I mean, whether whether it's an actual writing session where
I'm going in with the intention of writing a full song,
or just like I voiced memo stuff every day, or
like little titles will come to me inspiring like quotes
(12:44):
or just like phrases or whatever it is will come
to me, or if it's just like a feeling that
I don't want to forget so that I you know,
because I always find that when the inspiration hits or
like when lightning strikes, I guess, as they say, it's
be come really important for me to sit down and
write it because sometimes, or like in the past, I
(13:05):
would be like in the middle of doing something and
have this creative moment or creative feeling of inspiration and
be like, oh, I'll just come back to it. I
won't forget it. But it's so different when you come
back to it, you don't you don't have the same
emotion into writing it. So I feel like it's very important.
And I feel like any writer, songwriter, or just like author,
(13:26):
whatever it is, would maybe say the same thing. It's
like when it comes, write it down and like get
the feelings out, because I think that's when it's the
most valuable and the most emotional and real. What is
that that flash look like to you? Is it? Is
it a melody in your head? Is it a feeling?
Is it a fragment of lyric? Is it all the above?
Is it all the above at different times? What does
(13:47):
that look like? It's different at different times. I think,
you know, it's crazy. Like recently it's been happening to
me in dreams, which has never happened before. But I'll
have like lyrics or concepts come to me or or melodies,
and I've I've heard Taylor Swift talk about this before
and I was always like, that's so crazy, and I
was I was like, I feel like I've manifested it
(14:08):
into happening for me because it's it's I don't know,
it's cool, but yeah, so so I've been I would
call it like my it's not a dream journal because
I just put it in my phone, but my phone
journal of dreams entrees. I guess um that, Like just
the other night, I had this concept come to me
and I woke up from a dream and I just
wrote it down right away, because otherwise, if you don't
(14:28):
do it, you forget it. And so sometimes, yeah, sometimes
it's like a melody. Sometimes it's a concept. It happens
a lot when I'm driving, like things will just come
to me. I feel like, for when I'm flying in
an airplane, I feel like there's something very ominous. I
don't know there's I don't like there's a reason. I
feel like people cry when they're up in the air.
(14:49):
It's just like you're very vulnerable, yes, and you're untethered.
And I mean, at least if you're me, you're terrified
because I hate flying, but you're just yeah, you're you're
not connected, totally, totally. Yeah, And and so I think
it looks different. It happens in various ways, but um,
(15:10):
when it does happen, it's it's it's cool. And I'm
just I'm just trying to really get into the pattern
of making sure that I write it down when it
does happen, because I have found that when I don't,
I forget it and then it doesn't have the same value.
Paul Cartney talks a lot about that. He's he's one
of my my favorite, one of my favorite human beings.
And he talks a lot about how he wrote yesterday
(15:31):
if he woke up with just that melody in his
head and he wrote let it Be from a dream
from his his late mother coming to him, and I
love that. I love those stories. Oh wow, I didn't
know that about let it Be. That's cool. Oh yeah,
So it's so interesting to see that the role of
subconscious plays in songwriting is just so cool to me.
I think it's so interesting. Yeah, you know, Prince always
(15:51):
talks about and I've heard other people like Jim Morrison
used to always say, um that like it feels sometimes
he feels like the heavens are just or whether it's
the heavens or the universe or whatever coming through him
and he's like it's not. He would he would say,
you know, it wasn't even me writing it. It was
like someone coming through me and writing this song and
(16:13):
it just came out and it's like it was like
it was meant to be. Like basically, you're like this
vessel of creativity from whatever other universe or you know,
things out there, which I always thought was so cool.
I'm waiting for that moment too. It's so it will happen,
Oh my god. I mean, it's just yeah, I really
do think that. I mean, music has been such a
(16:35):
part of human history seemingly since the beginning, and people
talk about it being some kind of linked to the divine,
and you know, as as music fans, you're tempted to
believe that, you know. I mean, there's something I want
to ask you, what kind of role does storytelling play
on your music? Because I know that's not a necessity
(16:56):
for a hit, but I get the sense that for
you that a good story is just as important is
a good melody. Yeah. Well, I mean in my day
to day life, I'm a storyteller, for better or for worse.
My friends would tell you, like, for the longest time,
I was going to call the EP long story short
because it's a joke with my friends that I'll be like,
long story short and then I'll tell the longest story
(17:17):
ever and yeah, thank you. Well it might well, yeah,
we'll see it might be used in another way, but um,
thank you. I yeah, I am very much a storyteller.
I think that that's what drew me to country music
more than anything else, is the stories that you know
are told through country music, like unlike any other genre.
(17:42):
I think country music has the best stories, and you know,
from as long as it goes back, you know, they
were taught, you know, I guess, and and like when
I was growing up listening to those stories is the
thing that that's where like, that's the thing that invokes
(18:03):
the most feeling and the thing that I think can
really help people, I guess, is hearing a full story
and seeing how it can relate to their own lives
or or in some way shape or form or just
to hear the story is is really cool. I mean,
I think that while my while my production is maybe
(18:27):
a little more pop sole leaning, the sticking to the
storyteller aspect is very important to me. And it's just yes,
the way I like to write. Have there been some
artists that you know that made you see the power
of storytelling and songs? I know you mentioned people like
Shania Twain in the past and Atlanta's more set completely
(18:48):
and I actually I never bring this one up, but
Don Henley is a very big inspo for me, and
I feel like his his storytelling. I mean he's not
I wouldn't say country artist, but he is a great
storyteller and just a great lyricist. And I think, um,
he's just someone that can tell a story in such
a way. I mean Joni Mitchell too, Like I feel
(19:10):
like there's just deep meaning and metaphors in what they
write about and just a way that's like it's just
it makes you feel less alone in the world or
something I don't know, and and so I think that, yeah,
that's just a very important also aspect of music for
(19:32):
me and sharing my own music is is that you
know what I was talking about one of these days earlier,
and just the fear of talking about my parents going
through a divorce and having them hear it. Which when
I did play it for them, they were they loved
it and they were completely fine with it and it
was all okay. But had I had a song like
that growing up to listen to when I was going
(19:54):
through it would have been so helpful. And so I
think that, you know, that's what I meant by music
being able to heal, just help us in any ways.
Oh absolutely, man, it's like that. Ever see Almost Famous?
Oh please, my favorite? You know we never you get lonely,
go down to the record store, you see your friends.
