Last month, I asked NYC-based singer-songwriter Sophia Rogers to meet me at Devoción, a trendy farm-to-table coffee shop with multiple locations across NYC. We met up at the DUMBO location where we settled outside in the icy wind to secure the last two seats available. We discussed Sophia’s budding career and musical output over the past couple of years, and the creative streak they’ve started hitting with help from their band, especially their keyboard player and current producer, Taylor Hurt from the acclaimed local indie pop band Strawberry Launch.
Throughout our conversation, Sophia generously opens up about how a close family member betraying her trust inspired their latest song “All but Mine,” a sprawling fusion of indie pop and folk with powerfully haunting vocals and a progressive waltz time signature. In addition to the origins of “All but Mine,” we unpack Sophia’s love for Madison Cunningham, their origins in Dallas, Texas, and what their plans are for the remainder of the year.
How and when did you start making music?
Growing up I was always doing some type of performance. Singing was the one thing I felt most strongly pulled into doing. I grew up dancing and doing theater as extracurricular activities. I didn’t really think I was capable of writing music until the pandemic happened, I guess because having all that time to myself allowed me to reflect on what I was doing differently. I only had a guitar with me back at school, and though I knew a few chords on guitar growing up, I mostly played piano. I studied vocal performance because I figured I’d sing contemporary music that other people had written.
So when I started teaching myself guitar, isolated in my dorm room, I think the desire to write songs came naturally. The first songs were really about my friendships at the time.
Coming from Dallas, TX, what are the biggest cultural gaps you’ve noticed between there and New York?
Wow, so many. I feel like the first thing that comes to mind is driving vs. public transportation, but in general I feel like communities are a lot different here. The music scene in Dallas in particular is a lot more country/rock/blues bands, which is to be expected there, unless you’re in Austin where it branches out a little more. There are very eclectic pockets, but it’s a lot harder to stumble upon something cool and meet random people, whereas in New York that can happen any time you leave your apartment. I’ve had people just randomly show up at shows that I’ve played and we suddenly become close friends, and vice versa. That doesn’t really happen in Dallas, the communities are more… I wouldn’t say closed, but it’s not quite as accessible to just connect with people like that. And that’s kind of the beauty of New York as a whole.
A lot of it is about feeling lost in the circumstance I was in. And then when I went home, I was like “Oh my god, I do not want to be here right now.” I’m in my home town that I once loved, but also had so many suppressed memories of that place.
– Sophia Rogers
Would you like to tell me a little more about your relationship with your co-writer/producer Taylor Hurt and how that working relationship has benefited you?
Oh my gosh, Taylor’s one of my best friends. We’ve been super tight since we were NYU freshmen. During the pandemic, we kind of became somewhat of a bubble for each other. I would go over to her apartment off St. Marks every Friday and we would just hang out, take edibles, and chill. Then when I started writing music, she was in music tech and always wanted to branch out into producing and mixing. And Strawberry Launch at the time hadn’t even really released that much music yet. Obviously it’s kind of crazy looking back, because their growth has been exponential. So it’s really cool that Taylor’s been there every step of the way. I’m very privileged to work with her because I have worked with other producers, not extensively, but I love the fact that I can go to her apartment and get to collaborate in the sense that if anything comes up, it’s always something we can work through together, whereas when you work with other producers without being involved, it’s not quite as effective for me. I like to be a part of the process, and I think it’s really great that she always gives me the creative freedom to just try out something crazy, and if it doesn’t work out we can always go back to the drawing board. It’s so nice to work with her because she’s also such a kindhearted person who knows her shit and is on top of things.
Tell me a little more about your newer song “All But Mine,” and how it’s colored your approach to your music moving forward.
So I wrote the song almost three years ago. Basically it’s kind of tough to talk about because the situation isn’t really something your everyday person is thinking about. Basically the winter before Thanksgiving, I got a call from my parents. What happened opened up this huge can of worms, and it kind of changed my outlook on everything, including my music. At the time I was writing a lot about interpersonal relationships. And I’ve always written more melancholy-tinged music, but this happening was such a huge shift because even in the songs I write now, the way it made me feel always finds its way in there.
