Hi, my name is Sophia Marie George. I grew up here in Rolling Hills and have always been an avid singer and writer since I was young. I’m 21 now. Growing up, I took singing lessons because I loved to act in musicals and sing in the choir. In elementary and middle school, I wrote in journals a lot, oftentimes with lyrics I would try to make melodies out of, yet I really only started to write and compose my own original songs when I learned how to play the guitar two years ago, as a freshman in college. Since it was the beginning of quarantine, I took lessons on Zoom. Once I learned a few chord progressions, I started writing song after song; I couldn’t stop. I was so obsessed.

 

After I had written about 70 songs, I thought to myself that I should really try to get these produced and mixed and mastered in a professional way, because, up until then, it had just been me and my acoustic guitar. Then a year ago I went to work on my debut EP with a wonderful South Bay producer, which was honestly one of the highlights of my life. We made my first three songs into something I was so proud of, and I got to see for the first time how the whole studio process works. I was excited every day to replay my songs and find ways to make them sound better. Then, when summer 2021 wrapped up, I went to study abroad at Trinity College in Ireland for my junior fall semester and just kept writing songs. I teamed up with an Irish producer and took the train from Dublin to Cork to record two other singles. I finally released my debut single “Venice Beach to D.C” in January of 2022, which included my debut live performance in Manhattan Beach, and my debut EP “Foreigner” in March 2022.

 

I love music because when you are songwriter, the music becomes this autobiographical journey of yourself that is concreted in melodies and instruments and other pretty sounds. My debut single sets up this “autobiography” more explicitly, with “Venice Beach to D.C.” talking about my own personal relocation from Venice Beach to Washington, DC to study politics at Georgetown University and how it felt hard to kind of fit in with this stuffy, pre-professional atmosphere, coming in with all my West-Coast mannerisms and style and accent. “What a Waste” details my infatuation with the city of London, how it is the city of personal heartbreak but also the city of love for me.

 

I would say the most challenging part of creating songs is definitely trying to balance the desire to keep writing more new songs with the desire to more fully produce the songs I’ve already written. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I am such a spontaneous person. I also take a lot of inspiration from the places I find myself in, so when I’m in a new country, it is hard for me not to write new songs. I will go to a museum and instead of completing a song I had already been working on, I’ll be inspired to write a whole new song, now! The challenge is to keep perfecting the great songs I’ve already written, while at the same time creating new songs. The songwriter’s dilemma!

 

Another thing that is just broadly challenging—and I think a lot of young adults who pursue the Arts would agree with this—is the finding pockets of time to do my music in conjunction with all my studies. My major is in International Politics, so it really doesn’t coincide with music. But at the same time, I think my varied interests allow me to have this unique take on songwriting where I attempt to blend in politics with romance and foreign places and different languages. For example, I recently wrote a song about Niccolò Machiavelli since I just completed a two-week study abroad course in Florence, Italy on Machiavellian political philosophy. It makes my records quite quirky, but I love it.

 

Foreign places, most definitely. Like most people, I romanticize foreign places. I consider myself to be this perpetual nomad who is never satisfied staying in one place. I’m quite restless and have a true lust for life. I have fallen in love with people who live very far away from me. I’m fascinated by foreign politics and have worked at the French embassy in DC and have traveled extensively throughout the world ever since I was little. My grandparents are true global travelers and wanted to instill it within us grandchildren. My studies in college also inspire me a lot because I get to enroll in these courses I’m so interested in. I took a course on Nuclear Weapons and wrote a song about comparing nuclear deterrence to the games we play in love. Also, going to a Jesuit school, I’m inspired by certain elements of theology that find their way into my songs. My very changes in location, from the West Coast to the East Coast and abroad, plays a large role in my songs. Broader, the phenomenon of “love” is the thing that always finds its way into my music; oftentimes, I can’t think of what to say if it isn’t about love. Love consumes me and most of my thoughts all the time.

 

Lana Del Rey is a huge role model to me musically, just because I am such a fan of her discography. I only really got into her music during quarantine, though, so I haven’t been able to see her perform live or meet her, even though she often goes to Venice Beach, a place in LA I absolutely adore visiting. I did meet Sidney Gish, though! She came to play at Georgetown University, and I got to talk to her one-on-one when she was leaving the bathroom, and I told her how much her songs meant to me. I also really admire Alexandra Savior. I’m obsessed with her music and her whole vibe; she’s so pensively melancholic, and it’s a direction I really want to take my music in the future.

 

I cannot wait for what’s to come in the future! I’m so ecstatic to have my music out there in the world and I’m looking forward to producing my next EP and playing live! Please make sure to follow me at “Sophia Marie” on all streaming platforms and to check out the music video for my debut single “Venice Beach to D.C.” on YouTube!