I mean, I think that we all had that period
(20:15):
in our lives, and I think there's a little piece
of us that's still has that. You know us too,
it's we connect the music in that way completely. Oh
that's the best movie. Oh my god. Yeah, I mean
that's I mean, you know, I'm a music journalist and
that that movie is probably se Yeah, yeah, I mean probably.
I'm sure I'm not alone in that, but uh yeah, totally.
(20:37):
But have you had the chance to meet or perform
with with any of these these formative figures in your
musical development. I know you were just on the Kelly
Clarkson Show recently, so that that's that story is cool
actually because um, one of these days when I wrote it, Um,
we for whatever reason, they wanted that they really liked
the song, and they were like, do you mind if
we pitch this Kelly Clarkson is looking for us song
(21:00):
and Kelly Clarkson's looking and I was like, I mean,
it was such a personal song to me. But also
I was like, but if Kelly Clarkson wants it, let's go.
Um and so or like we'll see. I don't know,
you know, I was, I feel bad saying that now
because it is like my song, and but but I
you know, Kelly Clarkson is one of my biggest heroes
(21:21):
and long time, like I don't know, she's the American idol,
so uh, you know, for more than one way. But
but anyway, she ended up turning it down because and
I guess she said, like this song is it's it's
too personal, like I can't sing it, like I can
tell that it's a person, this girl should sing it.
And so when she came when I came on the
(21:43):
show and she saw that I was like on the
guest list. She I guess remembered the song and was like, oh,
this is so cool this this girl pitched me the
song like however long ago. So it was a really
cool full circle moment. Oh my god, that's so cool.
Yeah yeah, um yeah, it was cool for sure, especially
just because she is such a such an inspiration to me. UM.
(22:07):
But yes, to answer your question, I UM, I got
to perform uh last summer with Kelsey Ballerini and the
Jonas Brothers, which was really freaking cool. And then I
also got to write with egg Usalia and um was
on her most recent album and she ended up featuring
me on one of the songs. And then she was
featured on one of my songs, which was really cool
(22:30):
and something I never anticipated happening at all because you know,
country and wrap, but now once I guess, it's happening,
and it's happening more often than not. Now, this is
such a a question that I'm it's such a boring question,
so curious how you answered. Given all your different influence,
(22:50):
did you have any dream collaborators, like people that you're
just dying to sing with, work with, write a song with, anything,
so many, so many. I mean I could the list
could go on. But I mean, justin Timberlake is a
big one, just because I feel like he has such
the country pop thing and I just think he's such
a legend and I love all his music. Um. Rihanna
(23:11):
is one just because I adore her and wish I
was her. UM. And then you know, I think Shania
Twain would be a huge one. UM. She's like I
feel like, if I the new music that I've been writing,
I feel like it's very nineties country Shanai a reminiscent.
(23:32):
So I don't know. That's that's definitely a big dream.
You mentioned Rihanna. I have to say your version of
Love on the Brain so good, so good. I feel
(23:55):
like it's like a totally underappreciated song of hers too.
I love that song. I couldn't agree more. I think
it's one of her very best. It's just so good.
I love that whole album. Yeah, Anti, Yeah, Oh my
god's good covered like Tame and Paul and stuff. That's
the best. I love that album. I I think I
speak for the whole world when I'm when I say
that we want more Rihanna music. Yes, Yeah, I mean,
(24:20):
I you're I mean that the songs that you used
to cover, they're just so interesting because there they are
so very I mean, you've got John Mary had Arianna Grande, TLC,
the Chain Smokers. I mean, how do you have any
ones on the hori Ezes and that you're just you know,
in the pipeline that really want to cover. I want
to do some more. Casey Musgraves, she's you know, that's
(24:40):
another person I'd love to collaborate with along with Oh.
I can't believe I didn't mention Chris Stapleton because I've
covered so many of Yeah, but yeah, I I think, um, yeah,
I need to get back in my cover game. I was.
I was doing so many so like a while ago,
and now I've just been so focused on the original music.
(25:02):
But it is so fun to do those covers and
to just make them your own. I've been I've been
trying to learn on guitar. It's it's pretty hard to
play for me, which I'm not a great shop player,
but I can get by. Um, but James Taylor, Um,
you've got a friend. Yeah, his stuff is hard because
(25:24):
it like sounds simple, but like when you try to
do it, it makes no sense. Yeah, and it's all
like weird tuning. Yeah, I mean I I can. I
can play the very uh dumbed down simplified version, but
I'm trying to like, actually, sure it's amazing. It's I
promise it's not. But yeah, but yeah, that one soon
(25:46):
to come. So yeah, keep an eye out for you.
Got a friend azing. Um, I have a really weird question.
You're gonna hang up on me for this question? I
have read. I saw an interview recently where you said
that you were a cessed with ghost stories and having seances.
I got to hear about this. I need my My
(26:06):
step mom is a raicky master and and does drum
journeys and things of that nature. So I got to
hear some sance stories. I am so into this. God,
I mean, I will not hang up on you. You'll
I'll be calling you in the middle of the night. No,
I this is my when my when I said I
was a storyteller, these are the types of stories that
(26:27):
I love to tell because I well, I don't know.
I might get in trouble for this, but I I
swear and I've always known, at least believed that I
have a sixth sense because I've had just so many
weird things happened to me, um, like ever since I
was little, and I've just like been oddly obsessed with
(26:50):
ghosts and scary I mean ghost and scary movies. But
then I went through a phase of like every single
weekend having a seance and like trying to do like
light is a feather, stiff as a board, like levitating
and like all that stuff and like just weird. My
point where my parents were like maybe concerned, but no,
(27:13):
like I've just had I feel like there's there's just
been plenty of instances where I can walk into a
room and be like this place is haunted, and I'm
just I mean, I'm not going to tell the story
now because I feel like it's maybe not the time,
but offline, sorry, I'll tell you a really weird story
that happened to me um in my grandma's house when
(27:34):
I was growing up. Okay, well we'll say that we'll revisit.
But to bring it to bring it back to to
the music, is there a I guess you kind of
touched on this earlier talking about Prince's view of music,
but do you is there a superstitious element to your
writing do you is there, Like it's got to be
(27:55):
this time of day, it's going to be in this room,
it's gonna be this instrument. I gotta have a cup
of tea. You know what, whatever it is, there's superstitions
for you. Like when it comes to um for sure.