A lot of it is about feeling lost in the circumstance I was in. And then when I went home, I was like “Oh my god, I do not want to be here right now.” I’m in my home town that I once loved, but also had so many suppressed memories of that place. I had been planning to study abroad the next semester at the time and was second guessing it for a while, but once that happened I started counting down the days to when I could leave. So I found myself stuck in this house and feeling emotionally abandoned, and nobody wanted to talk about it. I was also feeling so much anger, because why am I the one who has to deal with the consequences of what this person did? It feels weird to think back on it now, because it’s been so long, so the visceral feelings from that time are more melodramatic to me now, but that’s genuinely how it was at the time I wrote it. I was feeling very alone. The vibe was very much like the sun’s going down, nobody’s home, what am I doing here?
Yeah, that kind of stuff stays with you and inevitably changes the way you move through the world.
Yeah. Because even when I went abroad, I was in such a compartmentalized mental state. For instance, I met my current partner there. And when we started dating that manifested in a lot of unexpected ways. I was thinking at the time, “I should be the happiest I’ve ever been right now, so why can’t I get out of bed?” Looking back, I was constantly fearful that somebody in my family would get hurt and I wouldn’t be there to stop it. It’s a very irrational fear, but I feel like as you get older and the more people you lose, the more fearful you become about losing the people you have. I had so many trust issues with people and the anxiety and depressive episodes started manifesting in lizard brain ways, and not fully conscious ways. I felt like there were two separate people in my mind. And the song is kind of an extension of feeling like I’m going crazy and not knowing how to deal with it. That situation is a huge part of my music now, even though I don’t go around thinking about it every day. And in a way I definitely feel a lot closer to my family.
Of all your favorite artists, who has left the biggest imprint on your work?
I was constantly listening to Madison Cunningham just before I started writing music, and she inspired me so much as a lyricist. The way she writes melodies is also so interesting and engaging. And from a guitar perspective, I dream of being at her level some day. A lot of music I listened to growing up was not super relatable because it was mostly about romance, which I had basically no experience in. I could relate to sad romantic songs somewhat, because of the sadness involved. But she was writing about her place in the world and things that were very much analyzing the self in the greater scheme of things, and that opened up the possibilities of what I could write about. I’ve started writing in a way where I take a broader world situation and write about it from a second person perspective, with “you” being the universal idea of “you.” She often writes from that place, and I’d never heard that approach before. She has a song called “Life According to Raechel,” which is about her grandma passing away and the regret of not having been around enough. And my grandma had just died the first time I heard it, so that song hit particularly hard. The way she constructed it by addressing her grandma directly really stuck with me. I ended up adopting that process on a song called “Grow,” where I address my younger self in the second person. Another artist I really love is Adrianne Lenker, but I can’t listen to her every day because that would probably destroy me.
Oh, 100%. I think the whole renaissance of indie sad girls we’re getting now – people like Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker – can single-handedly be traced back to Adrianne Lenker, and she doesn’t get nearly enough credit for it.
No, but I mean that’s the type of artist I wanna be. I wanna be someone who is well-respected artistically. I mean obviously “fame” is a whole other thing. But I want organic growth and for people to find something meaningful in what I do. If what I do means something to someone, then that impacts me so much more. I’ve started to write a lot more just for myself, but I’m also really grateful that a song like “All but Mine” is out for people to hear.
Who are some of your favorite local bands in NYC?
Wow, there’s just so many amazing people. One of my good friends, Sophie Said, came to my first show with my full band, which was over a year ago now. And after I played, she came up to the side of the stage, and she said “You don’t know me, but is your voice teacher Kathleen Adams?” And I was like, “Yes…” and she was like, “I could tell. I can hear the technique in your voice, I can tell by the way you sing.” Of course she knew I went to NYU, and she also takes lessons from Kathleen. But all that to say Sophie is one of my favorite vocalists. There are other musicians I love, but from a technical standpoint she works her ass off and the way she sings is so effortless, so for her to compliment me like that is such an honor. She just released an EP that’s really amazing, and she’s just the coolest. I also love my friend Daniel’s band, which is called Hey Again. It’s dudes singing in harmony, and Daniel has amazing finesse on the guitar. What’s not to love? Obviously, I have to give a big shout out to Strawberry Launch. The Dutch Kills are so sick and such awesome people. I also love Kinneret, who I met through Taylor as well.
What does the rest of the year have in store for Sophia Rogers?
I’ll be laying low for the remainder of the year, but we just recorded some new tunes and plan on putting something out in January. We also filmed a music video on my camcorder that I’m hoping to put out soon. Those are the things we have to look forward to!
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