Sophia Stephens On the Making Of ‘Love & Grief’
How did you come up with the theme?
Despite having written a lot of the songs when I was younger and before writing the title track, I knew I wanted to have an album that had a powerful meaning behind it. After writing “Love and Grief” I realized that there could be an even deeper story behind this song, I wanted to expand upon the track's meaning in multiple ways and the result of that was this album’s theme.
Were there any memorable or standout moments during the recording sessions for 'Love & Grief?'
One of my favorite parts of recording was making “Get Go.” I really liked doing the harmonies and the verses because this is one of the most rock-edged songs on the album and that style is super fun to sing.
Which song(s) do you like the best and why?
It’s hard to pick a favorite off of the album. Lyrically my favorite is “Beautiful life” and if someone had to listen to only one song off of my album I would recommend this one. It’s not for a passive listen, the lyrics throughout the song are meant to be very powerful and to really understand the totality of the album paying attention to this song and its multiple deeper meanings within the lyrics is critical.
What is your songwriting process like? How do you usually start crafting a new song?
For a lot of the songs on the album they were written in 20 minutes or less. My process differs a lot, but for these songs there were two primary ways I wrote them. One I was just freestyling and the lyrics came to me, and I just tweaked them a bit later. Or second I sat down with my guitar or my computer and just wrote.
Can you share a moment when you felt creatively stuck and how you managed to break through it?
There’s a lot of times when I don’t feel inspired. I don’t have any ideas for a new song, or I’m struggling to come up with a unique melody. Sometimes it’s actually so bad I have to take a break for a day, and come back refreshed. But other times it’s just about mentally powering through. Creativity is a skill and it has to be developed. Everytime I struggle through making awful lyrics and uninspired melodies, almost always I can find something really special hidden within that song that I can use for another. It’s always about perseverance.