I mean I wouldn't say as much as UM when
I were so like I have weird things with time,
like like I mean, I think a lot of people
(28:17):
are like do the eleven eleven thing. But then I
started doing this weird thing with eleven twelve where I
felt like, like when I used to record my covers,
this is so bizarre, but it's a good question. Um,
Like when I used to when I know I'm saying,
when I used to record covers, I would like be
obsessive because I'm a perfectionist, and I would just obsessively
(28:39):
like do them over and over and over until like
they were clearly getting worse because like my voice was
getting more tired. But then like if for some reason
the song would end, like if the cover would last
like to one minute in eleven minutes or like to
twenty two or three thirty three, and it was like
all lined up, I just have a weird thing with
like angel numbers, So I'd be like, I would be like, oh,
(29:02):
that's the one because it's the timing was three thirty three,
so that has to be it. And I feel like
that's a sign from like the universe telling me that
that's that's the cover I'm supposed to choose. It's so weird.
But yeah, so like I have weird things with time,
and like my song, my most recent single, more Me
Is is two is two minutes and twenty two seconds long,
(29:25):
and so I was like obsessed with that, and so
I'm convinced that for whatever reason, like that's the song
because it's two and it's We're in two and so
you know, so all these things. Yeah, and and two
two two is like an angel number. So yeah, I'm
just have a weird things numbers. Are you a rabbit
rabbit person or rabbit rabbit rabbit depending on your school
per sex? And also that I won't if I if
(29:48):
I talk before is that that's that's what it is. Yeah,
you can't. That's the first words out of your mouth
to the point where I will. I would like stay
up until midnight if I knew it was coming, so
that I would make sure to say it so that
it was good luck for the rest of the month. Well,
I guess my, my my last questions was such a
joy talking. I want to take up too much more
your time. But I might might have mentioned this earlier.
(30:08):
I am somebody who I love music with all my heart,
and I have never in my life been able to
actually write a song. I can play a number of
different instruments, it just isn't It's just something I've never
been able to tap into it myself. And I was
just wondering. I'm sure there's a lot of people out
there that I feel that same way, and also probably think,
you know what, I'm never gonna I'm never gonna make
a living out of it. So why should I bother?
(30:29):
Why should I try to write a song and kind
of talk themselves out of it? Which I think is
very sad. I always wanted to ask you for somebody
like me who's having a hard time at age thirty
four getting started writing, Um, what would you say? How
would you you help people like me sort of break
on through and and express themselves musically? Well, I I
(30:50):
bought a really good book called I think it's called
The Art of the art of music or the art
of writing. I forget what it is, but it's like
a beginner songwriting book. And I know there's a bunch
of them now out um, but there there are a
bunch of like and I'm sure you can even just
google it, but there are like good ways that you
can basically just like start like as a beginners if
(31:12):
you if you don't know where to begin or how
to like figure out a concept or what you can do.
There's a lot of there's a lot of great tools
online or in bookstores wherever, um that will help you
sort of like step by step go through the formula
I guess of starting to write a song. And I
think I find those to be very helpful. I mean
I've used them a lot, I think even if I'm
(31:33):
even if I'm stuck, because you know, I get writer's
blocked all the time. And that's why I said, like
I had to stop writing for a minute. Oh all,
I mean, yeah, it doesn't. That's why I was saying, like,
when the creative moments happen, that's when I'm like, oh,
I gotta do it, because especially in country where it's
so concept driven and there's all these like twists, especially
(31:53):
like at the end of the choruses, there's like these
brilliant twists, and so then I get very obsessed with
finding those, Oh, let me find this play on words like,
for instance, Casey Musgraves space cowboy. You can have your
space cowboy, you know, like genius things like that that
I get so mad that I didn't write that song.
But you know, I get obsessed with that, and then
(32:14):
I can't even write and I write anything because I'm
like obsessed with the concept of it. Um So I think, like,
you know, I take a lot of notes in my phone,
so I feel like anytime you feel like, oh, maybe
that could be like a cool title, you know, like
my friend Adam and I all the time will be
in conversation and he'll he'll say something and then we're
(32:35):
both like, is that a song? Is that a song?
And so we just have like this this list. We
have now an absurd list of just like I think
it's like I don't even know how long, but of
just potential concepts or titles or whatever. And and then
when we actually do end up sitting down and writing,
we'll go through it and be like, Okay, what one
would make the most sense and how could we make
(32:56):
this like what would the story be here? Basically? So
like Sweetheart, for example, that came from I Still see
the sweet in your Sweetheart, and we he and I
wrote that together. And I think just sitting down and
talking to so I would encourage you to also maybe
find someone else to write with. It's really helpful to
(33:16):
co write. Um. I always think two heads are better
than one. And UM, so yeah, if you have, you know,
somewhere to start, I think that's going through those tools
and like it'll help you be like here's an idea,
let's now web it into what this could be and
how we could bring a story out of this, and
now write down three you know, senses that come from
this word, and then you know you can kind of
(33:36):
like directed into that and then I don't do play
an instrument for me badly, Yeah, but but that's that's
the start. And I mean you don't even need I
mean I started out without any you know, I don't
think you need accompaniment. You can just you know, make
up melodies and I always voice note things into my phone,
(33:57):
just little melodies, and then you can kind of like
you know, a lot of times the creative process is
always different. But you know, a lot of times you'll
just start with like a melody like lotty dotty dotty
dotty do, and then you try to fit words into
what could work for that melody. And there's so many
different ways you can go, and so many people have
different methods of how they start or start a song
(34:20):
or whatever. But I think there's, yeah, there's plenty of
If you google, like how to write a song, I
bet you could find a million a million different ways
and different tools and like what works for various people
that could be helpful. I love the conversational element you
mentioned because one of my one of my all time
favorite records is pet Sounds by the Beach Boys, and
(34:41):
so many of those songs were written just based on
Brian Wilson and his lyricists would sit down and have
these six hour conversations about life and love and everything,
and that was where God only knows, or Caroline know,
or wouldn't it be nice? Would all come from oh completely?
I mean, that's that is what I always say, is
where so I have this song which is coming, I
(35:01):
can mention it because it's going to be out this summer.
