Hailing all the way from Montreal and fresh off the release of her latest single ‘Lonely after curfew’ Sophia Bel is gearing up for the release of her debut LP ‘Anxious Avoidant’.  Sophia sat down with me to discuss everything from her new releases to her hidden talents, just don’t ask her about tarot…

ASBO: What was it like recording your new signal?

SOPHIA: I recorded it with a few musicians last July. We rented a place in the woods and recorded the album in the studio at the house, it was so exciting!

ASBO: What does this song mean to you?

SOPHIA: Well, I wrote it when we had a curfew in Montreal, during a time when the days were short and I was feeling very isolated and it made me feel very codependent of my friends and clingy, so it is just expressing all those emotions I was feeling during that time!

ASBO: How does it feel to have your debut LP coming out ‘Anxious Avoidant’?

SOPHIA: Surreal! It’s always been a dream of mine, so to say that it is actually happening is very surreal!

ASBO: What was important for you to show listeners on this LP?

SOPHIA: Well, I didn’t give myself any limitations to what I wanted to express, I have worked a lot on being okay with vulnerability and I wanted to show that in the LP

ASBO: How does it feel to have listeners hear you at your rawest?

SOPHIA: As I was writing this, I said to myself, whatever, I am gonna say everything I want to say, no matter how it makes me feel. 

ASBO: What does it feel like when you look back at that time period?

SOPHIA: I try to remember it is just a song, it is just me channeling all those temporary emotions. Looking back, I am not proud of all of those emotions but It is true to what I was feeling at the time!

ASBO: On a scale of one to 10 How excited are you about 2022 right now?

SOPHIA: 10…11!! Very excited

ASBO: Describe your latest single in a hashtag

SOPHIA: #Vulnerability

ASBO: If your life was a musical what would it be called?

SOPHIA: Ahhh I am not a big fan of musicals… I did like Mamma Mia (who doesn’t!) …’The Chronicles of an overthinker’…really rolls off the tongue

ASBO: What is one thing that people don’t know about you?

SOPHIA: I make really good pasta! Classic tomato sauce, some basil or a creamy mushroom sauce…OH I make a famous tuna pasta! (I will take a plate of each please!)

ASBO: What is your pre-show ritual?

SOPHIA: I like to have a quiet moment, I don’t drink alcohol before a show and I don’t watch the acts before me, cause pressure! I just sit and drink my tea!  

ASBO: Favourite time of the day?

SOPHIA: COFFEE! That is my favourite time! But I try to stay caffeine free in the afternoon, or I can never get to sleep!

ASBO: What is your dream performance venue?

SOPHIA: I think just any kinda, hippy festival in the summer daytime would be cool! The Audience just laying on the grass with blankets! 

ASBO: Night out or cozy night in?

SOPHIA: Night in! Chillin in my living room drinking herbal tea and burning some incense! I also like to do tarot, but I mentioned that once in an interview and now people expect me to be an expert on it…I’m not!

ASBO: Thrift Shops or Custom made?

SOPHIA: Thrift Shops but I love modifying the things I find! (#CraftyQween)

ASBO: One word those closest to you would use to describe you?

SOPHIA: Colourful

ASBO: Favourite food?

SOPHIA: Anything that is a pie! Like a chicken pot pie! (Adding it to the rider as we speak!)

ASBO: One thing you can’t live without?

SOPHIA: Coffee! If I were stuck on a desert island and I could bring one thing it would be coffee (Not planning on a long stay on the island I see…) 

ASBO: Which Song are you most excited for people to hear on your upcoming EP?

SOPHIA: A song called ‘All fucking week’

ASBO: Biggest inspirations?

SOPHIA: It changes all the time but I would say shoegaze is a big one…lately a lot of 90s and 00s alternative pop. The whole overall aesthetic really!

ASBO: What is currently your favourite TV show?

SOPHIA: Euphoria! 

ASBO: Define your music in one word?

SOPHIA: Playful 

ASBO: Favourite item of clothing?

SOPHIA: Anything shiny! Satin, sequins and beads!! Anything luxurious! (omg same sis)

ASBO: Dream collaboration?

SOPHIA: Lana Del Rey

ASBO: Roller coasters or water parks?

SOPHIA: Roller Coasters

ASBO: What is the best gift you have ever received?

SOPHIA: My mum bought me a milk foamer, now I can make Lattes at home! (Add one of those to my previous pasta dish request please)

ASBO: Best gift you have ever given?

SOPHIA: The Coco Chanel perfume I got my mum! It is her signature scent now!

ASBO: Biggest misconception about Canada?

SOPHIA: Well, when I was 12, we spent a year in New Zealand, and everyone thought Canadians lived in Igloos! My brother would tell everyone made up stories about living in igloos and they all believed it! (Not quite a common misconception [laughs])

ASBO: One emotion to describe your latest single?

SOPHIA: Clinginess 

ASBO: Any secret Talents?

SOPHIA: I sew a lot, but I don’t know if that is a secret? (It was a secret to me, so it counts)

ASBO: Best advice you have ever received?

SOPHIA: Take mixed signals as a no! (This actually blew my mind)

ASBO: First song you ever wrote?

SOPHIA: Stargazing

ASBO: First album you ever bought?

SOPHIA: With my money or my mums? The Titanic soundtrack when I was 4, I was obsessed with ‘My heart will go on’ (Yeh, I totally was too, I am deffo not still obsessed and don’t belt it out in the shower on a weekly basis…moving on) After that It was Britney Spears, I knew all her songs off by heart! (I am interviewing myself here…spooky!)

ASBO: Which three people, dead or alive, would you invite to a dinner party?

SOPHIA: I have one person, is that ok? (Sure, invite them three nights in a row) Cleopatra! Or everyone from ancient Egypt! (One extreme to another, I will have to set a few extra places) I find them all so fascinating! They used to make their own wigs from human hair! (Cleopatra as the host of Drag Race Egypt? I do think!)

ASBO: Which song on your LP took the longest to write?

SOPHIA: ‘Everything I touch falls apart’ took me a few weeks to finish!

ASBO: If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be?

SOPHIA: Can I be an animal? Can I be A BIRD? (well who am I to say no…)

ASBO: If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

SOPHIA: I know I said chicken pot pie is my favourite and I do still stand by that, but I would choose sushi, it is lighter! (Chicken pot pie I am sorry sweetie, we still love you)

ASBO: Favourite Colour?

SOPHIA: Blue

ASBO: Favourite venue you have performed at?

SOPHIA: There is a festival in Montreal called Osheaga. I performed a song with a friend there and it was so much fun!

ASBO: What is one thing you wish you knew when you first started your music career?

SOPHIA: I wish I knew that exterior validation of yourself is not love! (Cause if you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else!)

ASBO: One word to describe the last 12 months?

SOPHIA: I don’t think it’s one word but, emotional-rollercoaster (If it is hyphenated it is one word… that’s the law!)

ASBO: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

SOPHIA: Owning a property in the woods and having my own studio!

ASBO: Favourite Movie Genre?

SOPHIA: This sounds super dorky but I like period dramas! (Coincidence, because I love drama, period!)

ASBO: Where do you go when you want to relax?

SOPHIA: In the summer I would go to the park, but in the winter, I can’t really do that…Well I guess I could (if you believe it you can achieve it!)

ASBO: What one piece of advice would you give to anyone reading this?

SOPHIA: Heal your inner child! (Oprah, is that you?)

Lonely after curfew is out now, available to stream and download, and you can listen to Sophia’s debut LP ‘Anxious Avoidant’ out April 15th!

Words: Dylan Hannigan

Images: Will Arcand