We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sophie Hiroko. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sophie below.

Sophie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I have never been one to feel drawn to the boxes that society has placed in front of me, so in a sense I have always known that I would not follow a basic career trajectory. I have always felt a magnetic pull towards the arts, including a fascination with artists that dates back to my very first childhood obsession- Mozart. I would run around the house pretending to be the child genius himself, wearing his favorite colors (blue and red), and singing “Queen of the Night,” from his opera “The Magic Flute.”
Growing up in a musical family in which my grandpa was a professor of music at the local university, and my father was always very passionate about music, (and constantly playing guitar,) I have been surrounded by both career-driven and enthusiastic hobby angles to music throughout the course of my life.
After graduating from the University of Minnesota with Political Science and Race, Class, & Gender Studies degrees, I watched the world begin to crumble as we collectively watched the genocide of Palestine through our phone screens. After Trump’s second term win, I decided that any fleeting dreams I had of attending grad school to become a professor of feminist politics were gone with the wind as funding, research, and university positions were cut across the nation.
I began songwriting in high-school, but began to feel immense pressure to push myself further, as I could feel in my bones how powerful the songs were. I felt a bit of paralysis from this overwhelming sense of fate, and needed to take a break through college and early adulthood as I knew that once I allowed myself time to dedicate to music, it had the possibility to take over my life.
Once I felt the calling to return to writing in song again, the first one that broke through from my soul to paper was “ashes,” which has remained my top streamed song over the last year. I felt like I had just broken a damn within myself and began writing in an unstoppable fashion, working through every gut wrenching emotion I had ever felt in the form of song. I wrote my way into applying for local bluegrass legends Trampled by Turtles’ annual Palomino grant awarded to one Duluthian per year, and ended up winning that grant- which changed my life. The exposure and monetary award allowed me to move to the Twin Cities, which has since brought me to a place of immense career growth and a momentous launching towards my wildest dreams.

Sophie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Sophie Hiroko, and I am a grunge rock poet based out of Minneapolis, MN. I was raised along the sandy northern shoreline of Lake Superior in Duluth, MN, which is where the majority of my inspiration still flows from today.
As mentioned previously, the point in time which launched my career from a dream to reality was when I was awarded the Palomino grant by Trampled by Turtles in June of 2025. After nearly ignoring the call to submit my application, as I was standing on the corner of McDougal Street in New York City, I received a call from frontman Dave Simonett. In one of the most divine experiences of my life, I was offered the opportunity to accept and pursue music to a degree I had never thought possible, being a small town girl from Minnesota.
Part of the award included an opening slot for Trampled by Turtles’ iconic yearly homecoming show at Bayfront Festival Park in Duluth, that year also including S.G. Goodman. The experience of this show- opening for thousands of people in a festival field- showed me the sea of possibility that lay in front of me. I decided to uproot my life in Duluth and move to Minneapolis to continue pursuing music in a completely unbridled way, channeling the wild horse within myself, fueled by my inner knowing that this is the career that belongs to me.
Writing in Minneapolis feels different, but so do the trials and tribulations that I have worked through while living here. I was unsure how moving from Duluth to the Twin Cities would truly impact my career, but as I kept my head down and stayed busy writing, I was noticed by First Avenue and selected as one of their best new bands of 2025. I was shocked and honored beyond belief, as not only was this an incredible achievement on its own, but also meant that I would be performing a set on the iconic First Avenue main room stage.
As the occupation of Minneapolis by ICE and DHS descended upon the city, the best new bands showcase began to felt trivial. Instead of rescheduling, we morphed the night into a fundraiser for local mutual aid networks, which was wildly successful and a beautiful moment of community solidarity.
Since then, I have organized some sort of mutual aid donation at every Sophie Hiroko show, which I am grateful to have the ability to do as an artist living through this time of overwhelming authoritarianism.

As an artist, I care greatly about the impact my music is able to have on my community. Whether it is solidarity through lyrics detailing painful experiences, donating proceeds to mutual aid, or inspiring others to create art or sound, I am grateful to have a platform which has the ability to inspire those around me.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

“Just Kids” by Patti Smith was an incredibly inspiring book for me to read as an artist coming into my own. I have re-read it several times throughout the changes I have undergone both in my career and personal life, and Patti’s experiences ring true to the reality of what it feels like to come into success in a rather intense way. Networking and meeting like-minded creatives feels just as magical and aligned as it seems to have felt for her, despite the geographical and time period differences. The pain she felt through the course of her life reflects into my own eyes like water, and I have often looked up to how poetically she has processed her trauma and aim to do the same within my own craft.

Sylvia Plath’s posthumous book of poetry, “Ariel,” has also had a special impact on me. I am deeply moved by grief, and have a visceral reaction reading poems of hers like “Daddy,” which looks death in the eyes, unflinching and unmoving. The way that Plath writes is almost too painful to read, so real, so raw. This is how I hope to write, too.

Bob Dylan’s erratically and nonsensically spliced film “Eat the Document,” coupled with the cinematic version, “Don’t Look Back,” also had heavy impacts on my inspiration as a human being experiencing the beginnings of success as a musician. Although Dylan’s level of fame itself is wildly different than anything I’ve ever witnessed in my life, I really enjoy seeing the way he interacts on and off stage, and how he attempted to manage those differences as he experienced life as a suddenly famous musician. The fact that Dylan also hails from Duluth, MN has encouraged me to view the future as full of endless possibility. Through childhood, he was just an odd boy from the north country, and was launched into legendary stardom at a similar age to my own now. I am so fascinated by his journey and how he navigated his young adult life.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Aesthetic is a very important thing in the realm of not only social media presence, but also in branding. Whether you’re an artist or not, it is vital that you not only know what your brand is, but also what it looks like. It is a bit off-putting to label my work within the same vein as a traditional brand, but it is true that I have a very specific look that I am aiming for when I present myself to the public or social media. It is cohesive, precise, and intentional.
For me, instead of drawing inspiration from contemporary pop culture, I look to the past to help me form ideas as to how I want to present myself. Pop culture is constantly shifting, which is why I recommend you do not model yourself after whatever is popular in the current moment. I have spent lots of time researching the history of art and music culture throughout time, across the globe. If you’re unsure where to start, I would suggest looking into who is inspiring your favorite artists. For example, Addison Rae, a 2026 pop star, cites Britney Spears as a major influence for her. Britney was influenced by Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson, who were inspired by Dorothy Dandridge and Aretha Franklin- the list goes on, and further into the past. It is important that you root yourself in something that is not fleeting, as popular culture is constantly doing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sophiehiroko.squarespace.com
• Instagram: sophie.hiroko
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Sophie.Hiroko
• Other: BandCamp: sophiehiroko.bandcamp.com

Image Credits

Juliet Farmer
Katy Kelly
Nate Greseth
Laura Lee Buhman