We recently wrote about Sophia Mina’s latest single, ‘Run To’, with its video an homage to London’s bright and busy streets, multi-coloured streets. Now we catch up with the artist ahead of her upcoming single, ‘Fly’ – for which we have a sneak preview – and ask her Six Quick Questions.
EP: What’s the Sophia Mina story?
SM: Well Iāve always been into acting, singing and dancing. But, singing and acting was always something I wanted to pursue. But, it was always singing over acting. And I know this sounds terrible, but I pretty much just graduated from drama school and the guy I got with at the time, told me he couldnāt date an actress. So, I basically gave it up, and focused more on the singing and songwriting. Iād already started singing and songwriting again at ICMP, so it made sense. Thatās the place where I started to really work on my writing and began my artistic journey.
BTW, me and that dude arenāt together anymore, so Iām super free do be who I want be artistically and really commit to my creative vision. And maybe get back into acting again?? Who knows!
EP: Who or what do you find most inspiring, and why? What’s been your biggest influence both musically and personally?
SM: Max Martin and Dr Luke are like Gods to me, when it comes to writing so they have always been my go tos. I grew up listening to Britney, Christina, Aaliya, The Spice Girls and Madonna so my music is very reminiscent of the 90s.
But I also really love the early 2000s, so JoJo, Kelly Clarkson, Jordin Sparks. But, Iām currently really loving Mabel, Raye and Ariana Grande. So my musical influences and inspirations are changing all the time. Itās just that my heart is where the 90s is!
EP: If you could do it all over again, would you change anything at all, and if so, what would you do differently?
SM: Oh gosh. Haha so many things. So many things. Jesus Christ, do I really have to answer this? Well..for one planning, I wished I planned things differently in the past in terms of time/ money management and decision making. But, Iām not really a manager or a label head so the business side of it was never going to be my strong point.
I wished I learnt to play all of my instruments properly haha! But, oh well itās never too late for that. I also wished that I was more into RnB as a child, as I feel like it was there, but not so prominent as the pop stuff. Hence the RnB sound coming out more later in my music.
But at the same time Iām glad that things worked out the way they did, because when I look back on my musical archive I can really see the development Iāve made as an artist, singer and writer and Iām really proud of everything that Iāve achieved and put out. š
EP: What’s next for Sophia Mina?
SM: Well weāre working on creating an album full of singles and weāll probably spread out the releases. Kinda playing about with the artist sound in terms of production. Thereās a lot of songs that definitely sound more RnB, theyāre slightly darker and we may be bringing some oriental sounds into the production as well. Weāre also looking to bring out more visuals for previous material in the archive š
EP: What’s your take on the current state of the music industry, and what advice do you have for anyone wanting to get into it?
SM: Erm…hmm…thatās a difficult one. Number 1, you need to really have a passion for music. So much so that you donāt actually want to do anything else with your life. You have to sleep, eat and breath music. Donāt be afraid to make mistakes and have knock backs, because thatās life in general, but more so in the music industry. You should use the knockbacks to become stronger and the experiences you will go through will build your character as a person, which I would personally use to channel into my songwriting etc.
Itās also really important to have a good strong team of people around ground and guide you through the tough times. A good creative team for your project of course. Andddddd….remember to enjoy it. Enjoy there process and the roller coaster ride, because if you really believe in what you are doing you will make it happen, so itās all going to be worth it in the end. š
EP: What question do you wish someone would ask you in an interview but nobody ever does?
SM: What would be your dream wedding??? Haha. I so know the answer to this!
