We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sophia Maas. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sophia below.
Sophia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?
I have felt misunderstood and mischaractrized a lot in the music world. Although I have studied, practiced and have a degree in vocal performance I was once characterised as a woman who knows little. I am a small yet bold person who loves to challenge the people. I went to university in London, The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance. I wish I could say I felt that everyone treated each other as equals but that will never happen in the music industry. Being a woman made this even more difficult. It was my finals in my first year, everyone was grouped up into bands and we had to do a massive live performance. I took this extremely serious, composing a five part harmony choir to support me in each song and giving ideas to the band that would make us stand out. Now, you’d think me taking control, keeping everyone together would help but there was a certain man in the group who was not having it. He had a really interesting bass part but he kept fumbling, trying to rush through it. I pointed out that everyone really needs to keep practicing but I was ignored. Until one day, I stood my ground put him on the spot and said, ‘Please play your part alone so we can hear what is going wrong.’ After he played the part I made him repeat it over and over again. I sang along while he played it. In the moment I know he was embarrassed but it needed sorting. I then repeated everything that I had been saying from the beginning in which he took and applied to the song. It was sounding absolutely brilliant… And he realised it. All I can say is he never misunderstood my voice or my ideas ever again.
Sophia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I started my journey in music at the age of 10. I played the drums for a rock cover band at my music school. I told my music teacher, Matt Gaskins that he would never get me behind a microphone… Obviously that did not workout for me. I ended up attending Booker T. Washington HSPVA in Dallas and just recently graduated from The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in London with a bachelors in Popular Music Performance Vocals. I learned a lot about my love for music at Uni, especially that if I am ever in a funk making an indie pop cover of a rap song typically gets me out of it. I’m currently working on getting my music into sync libraries through a contact I have made while living here in London. If you’re not sure what sync libraries, it’s where producers will go to find songs for movies, tv shows and commercials.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is hearing that someone relates to you. That they heard your song and felt something or that I helped them through something by way of my music. There is nothing better than hearing, “Thank you, I really needed this right now.” I am a big advocate for mental health awareness, as someone who has struggled and still struggles finding something that helps you through those hard moments is so important.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I was in band in middle school, yes this was a long, long time ago but what my band instructor said to me has stuck with me for over a decade. Mr. Dillard who told me at the prime age of 12 that I would never succeed with music, look at me now. Maybe I took his words as motivation? I never gave up my talent. I was told by my music teacher, Matt, that I had vibrato and near perfect pitch all before I left middle school. He kept me on track while Mr. Dillard’s malice made me want to prove him wrong. I ended up sending my acceptance to Booker T. Washington HSPVA to Mr. Dillard but unfortunately did not receive a response. I guess this is me saying, ignore the haters and use it as motivation.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophiamaasmusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sophiamaasmusic/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@sophia_maas?lang=en
Image Credits
Sarah Blaze Photography