Sophie makes E.A.R.S
What are we making?
It is not yet named. My partner calls it egg-avocado-rice-soy sauce, which is the combination of ingredients.
So we're having E.A.R.S?
That is so good! It's in order and everything, I'm so excited by this. OK, we are making E.A.R.S. I make this at least once a day, sometimes twice if I'm super lazy. Honestly, my friend George taught me how to make eggs. You really don't appreciate it until you start making consistently good eggs and then you're like, 'what have I been doing with my life?' The title of this interview should be ‘when you stop settling for less and learn how to make your perfect egg.’
What is the worst job you've ever had?
The first job I ever had was serving. I'm not one of the most socially awkward people in the world but I'm in the top billion. You have to hold eye contact when you're serving and I just don't know how to do that, so that's really brutal, and the words that come out of my mouth are faster than the words in my head so I have to really stop myself from blurting out "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" It was never anyone else other than me that made it a bad job. Also it was all students on meal cards, so they didn’t tip. It was all the worst parts about serving without the really good thing about serving.
What is your relationship to wholesomeness?
My relationship to wholesomeness is really that I value everyone as much as I possibly can. I use it as my brand, but it's also a part of me, so I'm able to create music and content very easily. My favourite part of wholesomeness is that whenever I make someone feel good, I feel good too. But I'm not doing this to make myself feel good, it's like team work. If I can make people feel nice and remind them of the good things happening in their life, it inherently makes me feel good. Spreading the love in the least of hippie way possible.
I like writing about wholesome things, from the perspective of ‘love for all’ but I don't really like to write specifically about it, I don't like writing about cliches, it really hurts me. No offence to people who do get inspired by it but the whole "live, laugh, love" type atmosphere - this is going to sound so pretentious - but it just doesn't inspire me.
I don't think it's too pretentious to say "live, laugh, love" isn't your thing.
“Oh, Rascal’s about to go off the deep end, excuse me.”
Is your real name Sophie Stevens?
Yeah, it is, it's kind of nice. With the alliteration it sounds like Sufjan Stevens.
Our next question was going to be, 'so it's just a coincidence that you love Sufjan Stevens?'
A while ago one of my ex-boyfriends showed me Sufjan Stevens and then I got super into him - Sufjan, not my ex-boyfriend. I joined this Facebook fan group, which is another very wholesome community where everyone's like "oh everything is soft and nice.” Every time I commented on anything everyone was like, "woah, are you Sufjan's long lost sister?" They were very sweet, it was always a joke, it was funny. Lovely people.
What is the first thing you notice in a person?
Probably, of substance, I would say conversation ability. I think it's really important to be able to listen to people. I know I have a hard time doing that, and not because I don't want to listen to other people but because of anxiety. I’m not interrupting people, but throwing in a "yeah totally!" or "I feel you!" and they're like "what are you talking about?" I'm not sure if it's a defense mechanism or anxiety...
Are you saying you actively listen too hard?
Yeah! I feel like the hardest part about being a person is holding conversations. Well, obviously not the hardest part, but as soon as I start talking about myself - other than interviews where I'm supposed to talk about myself - I immediately feel bad because I'm not asking about them, or we're not diving deep enough into what they're saying.
How does being an empath and feeling like you're taking up too much of people’s time translate to being a musician?
It would seem almost ironic right? "Don't listen to me." Part of the reason why I love being a musician is that people are here to see me, not in a vain way, but they're here to see me perform. They're just sitting and listening, if they were talking it would be kind of weird because it's performance etiquette. Because I give a lot of space to other people - at least I think I do - I like to take up as much as I can performing. It gives me an opportunity to tell stories and be like, "this is what this song’s about, I hope it makes you feel good" - it's a very personal interaction with the audience. If I can make the things I'm saying and singing have meaning and value, then I feel like I'm doing something positive. Or maybe I'm really vain and I'm not hiding it at all, I just love attention.
Can you share with us a funny or awkward moment performing on tour?
I was at a house concert in Candle Lake and it was my first ever tour. The first set was nice, but it wasn't anything super special in terms of interacting with the audience. The second set came along, and people were pretty comfortable at that point and I had a chance to talk to everyone, the ice had been broken. I got to this one song called Reason to Believe and I cover Karen Dalton's version but there's a kajillion others because it's an old folk standard. Someone asked "didn't Rod Stewart do that song?" and I was like ,"oh man I don't know, can't say I listen to Rod Stewart, no offence." Like really brutal about it. It was a group of older folks so they're all listening to Rod Stewart. My dad told me once, “Rod Stewart is as exciting as a ham sandwich" which stuck with me, so I said that to them and they were all laughing really hard because I'm just this young performer, I'm 20. These folks have different taste in music and different things they want to talk about and I just come into their home disrespecting Rod Stewart.
Another time, I was opening for my friend Jacob Brodovsky, and I was so excited because I just love his music with all my heart, and he's such a chill person and really funny guy and so I was like "heck yeah" when he asked me to open. I wasn't anxious but quickly spiraled into a swearing cycle - and it wasn't on purpose but I was telling this story about one of my tunes before performing and I just kept swearing. I was saying "fucking" and "shit" and I was like 'how do I stop and how do I apologize?'
"I'm so fuckin' sorry?"
A few swear words here and there as a performer are good but you really have to play to your audience. I realized far too late so just had to sing the last song. The song is "No One's Happy" and the chorus is 'no one's fucking happy' four times, times four because there are four verses. I was like 'I'm sorry, I'm not hire-able, just leave me alone."
What's the best concert you've ever been to?
When I was 14 I was really into Foster the People. It was one of my first band obsessions, I've always been one of those fan girl type people that really gets into something. We don't have a lot of money or anything but my mom and dad gave us such an awesome upbringing and we'd go on cool adventures whenever they could save up. My mom had just quit smoking and had all this money saved up which was awesome, she was like "we're going to go to Seattle and Portland." It was so kind of her to spend it all on us. She told me that because we're going to Portland we can go to this Foster the People show.
I got to the outdoor venue at like 8am, which is very early for a concert that started 12 hours later but I wanted to make sure I got a front row seat. I had a six page letter I had typed up for Mark Foster, I wanted it to be perfect and even printed it at the hotel. I made friends with a few other people there that were like, ‘we're here, we're in it, we're going to stick this out too.’ After five hours of standing in the blistering sun Mark Foster comes out riding this golf cart. My friend yelled for him to come get a picture with us, and he was probably like, "okay, I'm trapped, I'm surrounded by teenage girls." I waited patiently until the very end, I wanted to be the last person because I knew I'd have the most to say. When he turned to me I handed him my letter and was like, "you just helped me so much," and all the other little kid things you say. He's like, "I can't wait to read this." In my heart I felt so happy but in my mind I envisioned him walking into the building and ripping it in half.
Fifteen minutes later my friend was like "Sophie you've got to check his Twitter account right now." Like the nerd I was I had included my Twitter handle at the end of the letter. He was like, "I am moved beyond words, this is just such a wonderful letter, you just gotta keep on going..." It was the nicest thing. So that happened, and it was so heartwarming. Then the actual concert happened and we were front and center, and right before he was going to play one of my favourite songs - which of course I mentioned in the letter - he pointed at me and I was like, ‘oh my god.’ Then he reached down and handed me a guitar pick, everyone else was reaching for it and he literally shook his head and put his hand under everyone else's and handed it to me. My standards for concerts were so high after this and I was crushed so many times in the future.
What's your favourite mustard?
Can I say mayo? I know it's terrible but my ability to differentiate mustard is really bad.
Interview by Katy Slimmon & Ali Vandale
Photography by Ali Vandale