It's called if I hadn't been drunk. And basically I
was on a songwriting trip this this past winter with
like five friends and we were up in Colorado and
we had finished writing for the day and started drinking
and eating. We were making dinner and we were all
(35:23):
having wine and I think I can't remember who it
was that said it, but I think maybe my friends
Cecy and we were like someone said like, well, if
I hadn't been drunk, I wouldn't have done this, and
I was like, well, if I hadn't been drunk, I
probably wouldn't have even like ended up hooking up with Barren,
who's now my fiancee, and um, and then we were like, wait,
(35:44):
is that a song? And we were all like, if
I hadn't been drunk, I hadn't I wouldn't have done this,
and I would have done this, And my friend Adam
was like, oh my god and runs over and grabs
the guitar and we're all like sitting at the dinner
table and we were just like, Okay, what would the
song be? And then like we all started writing it
and it was That's the beauty to me of those
writing trips too, is because that's that's how like, that's
(36:04):
how the oldies people used to do it. You know,
they would go to cabins. That's like you look at Queen,
they go and you know all it all comes out
of those real conversations. And that's what makes those songs
so great because they're so relatable because they actually came
out of thin air and they weren't people sitting around
trying to figure out what the best thing was. You know,
(36:25):
a lot of life in those songs. You're right, Yeah,
led Zeppelin, Queen the Band, and Dylan moving up state
to Woodstock and yeah, it's a totally Oh well, I'm
going to take all of this advice to heart. Sofia,
thank you so much for for your time today, and
most importantly, thank you for your music. It's such a
joy talking. Oh my gosh, you two that really really
(36:45):
enjoyed this. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Inside
the Studio, a production of I Heart Radio. For more
episodes of Inside the Studio or other fantastic shows, check
out the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
you listen to your favorite podcast
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Inside the
Studio on I Heart Radio. My name is Jordan run Tug,
But enough about me, let's talk about my guest. She's
an immensely talented singer songwriter who's refused her passion for
country music with her passion for grunge. You can get
a taste with her new six track EP One of
These Days, which features her empowering new single more Me,
(00:22):
and recent favorites like the euphoric Sweetheart and the deeply
personal title track, and if you still want more, I
encourage you to check her out on TikTok, where she
has plenty more songs that are as hilarious as they
are catching. There's a cautionary tale about a man with
a mullet, and my personal favorite, a track called Sherlock
Holme Wrecker, which, for my money, would do the Dixie
Tricks proud. I'm so happy to welcome Sophia Scott Well
(00:49):
first and foremost. Your new song more Me came out
a few days ago, and I love it so much
for so many reasons, not least of all that introduced
me to the phrase small truck energy, which we gotta
get on a t shirt or something that's so good.
Um right, yeah. Um, you said it's a song for
anybody who needs to find themselves again, which is such
a great message. Tell me about where that song came
(01:11):
from for you. Yeah. Well, first I was going to
say that maybe I'm not supposed to say this yet,
but it is being on it. It's coming on a
T shirt. Send you one. Yeah, Um, although it's gonna
say big truck energy, so I guess you'd probably sell more. Yes, yes, yes, yes, anyway, Um,
(01:36):
that song is cool because um it actually, although I
do tell it from my own point of view, in
my own perspective, it's actually from it transpired from a
conversation that I had with a girlfriend one night. We
were sitting and drinking wine on her couch and she
she was in sort of a toxic relationship in which
(01:59):
I feel like she was being controlled more or less,
and I think, you know, we we were just talking
a lot about it, and I think she was kind
of at the end of her rope, and she was like,
you know, I just need a lot less him and
a lot more me. And I was like, that's a song.
And I was actually going into the studio like a
(02:21):
few days later, and so I wrote that, and I
wanted it to be really fun and kind of not
like a diss on him, but you know, yeah, it's
a female empowerment song, and yeah, I think I don't know,
I hope that it's relatable. I mean, I I although
it's told from her perspective, I think that many people
know that feeling of just losing yourself in a relationship
(02:45):
with somebody else and needing to kind of maybe find
who you are again and get that boundary of how
much is, you know, time for the relationship versus how
much just for myself. Yeah, that's a really it's a
tough thing to learn, it is. Yeah. Sure, Um, you've
debuted a number of just amazing songs on TikTok. Sherlock
(03:06):
Holme record is a favorite of mine, But Mullet over
it is just donny, I mean, an ode to either
an ode or a cautionary tale. I can't really tell
which about a man with an F one fifty and
a mullet What are your plans for all these songs?
I'm just so blown away by how I mean. I'm
somebody who's never written a song in his life, so
(03:26):
this is just like sorcery to me, you have all
these songs, what are your plans for some of the
ones that are living on TikTok? Now? Are they slated
for a future EP, future album or so many of them?
I know there's a lot. I'm actually so happy I
answered or you asked me this question because I feel
like everybody's for the TikTok audience, especially because they're like,
where the hell are all these songs? Um? But yeah,
(03:49):
I I have plans to release. I can't say all
of them right now, but a large majority of them.
There is an album coming, and my debut EP comes
out next week, so some of them are on there,
and then some are still to come. It's just hard,
you know. I feel like people don't realize just how
(04:09):
much goes into like actually putting a song out and
all that, and so then I I've kind of tried
to scale it back now with releasing all the demos
because I feel like now I have angry fans that
are like, how is it all? They are so great?
But yeah, I'm glad you like Mullet, one of my favorites.
(04:30):
I did get some angry um men with Mullets that
did not like these songs so much. But you know,
it's not a dis on mullets. It's just a it's
a it's a guy. It's just on a guy. Yeah.
I was like, I actually love mullets, so I wanted
to be said that I love mullets. Speaking of just
(04:51):
this incredible wealth of music you have, not too far back,
you released another single One of these Days, which is
absolutely gorgeous song. I know it's a very special long
for you from a very personal place. Can you tell
me a little bit about that track. It sounds like
it was something that was kind of, uh in the
works for for years. He wrote that years ago, right, yes, yes,
well you've done your research. Um, I appreciate it. Yeah,
(05:14):
I appreciate your music. Thank you. Um So Yeah, I
wrote that song almost like four years ago actually, and
I've I've been holding it in my back pocket, I
guess because it is so personal and I think, you know,
since writing it really opened up a door to my
songwriting as far as like being able to become vulnerable.
