Intensely personal concept album Drama Queen tells the tale of the singer’s own maturation while growing up in Falls Church, Virginia. It examines every facet of adolescent girlhood, from the innocent sweetness of high school crushes and first love to more complicated problems young women face, like navigating hookup culture and dealing with body image issues. The artist has been able to redefine herself through this music—not just as an artist, but also as a person. This EP is for anyone traveling the road to self-love because it is all about healing, forgiving, and compassion. Check out the exclusive interview below:
1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?
SOPHIA DELEO: So I’m from a little town called Falls Church, Virginia that’s located right outside Washington DC. Both my parents were artists—mom was an actor, and my dad was a playwright—so I was always encouraged to be creative, and I was always telling stories. I grew up singing in church choir and performing in school plays, and when I was a teenager, I started playing guitar and writing songs in my spare time. But I actually ended up going to college for musical theatre and then moving to New York to pursue an acting career. I kind of kept my songwriting a little secret until the pandemic hit and suddenly there was no work for actors anymore. I spent the entirety of 2020 and most of 2021 writing new songs, teaching myself to play banjo, and recording my debut EP. It’s kind of crazy to say but I’m really thankful for all that time when the world was shut down—it gave me time to really hone my craft and gain a lot of confidence as a musician.
2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?
SOPHIA DELEO: I took some piano lessons as a kid, but I’m absolutely 100% self-taught on guitar and banjo. I think the intention when my mom bought me my first guitar was to get me lessons, but it just never happened, and so instead I’d spend hours after school looking up chords to all my favorite songs and teaching myself to play them. And everything I know about banjo I learned from Earl Scruggs’ bluegrass banjo manual. But in terms of singing I’ve had a lot of training. Started voice lessons when I was 12 and I actually used to compete in classical vocal competitions singing opera, which is kind of crazy when you think about the kind of music I make now…
3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences?
SOPHIA DELEO: Gotta give it up for my girl Taylor Swift. I think “Speak Now” was one of the first songs I ever learned to play on guitar. When my taste started to develop later on at around 17/18, I listened to a lot of Keaton Henson and I’d say he was pretty influential too, in terms of the way he’s able to write so simply and convey so much emotion at the same time… These days, I get a lot of comparisons to Kacey Musgraves, which are always so welcome, I really admire how sonically she kind of walks that line between folk, pop, and country music. Anaïs Mitchell is someone I really look up to too, I genuinely think she’s one of the best songwriters of our time, and the way she plays with structure in her songs is so cool to hear, especially as I start to lean folk-ier with my own sound. And of course Maggie Rogers. Sometimes people say I sound like her, you know!
4. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
SOPHIA DELEO: Well, it was digging up the trauma from my teenage years that inspired the songs that eventually became my sophomore EP Drama Queen. This project is something I’m incredibly proud of for that reason. The lyrics are some of the most vulnerable I’ve ever written, and sonically, this feels like the most “me” music I’ve ever made. I got to co-produce on every track. I really poured my entire heart and soul into making this record and I couldn’t be prouder to have it out in the world, and to be taking these songs on the road to DC, Philly, and NYC at the end of the month to play them live.
5. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
SOPHIA DELEO: Oooof. Good question. I won’t lie, the past 2 years or so have been really tough for me. I started therapy in 2021 and had to dig up some really painful memories and acknowledge a lot of trauma from my teen years I didn’t know I’d been repressing. I go back and reread old journal entries from the past few years and there were times when I genuinely seemed to think that I was never going to feel better, that I was going to be sad forever. But just about a month ago, my therapist and I decided I’m ready to move on (I keep telling everyone I’ve “graduated from therapy”), and I feel like I’m coming out the other side of this process a fully different person. I’m not scared of my past or scared to share what I’m feeling anymore, and that is such a huge step for me.
6. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as FOLK?
SOPHIA DELEO: Well my first EP was leaning more into the pop world…I think I was just listening to a lot of pop music when I wrote it, and I also thought it was what would be more “marketable.” But as I’ve grown as a person, I’ve really gone back to more simple production so the focus can be on the lyrics and the emotion. That’s what making music has always been about for me.
7. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?
SOPHIA DELEO:
I think I really started making music in an effort to understand my own feelings better. But as I’ve gotten older, and especially with this most recent record, I’ve kind of unexpectedly starting writing songs that feel like they’re making more of a political statement about womanhood. There’s a few songs on this new EP, one called “My Body Was My Own” and the other called “Drama Queen” that both really highlight the difficulties that come with being a young woman in today’s society. Those songs tell my own story, how I struggled with body dysmorphia and disordered eating as a teenager and how traumatic it was for me navigating hookup culture when I entered college. They tell the story of the healing journey I had to go on, ending finally in a place of self-forgiveness. They’re just songs about my life, but I believe they are also songs about feminism and they point out some of the things that are really wrong with our culture. I’m really proud to be able to make both a personal and political statement on this new project—I think both are totally valid ways to approach making music, coming at it from a personal level first has just always felt more authentic to me.
8. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?
SOPHIA DELEO:
I mean, financially I am not sure I will ever get back the money I put into making music…but spiritually? Absolutely. I feel so fulfilled every time I get a message from one of my listeners that a song resonated with them or helped them to feel less alone. Or every time I play a live show…it can be hard in this age of social media to feel like anyone is listening, a lot of my time is spent promoting my stuff online and it often just feels like I’m shouting into a void. But when I’m up onstage in front of a group of people who are actively listening to what I’m singing about, when I come offstage afterwards and hear people tell me that they love the music…there’s just nothing like it. I’m going on tour at the end of August and I’ll be honest, I’m feeling a little burnt out right now leading up to it, but I just know playing these shows is going to remind me of why I wanted to do this in the first place. It always does.
9. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?
SOPHIA DELEO: I always start with words. My notes app is just full or fragments of ideas for songs or different lyrics…but in terms of a “process” it really is different every time. Sometimes I’ll have an idea and I’ll sit down and finish a song in 30 minutes. Sometimes I’ll work on something for months and just keep coming back, revising draft after draft until it feels right. I used to write primarily by myself but recently, I find it’s been helpful to have someone to bounce ideas off of, even if it’s just to get a second opinion on a draft of something. Over the past year I’ve been writing a lot with my good friend Alex Petti, who fronts a rock band in NYC called good thoughts. We’re actually doing the tour I mentioned at the end of the month together! Sometimes it’s hard to find people you click with when it comes to collaborating, so I feel really lucky to have found someone I work so well with, who has also become a really close friend.
10. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?
SOPHIA DELEO: As a songwriter, I think learning about the inspiration behind my favorite songs is really fun. I think it’s worth it to give people the option to know more about the song for those folks that may be really interested. But the whole point of music for me is to connect with my audience on a personal level, so I’m totally fine with people not caring what the song is actually about and letting them assign their own meaning to it. As long as people are listening, it doesn’t really matter to me how they listen.
KEEP IN TOUCH:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | BANDCAMP | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE
