Sophia Prise
Growing up in Portland Oregon, Sophia often experienced vivid audio-lucid-dreams. Swimming through crystalline oceans of fully-orchestrated sound in a world between waking and dreams was such an enthralling sensory experience she continued to chase it in the daytime, teaching herself electronic music production while completing her Master of Music at San Francisco Conservatory. Over several EP releases, Sophia Prise has developed an ethereal yet darkly spirited electronic pop sound, favoring inventive, mood-driven soundscapes, eclectic beat-making, and passionate lyricism. Classically trained and a vocal chameleon, Sophia has toured as a lead singer for international acts and continues to feature and collaborate with a diverse set of music artists both behind the mic and at the producer desk.
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Tripwire
Tripwire erzählt eine Geschichte von Leidenschaften, die in dunkel glitzernden, raucherfüllten Clubs entfacht werden, eingebettet in exzellenter Dark-Pop meets Electronic Manier überzeugt Sophia Prise mit ihrer neuesten Veröffentlichung. Infiziert sozusagen den Zuhörer von Beginn an, es werden leidenschaftliche, mitunder auch melancholische Synth-patterns serviert. Die Vocals, in ihrer Vortrefflichkeit kaum zu überbieten, verstärken, gepaart mit dem Halftime Beat, die beschriebene Szenerie. Eine Szenerie die musikalisch, basierend auf dem Soundcharakter, wie ein Streifzug, nahezu schon Flucht, durch diese Clubs klingt, die Lyrics werden gleichsam zum Klang, werden eins mit dem Bild, dem musikalischen Gemälde. Die Kunst die Story akustisch umzusetzen, und ein Gesamtbild zu konstituieren, ist hier eindeutig gelungen.
The Interview
Sophia Prise is …?
...the name that evolved to represent my artist self. It’s my given first name, but the word “Prise” can be interpreted on different levels: it’s pronounced prize like “eyes on the prize” or any other word where the Latin root is “pris”, such as “surprise”. In French (which I study), “pris” is a past tense verb: “taken”. In general it carves out my space as an artist; so many artists can unfortunately feel like there is not enough room for them or that they need to throw others off in order to shine—but I’ve staked claim on my own space: it’s “taken”.
What inspired me to make music?
I always sang and wrote songs, but I wasn’t called to produce electronically until I was already headed to conservatory to get my Master of Music. At that point I had experienced the sadness of leaving a band behind (in Portland, when I moved to San Francisco) as well as the frustration of trying to keep members of a band together long enough to play my originals well. I just thought to myself, ok I’ve had all of these crazy dreams where I can hear full-on tracks of huge electronic sound, what if I just use that Reason software on my laptop to try to recreate some of that sound, without needing to haul a whole band around? And so I started learning to synthesize, make drums, everything… I really started from scratch.
What or who inspired you to "Tripwire"?
“Tripwire” was inspired by a handful of characters in the San Francisco dating scene, which is full of the types that breadcrumb/lead on, ghost on and off with manipulative commutation and all of that cowardly behavior. The song is about seeing all of the red flags but hanging on to a thread because you don’t have closure.
When do you say a song is ready for a release?
I’m getting better at releasing tracks when I am happy with the mix and it’s sounding the best it can. Then I’ll send it off to master and be done with it. But the truth is I have dozens of unreleased songs that I finished but then decided not to put out, because I don’t resonate with them anymore. In 2021, I hope to finally catch up with myself as far as output goes, and focus more on creation than getting lost in perfecting the details.
What is your creative process like?
For creative process, I’ll be producing starter tracks, getting ideas going until I have several to choose from, and then I’ll lean into the one that excites me the most and start fleshing out the arrangement. Then I’ll shift to the songwriting aspect, improvising melodies and writing lyrics. I think this is an important step as I used to write melody and lyrics after the instrumental was all finished. Now I like shifting back and forth so the song can develop more holistically.
What is the most useful talent you have?
The most useful talent I have is probably singing, since I have 15 years of professional training so I can sing in all sorts of styles without losing my authenticity. I’m just accessing different parts of my voice. This helps me not become limited to what style of song I can sing. For instance this track has really chill and laid back vocals, whereas my next one goes more full-bore.
If you could change anything in the past, what would it be?
If I could change anything in the past, it would be not listening to anyone about what path is the “highest” to take musically. When you go to conservatory, people act like classical music is the holy grail, when really it’s not the only place where true excellence lies. You can take a more creative and divergent path and still pursue excellence as much as anyone in the (very small, comparatively) modern classical music industry.
How do you feel the Internet (especially Social Media platforms) has impacted the music business?
I feel like social media has helped the music industry somewhat in that it leveled the playing field; people could build a following and “blow up” not by being discovered, but by putting themselves out there. I like anything that puts more power in the hands of the individual when they’re navigating a sometimes scary or intimidating industry. Also, the communities that can build around certain sub-genres then provides support for independent artists as they find their footing.
What’s next for you?
What’s next for me is the official music video coming out for my next song, “MANIFESTENT” in September, as well as headlining the DNA Lounge in San Francisco on September 23rd.
Photo credits: Isaac Saavedra