(05:37):
I think I had written a lot of breakup songs
that sort of scratched the surface of you know, going
into that, but I had never it's very scary as
a songwriter to actually go deep and talk about things
that might make some relationships in your life uncomfortable. Um,
(05:58):
if that makes sense. Um, you know, just this song
talks about my parents divorce, and for a really long time,
I was so scared to play it for them, even
though it's not you know, it's not dashing really either
of them. It's just talking about a personal experience that
I had with that. And I think I have realized,
(06:19):
especially through writing it. And and that's only really one
aspect of the song. The song is about a lot
more than that, but that's the first verse. And I think,
you know, music to me growing up has always been
a healing that's something that can help heal me, you know,
or just at least make me feel less alone. And
when other songwriters or just other artists that I love
(06:40):
are willing to go there and willing to go to
that vulnerial place and talk about, you know, some real stuff,
I think, you know, I I, for whatever reason that day,
I was like, I gotta go there. I gotta like,
I gotta do it. It's like my therapy. And and
I hadn't I had never written with either of these
two other songwriters who I wrote co wrote it with
(07:01):
and they were like, let's like talk about some real
ship basically, and I was like yeah, and um, so
we ended up writing that. And I think the song
really has become this like because yes, the first verse
is about my parents, but then it it's about my
own realization with just love and life in my own
(07:26):
breakups and you know, then into my career and just
how you know. I think I hate saying everything happens
for a reason because I don't know that that's necessarily
the message, but but that there's through any difficult situation
that you go through, there's growth and their strength on
the other side, and you know you you can come
(07:47):
out of it. And I think it's it's become my
personal reminder of just knowing that I can. I can
do anything, and I can I can find strength through
any sort of bad situation I go through. I almost
got the sense that it was like the flip side
of your song Sweetheart in a way. I mean, the
one of these days it's all about the hard times,
and then Sweethearts kind of all about the good stuff
(08:09):
that can come the other side of it. Yeah, Well
it's funny because that so that actually leads me into
why I called the record or the EPs is called
One of these Days also, um, and I kind of
decided after going back and forth through a million different
titles and trying to figure out what I wanted to
(08:29):
call the project, we landed on One of these Days
because I think all the other songs fit into that
same message. And Sweetheart, you know, is the second verse
of One of these Days, essentially like shrilled into one,
if that makes sense. You know, it's about my high
school sweetheart, and you know, just wishing wishing him well
(08:51):
and knowing that there's I don't know that your first
love is a complicated thing, but also I think a
wonderful thing, and you learned so many lessons from that situation.
And I, you know, I wanted to we put it
out around Valentine's Day, and I wanted to like just
basically give an ode to all sweethearts and all first
(09:11):
loves and wishing them well and knowing that although it
didn't work out, you know, we can still appreciate it
for what it was and still see the sweet in
the sweethearts, you know. Oh, absolutely, I hope everybody looks
back on their first you know, love fondly and it
has that because that's such a special thing for me,
and I think of how much I learned and how
(09:32):
you know, special they still are to mean, wherever they are,
I have no idea where they are right now, but
I still, you know, think about them from time to
time and it's yeah, No, I think that's a that's
a wonderful place to be at. And I hope that
people have that. I'll call it a gift, you know,
that to look back on that time in their life
and that person in their life fondly. Totally. Yep, I agree.
I but one of these days maybe what an incredible
(09:54):
song I love. I love the two versions you have
the uh I think you called it the sad piano
version of a st down version of it too, But
it's it's it's such an amazing song. And I was curious,
and I love asking songwriters this because I always get
a different answer. Do you ever learn something about yourself?
When having finished the song and heard it back? I
(10:14):
liken it to like a dream reading. Do you ever
hear the song back? And I said like, oh my god,
this is this is what I meant by this. I
didn't know it at the time, But I honestly have
chills because I just was talking about this the other day.
Like with songs that I wrote three years ago, I'll
be like, I'll listen to and I'll be like, oh
my god, it's like I didn't even know what I
(10:36):
was talking about when I wrote it, but it was
like I got it out and now listening back, I'm like, this,
this is more real to me than it than it
was when I wrote it, if that makes sense, Like
three years later somehow it's like, oh, now this actually
makes more sense than it did when I wrote it.
I don't know how that's possible, but yeah, it's interesting.
(10:58):
It's yeah, it means something new. I guess, oh totally.
I mean it's like in dreams, you kind of disguise
whatever it is you're going through in other people their pictures,
other scenes, whatever it is, and then you need to
get some perspective from it to read into the metaphors
or whatever it is. I guess it's so interesting completely well,
(11:18):
and I think that even like you know, I think
not that history repeats itself, but it's like you go
through cycles of life, and so these songs that you know,
maybe they don't necessarily correlate to what you're going through
in this specific time. They will at another time in
your life when you're going through it again or whatever. Yeah.
(11:39):
Oh that's a great point. Yeah. We we definitely have
patterns that we return to and behaviors relationships, some good,
some bad. But for sure, is writing daily practice for
(12:01):
you like some people jog or do yoga. Is it's
something that that you do every day. Yeah, I mean
I do it every day, whether whether I'm in an
actual writing session. I do writing sessions. At least I was,
like in the past six months, I was writing like
four or five times a week, which ended up being
(12:21):
a little bit too much, especially once I had like
the music and I kind of had to take a
step back for a minute and live my life so
that I had things to write about. Um. But yeah,
I mean, whether whether it's an actual writing session where
I'm going in with the intention of writing a full song,
or just like I voiced memo stuff every day, or
like little titles will come to me inspiring like quotes
(12:44):
or just like phrases or whatever it is will come
to me, or if it's just like a feeling that
I don't want to forget so that I you know,
because I always find that when the inspiration hits or
like when lightning strikes, I guess, as they say, it's
be come really important for me to sit down and
write it because sometimes, or like in the past, I
(13:05):
would be like in the middle of doing something and
have this creative moment or creative feeling of inspiration and
be like, oh, I'll just come back to it. I
won't forget it. But it's so different when you come
back to it, you don't you don't have the same
emotion into writing it. So I feel like it's very important.
And I feel like any writer, songwriter, or just like author,
(13:26):
whatever it is, would maybe say the same thing. It's
like when it comes, write it down and like get
the feelings out, because I think that's when it's the
most valuable and the most emotional and real. What is
that that flash look like to you? Is it? Is
it a melody in your head? Is it a feeling?
Is it a fragment of lyric? Is it all the above?
