Today we’re excited to be connecting with Sophia Gripari again. If you haven’t already, we suggest you check out our prior conversation with them here.
Sophia, always such a pleasure connecting with you and thank you for sharing your stories, insights and inspiring messages with our community. We’re looking forward to getting the download and what you have been up to since our last interview, but first can you briefly introduce yourself to folks who might have missed the prior conversation.
It’s so good to be back talking to VoyageLA! It’s been, what, 5 years?
My name is Sophia Gripari, I’m an artist and songwriter from London, UK. I’ve been working in music professionally since 2019 when I graduated from college in Boston, and moved to LA straight after. I’m an artist and songwriter, and my main focus right now is definitely my own artist project.
Music and songwriting has been one of the biggest parts of my life since I was 9, granted my songs back then were subpar to say the least, but it has always been a passion and my biggest creative outlet. I started doing songwriting sessions in January 2019 at a studio in the Netherlands. Since then I have been lucky enough to work with some unbelievably talented people who make my love for songwriting grow every day. I of course love writing my own music, but there’s something pretty special about listening to someone else’s story and helping them use their voice to turn it into something that means a lot to them and their audience.
Looking back to the last time we spoke, I had just moved to LA, I was so green in the industry, and let’s be honest, probably had no idea what I was doing. It’s been a really amazing journey over the past 5 years as I’ve discovered my own artistry and grown as a musician. I’ve learnt so much from working with incredibly talented and hard working people day in day out, whether that’s starting out in sessions and looking up to those who have been in the game a lot longer than you and seeing how they carry themselves, or whether its hearing other peoples’ work that might be better than yours and having that drive and motivate you to be better.
Great, so let’s jump into an update on what you have been up to since we last spoke. What can you share with us?
A lot has happened since we last caught up!
Things are going really well right now, I’m currently gearing up to release my debut EP, ‘Inevitable, Obviously’, which is made up of 6 songs, almost entirely created during one trip to Joshua Tree in September 2024. I made these songs with two oof my great friends, Jake Bennett and Mario Garraffo (aka brompon). We shut ourselves in a makeshift bedroom studio for 4 days and somehow this was the product. It feels great to finally have a project to put out, rather than focusing only on singles. It’s been fun to think of creative ways to portray the EP as a whole and come up with musical and visual concepts that can be woven into all of the songs. The first single ‘Piece of You’ will be released on February 21st.
I’ve been doing more electronic/dance music as a vocalist and topliner, which has been a lot of fun. I had two songs come out with Knock2, who is an unreal artist. He’s absolutely crushing it, and to have played even a small part in his journey has been a total honor. I’m excited to dive into the EDM world more in the upcoming months and see what that has in store.
A big big highlight for me over the past few years has been getting the opportunity to work directly with my all time favorite guitar brand, PRS Guitars, as an official PRS artist. Last time we spoke, I remember we talked a bit about the incredibly imbalanced men to women ratio in the music industry, and that includes guitarists, so it has been genuinely incredible to bee recognized as a female guitarist by such a fantastic, prestigious company. Working with their team has been such a privilege and I love and respect that they are actively working with more and more female guitarists.
We have now arrived at one of our favorite parts of the interview – the lightning round. We’ll ask you a few quick questions to give us all some fun insights about you.
- Favorite Movie: The Departed or Love Actually (I know, they’re polar opposites)
- Favorite Book: Secrets In The Fire by Henning Mankell (a children’s novel, but one that I will always go back to)
- Favorite TV Show: Bad Sisters
- Favorite Band or Artist: Oh Wonder
- Sweet or Savory: Sweet
- Mountains or Beach: Beach
- Favorite Sport (to watch): Tennis
- Favorite Sport (to play): Lacrosse/Tennis
- Did you play sports growing up (if so which ones): Lacrosse, Netball, Tennis
- As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up: A singer, a lawyer or a ski instructor
- French Fries or Onion Rings: French Fries
- Favorite Childhood movie: Hercules (or High School Musical, I’m not ashamed)
- Favorite Breakfast Food: A full english breakfast: Eggs, sausages, bacon, hash browns, baked beans, mushrooms, roast tomato (with a side of avocado)
What would the perfect day look like for you? Please give us as many details as possible.
Okay, my perfect day. I’ll give you a work day in London. I’m going to give you timestamps, you asked for details!
9:00- wake up
9:15- coffee, quick bite to eat
10:15- pilates or Reshape (its kind of like orange theory but English)
11:00 – walk home & coffee with a friend
1:00 – songwriting session (we all know the first hour is just for yapping)
2:00 – actually start writing a song
8:00 – dinner out, lets go for Japanese
9:30 – sit at the pub with friends (outside because its the perfect day so its obviously summer)
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophiagripari/?hl=en-gb
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SophiaGripariMusic
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4NIJrKs2BotOvJpb52RsAH?si=Z5R4iZV9SaespZGYF7lNWA
Image Credits
Preston Groff, Olga Voyazides, Jonathan Morrison, Isabella Grossling