Is it all the above at different times? What does
(13:47):
that look like? It's different at different times. I think,
you know, it's crazy. Like recently it's been happening to
me in dreams, which has never happened before. But I'll
have like lyrics or concepts come to me or or melodies,
and I've I've heard Taylor Swift talk about this before
and I was always like, that's so crazy, and I
was I was like, I feel like I've manifested it
(14:08):
into happening for me because it's it's I don't know,
it's cool, but yeah, so so I've been I would
call it like my it's not a dream journal because
I just put it in my phone, but my phone
journal of dreams entrees. I guess um that, Like just
the other night, I had this concept come to me
and I woke up from a dream and I just
wrote it down right away, because otherwise, if you don't
(14:28):
do it, you forget it. And so sometimes, yeah, sometimes
it's like a melody. Sometimes it's a concept. It happens
a lot when I'm driving, like things will just come
to me. I feel like, for when I'm flying in
an airplane, I feel like there's something very ominous. I
don't know there's I don't like there's a reason. I
feel like people cry when they're up in the air.
(14:49):
It's just like you're very vulnerable, yes, and you're untethered.
And I mean, at least if you're me, you're terrified
because I hate flying, but you're just yeah, you're you're
not connected, totally, totally. Yeah, And and so I think
it looks different. It happens in various ways, but um,
(15:10):
when it does happen, it's it's it's cool. And I'm
just I'm just trying to really get into the pattern
of making sure that I write it down when it
does happen, because I have found that when I don't,
I forget it and then it doesn't have the same value.
Paul Cartney talks a lot about that. He's he's one
of my my favorite, one of my favorite human beings.
And he talks a lot about how he wrote yesterday
(15:31):
if he woke up with just that melody in his
head and he wrote let it Be from a dream
from his his late mother coming to him, and I
love that. I love those stories. Oh wow, I didn't
know that about let it Be. That's cool. Oh yeah,
So it's so interesting to see that the role of
subconscious plays in songwriting is just so cool to me.
I think it's so interesting. Yeah, you know, Prince always
(15:51):
talks about and I've heard other people like Jim Morrison
used to always say, um that like it feels sometimes
he feels like the heavens are just or whether it's
the heavens or the universe or whatever coming through him
and he's like it's not. He would he would say,
you know, it wasn't even me writing it. It was
like someone coming through me and writing this song and
(16:13):
it just came out and it's like it was like
it was meant to be. Like basically, you're like this
vessel of creativity from whatever other universe or you know,
things out there, which I always thought was so cool.
I'm waiting for that moment too. It's so it will happen,
Oh my god. I mean, it's just yeah, I really
do think that. I mean, music has been such a
(16:35):
part of human history seemingly since the beginning, and people
talk about it being some kind of linked to the divine,
and you know, as as music fans, you're tempted to
believe that, you know. I mean, there's something I want
to ask you, what kind of role does storytelling play
on your music? Because I know that's not a necessity
(16:56):
for a hit, but I get the sense that for
you that a good story is just as important is
a good melody. Yeah. Well, I mean in my day
to day life, I'm a storyteller, for better or for worse.
My friends would tell you, like, for the longest time,
I was going to call the EP long story short
because it's a joke with my friends that I'll be like,
long story short and then I'll tell the longest story
(17:17):
ever and yeah, thank you. Well it might well, yeah,
we'll see it might be used in another way, but um,
thank you. I yeah, I am very much a storyteller.
I think that that's what drew me to country music
more than anything else, is the stories that you know
are told through country music, like unlike any other genre.
(17:42):
I think country music has the best stories, and you know,
from as long as it goes back, you know, they
were taught, you know, I guess, and and like when
I was growing up listening to those stories is the
thing that that's where like, that's the thing that invokes
(18:03):
the most feeling and the thing that I think can
really help people, I guess, is hearing a full story
and seeing how it can relate to their own lives
or or in some way shape or form or just
to hear the story is is really cool. I mean,
I think that while my while my production is maybe
(18:27):
a little more pop sole leaning, the sticking to the
storyteller aspect is very important to me. And it's just yes,
the way I like to write. Have there been some
artists that you know that made you see the power
of storytelling and songs? I know you mentioned people like
Shania Twain in the past and Atlanta's more set completely
(18:48):
and I actually I never bring this one up, but
Don Henley is a very big inspo for me, and
I feel like his his storytelling. I mean he's not
I wouldn't say country artist, but he is a great
storyteller and just a great lyricist. And I think, um,
he's just someone that can tell a story in such
a way. I mean Joni Mitchell too, Like I feel
(19:10):
like there's just deep meaning and metaphors in what they
write about and just a way that's like it's just
it makes you feel less alone in the world or
something I don't know, and and so I think that, yeah,
that's just a very important also aspect of music for
(19:32):
me and sharing my own music is is that you
know what I was talking about one of these days earlier,
and just the fear of talking about my parents going
through a divorce and having them hear it. Which when
I did play it for them, they were they loved
it and they were completely fine with it and it
was all okay. But had I had a song like
that growing up to listen to when I was going
(19:54):
through it would have been so helpful. And so I
think that, you know, that's what I meant by music
being able to heal, just help us in any ways.
Oh absolutely, man, it's like that. Ever see Almost Famous?
Oh please, my favorite? You know we never you get lonely,
go down to the record store, you see your friends.
I mean, I think that we all had that period
(20:15):
in our lives, and I think there's a little piece
of us that's still has that. You know us too,
it's we connect the music in that way completely. Oh
that's the best movie. Oh my god. Yeah, I mean
that's I mean, you know, I'm a music journalist and
that that movie is probably se Yeah, yeah, I mean probably.
I'm sure I'm not alone in that, but uh yeah, totally.
(20:37):
But have you had the chance to meet or perform
with with any of these these formative figures in your
musical development. I know you were just on the Kelly
Clarkson Show recently, so that that's that story is cool
actually because um, one of these days when I wrote it, Um,
we for whatever reason, they wanted that they really liked
the song, and they were like, do you mind if
we pitch this Kelly Clarkson is looking for us song
(21:00):
and Kelly Clarkson's looking and I was like, I mean,
it was such a personal song to me. But also
I was like, but if Kelly Clarkson wants it, let's go.
Um and so or like we'll see. I don't know,
you know, I was, I feel bad saying that now
because it is like my song, and but but I
you know, Kelly Clarkson is one of my biggest heroes
(21:21):
and long time, like I don't know, she's the American idol,
so uh, you know, for more than one way. But
but anyway, she ended up turning it down because and
I guess she said, like this song is it's it's
too personal, like I can't sing it, like I can
tell that it's a person, this girl should sing it.
And so when she came when I came on the
(21:43):
show and she saw that I was like on the
guest list. She I guess remembered the song and was like, oh,
this is so cool this this girl pitched me the
song like however long ago. So it was a really
cool full circle moment. Oh my god, that's so cool.
Yeah yeah, um yeah, it was cool for sure, especially
just because she is such a such an inspiration to me. UM.
(22:07):
But yes, to answer your question, I UM, I got
to perform uh last summer with Kelsey Ballerini and the
Jonas Brothers, which was really freaking cool. And then I
also got to write with egg Usalia and um was
on her most recent album and she ended up featuring
me on one of the songs. And then she was
featured on one of my songs, which was really cool
(22:30):
and something I never anticipated happening at all because you know,
country and wrap, but now once I guess, it's happening,
and it's happening more often than not. Now, this is
such a a question that I'm it's such a boring question,
so curious how you answered. Given all your different influence,
(22:50):
did you have any dream collaborators, like people that you're
just dying to sing with, work with, write a song with, anything,
so many, so many. I mean I could the list
could go on. But I mean, justin Timberlake is a
big one, just because I feel like he has such
the country pop thing and I just think he's such
a legend and I love all his music. Um. Rihanna
(23:11):
is one just because I adore her and wish I
was her. UM. And then you know, I think Shania
Twain would be a huge one. UM. She's like I
feel like, if I the new music that I've been writing,
I feel like it's very nineties country Shanai a reminiscent.
(23:32):
So I don't know. That's that's definitely a big dream.
You mentioned Rihanna. I have to say your version of
Love on the Brain so good, so good. I feel
(23:55):
like it's like a totally underappreciated song of hers too.
I love that song. I couldn't agree more. I think
it's one of her very best. It's just so good.
I love that whole album. Yeah, Anti, Yeah, Oh my
god's good covered like Tame and Paul and stuff. That's
the best. I love that album. I I think I
speak for the whole world when I'm when I say
that we want more Rihanna music. Yes, Yeah, I mean,
(24:20):
I you're I mean that the songs that you used
to cover, they're just so interesting because there they are
so very I mean, you've got John Mary had Arianna Grande, TLC,
the Chain Smokers. I mean, how do you have any
ones on the hori Ezes and that you're just you know,
in the pipeline that really want to cover. I want
to do some more. Casey Musgraves, she's you know, that's
(24:40):
another person I'd love to collaborate with along with Oh.
I can't believe I didn't mention Chris Stapleton because I've
covered so many of Yeah, but yeah, I I think, um, yeah,
I need to get back in my cover game. I was.
I was doing so many so like a while ago,
and now I've just been so focused on the original music.
(25:02):
But it is so fun to do those covers and
to just make them your own. I've been I've been
trying to learn on guitar. It's it's pretty hard to
play for me, which I'm not a great shop player,
but I can get by. Um, but James Taylor, Um,
you've got a friend. Yeah, his stuff is hard because
(25:24):
it like sounds simple, but like when you try to
do it, it makes no sense. Yeah, and it's all
like weird tuning. Yeah, I mean I I can. I
can play the very uh dumbed down simplified version, but
I'm trying to like, actually, sure it's amazing. It's I
promise it's not. But yeah, but yeah, that one soon
(25:46):
to come. So yeah, keep an eye out for you.
Got a friend azing. Um, I have a really weird question.
You're gonna hang up on me for this question? I
have read. I saw an interview recently where you said
that you were a cessed with ghost stories and having seances.
I got to hear about this. I need my My
(26:06):
step mom is a raicky master and and does drum
journeys and things of that nature. So I got to
hear some sance stories. I am so into this. God,
I mean, I will not hang up on you. You'll
I'll be calling you in the middle of the night. No,
I this is my when my when I said I
was a storyteller, these are the types of stories that
(26:27):
I love to tell because I well, I don't know.
I might get in trouble for this, but I I
swear and I've always known, at least believed that I
have a sixth sense because I've had just so many
weird things happened to me, um, like ever since I
was little, and I've just like been oddly obsessed with
(26:50):
ghosts and scary I mean ghost and scary movies. But
then I went through a phase of like every single
weekend having a seance and like trying to do like
light is a feather, stiff as a board, like levitating
and like all that stuff and like just weird. My
point where my parents were like maybe concerned, but no,
(27:13):
like I've just had I feel like there's there's just
been plenty of instances where I can walk into a
room and be like this place is haunted, and I'm
just I mean, I'm not going to tell the story
now because I feel like it's maybe not the time,
but offline, sorry, I'll tell you a really weird story
that happened to me um in my grandma's house when
(27:34):
I was growing up. Okay, well we'll say that we'll revisit.
But to bring it to bring it back to to
the music, is there a I guess you kind of
touched on this earlier talking about Prince's view of music,
but do you is there a superstitious element to your
writing do you is there, Like it's got to be
(27:55):
this time of day, it's going to be in this room,
it's gonna be this instrument. I gotta have a cup
of tea. You know what, whatever it is, there's superstitions
for you. Like when it comes to um for sure.
I mean I wouldn't say as much as UM when
I were so like I have weird things with time,
like like I mean, I think a lot of people
(28:17):
are like do the eleven eleven thing. But then I
started doing this weird thing with eleven twelve where I
felt like, like when I used to record my covers,
this is so bizarre, but it's a good question. Um,
Like when I used to when I know I'm saying,
when I used to record covers, I would like be
obsessive because I'm a perfectionist, and I would just obsessively
(28:39):
like do them over and over and over until like
they were clearly getting worse because like my voice was
getting more tired. But then like if for some reason
the song would end, like if the cover would last
like to one minute in eleven minutes or like to
twenty two or three thirty three, and it was like
all lined up, I just have a weird thing with
like angel numbers, So I'd be like, I would be like, oh,
(29:02):
that's the one because it's the timing was three thirty three,
so that has to be it. And I feel like
that's a sign from like the universe telling me that
that's that's the cover I'm supposed to choose. It's so weird.
But yeah, so like I have weird things with time,
and like my song, my most recent single, more Me
Is is two is two minutes and twenty two seconds long,
(29:25):
and so I was like obsessed with that, and so
I'm convinced that for whatever reason, like that's the song
because it's two and it's We're in two and so
you know, so all these things. Yeah, and and two
two two is like an angel number. So yeah, I'm
just have a weird things numbers. Are you a rabbit
rabbit person or rabbit rabbit rabbit depending on your school
per sex? And also that I won't if I if
(29:48):
I talk before is that that's that's what it is. Yeah,
you can't. That's the first words out of your mouth
to the point where I will. I would like stay
up until midnight if I knew it was coming, so
that I would make sure to say it so that
it was good luck for the rest of the month. Well,
I guess my, my my last questions was such a
joy talking. I want to take up too much more
your time. But I might might have mentioned this earlier.
(30:08):
I am somebody who I love music with all my heart,
and I have never in my life been able to
actually write a song. I can play a number of
different instruments, it just isn't It's just something I've never
been able to tap into it myself. And I was
just wondering. I'm sure there's a lot of people out
there that I feel that same way, and also probably think,
you know what, I'm never gonna I'm never gonna make
a living out of it. So why should I bother?
(30:29):
Why should I try to write a song and kind
of talk themselves out of it? Which I think is
very sad. I always wanted to ask you for somebody
like me who's having a hard time at age thirty
four getting started writing, Um, what would you say? How
would you you help people like me sort of break
on through and and express themselves musically? Well, I I
(30:50):
bought a really good book called I think it's called
The Art of the art of music or the art
of writing. I forget what it is, but it's like
a beginner songwriting book. And I know there's a bunch
of them now out um, but there there are a
bunch of like and I'm sure you can even just
google it, but there are like good ways that you
can basically just like start like as a beginners if
(31:12):
you if you don't know where to begin or how
to like figure out a concept or what you can do.
There's a lot of there's a lot of great tools
online or in bookstores wherever, um that will help you
sort of like step by step go through the formula
I guess of starting to write a song. And I
think I find those to be very helpful. I mean
I've used them a lot, I think even if I'm
(31:33):
even if I'm stuck, because you know, I get writer's
blocked all the time. And that's why I said, like
I had to stop writing for a minute. Oh all,
I mean, yeah, it doesn't. That's why I was saying, like,
when the creative moments happen, that's when I'm like, oh,
I gotta do it, because especially in country where it's
so concept driven and there's all these like twists, especially
(31:53):
like at the end of the choruses, there's like these
brilliant twists, and so then I get very obsessed with
finding those, Oh, let me find this play on words like,
for instance, Casey Musgraves space cowboy. You can have your
space cowboy, you know, like genius things like that that
I get so mad that I didn't write that song.
But you know, I get obsessed with that, and then
(32:14):
I can't even write and I write anything because I'm
like obsessed with the concept of it. Um So I think, like,
you know, I take a lot of notes in my phone,
so I feel like anytime you feel like, oh, maybe
that could be like a cool title, you know, like
my friend Adam and I all the time will be
in conversation and he'll he'll say something and then we're
(32:35):
both like, is that a song? Is that a song?
And so we just have like this this list. We
have now an absurd list of just like I think
it's like I don't even know how long, but of
just potential concepts or titles or whatever. And and then
when we actually do end up sitting down and writing,
we'll go through it and be like, Okay, what one
would make the most sense and how could we make
(32:56):
this like what would the story be here? Basically? So
like Sweetheart, for example, that came from I Still see
the sweet in your Sweetheart, and we he and I
wrote that together. And I think just sitting down and
talking to so I would encourage you to also maybe
find someone else to write with. It's really helpful to
(33:16):
co write. Um. I always think two heads are better
than one. And UM, so yeah, if you have, you know,
somewhere to start, I think that's going through those tools
and like it'll help you be like here's an idea,
let's now web it into what this could be and
how we could bring a story out of this, and
now write down three you know, senses that come from
this word, and then you know you can kind of
(33:36):
like directed into that and then I don't do play
an instrument for me badly, Yeah, but but that's that's
the start. And I mean you don't even need I
mean I started out without any you know, I don't
think you need accompaniment. You can just you know, make
up melodies and I always voice note things into my phone,
(33:57):
just little melodies, and then you can kind of like
you know, a lot of times the creative process is
always different. But you know, a lot of times you'll
just start with like a melody like lotty dotty dotty
dotty do, and then you try to fit words into
what could work for that melody. And there's so many
different ways you can go, and so many people have
different methods of how they start or start a song
(34:20):
or whatever. But I think there's, yeah, there's plenty of
If you google, like how to write a song, I
bet you could find a million a million different ways
and different tools and like what works for various people
that could be helpful. I love the conversational element you
mentioned because one of my one of my all time
favorite records is pet Sounds by the Beach Boys, and
(34:41):
so many of those songs were written just based on
Brian Wilson and his lyricists would sit down and have
these six hour conversations about life and love and everything,
and that was where God only knows, or Caroline know,
or wouldn't it be nice? Would all come from oh completely?
I mean, that's that is what I always say, is
where so I have this song which is coming, I
(35:01):
can mention it because it's going to be out this summer.
It's called if I hadn't been drunk. And basically I
was on a songwriting trip this this past winter with
like five friends and we were up in Colorado and
we had finished writing for the day and started drinking
and eating. We were making dinner and we were all
(35:23):
having wine and I think I can't remember who it
was that said it, but I think maybe my friends
Cecy and we were like someone said like, well, if
I hadn't been drunk, I wouldn't have done this, and
I was like, well, if I hadn't been drunk, I
probably wouldn't have even like ended up hooking up with Barren,
who's now my fiancee, and um, and then we were like, wait,
(35:44):
is that a song? And we were all like, if
I hadn't been drunk, I hadn't I wouldn't have done this,
and I would have done this, And my friend Adam
was like, oh my god and runs over and grabs
the guitar and we're all like sitting at the dinner
table and we were just like, Okay, what would the
song be? And then like we all started writing it
and it was That's the beauty to me of those
writing trips too, is because that's that's how like, that's
(36:04):
how the oldies people used to do it. You know,
they would go to cabins. That's like you look at Queen,
they go and you know all it all comes out
of those real conversations. And that's what makes those songs
so great because they're so relatable because they actually came
out of thin air and they weren't people sitting around
trying to figure out what the best thing was. You know,
(36:25):
a lot of life in those songs. You're right, Yeah,
led Zeppelin, Queen the Band, and Dylan moving up state
to Woodstock and yeah, it's a totally Oh well, I'm
going to take all of this advice to heart. Sofia,
thank you so much for for your time today, and
most importantly, thank you for your music. It's such a
joy talking. Oh my gosh, you two that really really
(36:45):
enjoyed this. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Inside
the Studio, a production of I Heart Radio. For more
episodes of Inside the Studio or other fantastic shows, check
out the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
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