Sophie and the Giants are a group of young musicians from Sheffield, England, who have been making quite the roar this year. With their upbeat sound and cheerful vibes, you can’t help but get up and dance. This group of inspirational creators has made it their mission to be there for us when times get rough.
“Hypnotized” is an ‘anti-rona-anthem’ that skyrocketed in streams and is now followed by their newest track “Right Now”, a relatable song about feeling stuck in an endless cycle that won’t seem to break. Both these songs have listeners feel connected to the lyrics while still jamming out to them happily in their living rooms. The creative nature of the band has them constantly coming up with new and exciting concepts including the amazing visuals for their music videos. All done safely from the inside of their sanctuaries!
Title got an exclusive interview with Sophie and the Giants, who gave us insight into their inventive minds, exciting projects, and inspirational creative proccesses.
At Title, we emphasize the importance of staying true to yourself, your art, and your identity. What would you say is your True Identity?
I think you feel the most yourself when you stop expressing yourself in a way that you imagine other people want you to and instead do what comes completely naturally from within. My true identity is constantly growing and changing, but I try to confront it with honesty, otherwise, I lose myself again.
Has your home town Sheffield impacted your music or your journey in the industry?
Absolutely! We moved here because we are completely inspired by this place and the music that has come out of it. We also needed to live somewhere we could afford in order to be an actual band. For me, it would be crazy to have a full-time job just to get by living in London and only have the weekends to pursue music. I’d be miserable! We’ve worked so hard and put everything on the line to have what we have, moving to Sheffield enabled us to make the band our job and I think that’s why we’ve done so well so early on!
When did the four of you meet and why did you decide to establish “Sophie and the Giants”?
We met at music college in Guildford, I think that’s the only reason we all attended – to find “our band”, which we did. There was no question about it, I think we all knew from the get-go, the band was destined for great things, we are all incredibly motivated.
How did you come up with your band’s name?
It came very naturally, it was a joke that everyone was a giant compared to me on stage but I definitely never felt that way. I like the idea that our music can empower people the way it does me, make them feel like a giant even when they feel small or insignificant, and encourage people to take up space with their words and their talents and energy! Be fearless!
Your music videos to your songs “Hypnotize” and “Right Now” feature some amazing visuals and backgrounds. What was your inspiration behind those concepts?
All of my creativity comes from my mum and her bringing me up to be very DIY, we’d cut out and layer images onto each other to make collages. I also really love the idea of how our screens are hypnotic to us, we lose ourselves in its brightness for hours on end and we have another version of our life inside of them. These two videos were really exciting because we couldn’t go anywhere and needed to film from home, so we used a green screen and that gave us endless space for these creative possibilities.
You have created songs that are real and uplifting during a difficult time we’re all facing at the moment. How have you managed to stay creative in the midst of all this?
It’s been very difficult not experiencing life as much to feel inspired, but in such a hard time, it’s even more important to keep creating. My housemate is a photographer so we’ve been constantly doing shoots and we’ve had a lot of time to try out all these crazy ideas we have! I stay visually creative by trying new editing apps and making mood boards on Pinterest for different projects. Staying musically creative is harder but I try to trigger that creativity with new things like painting, dancing around to different music, going for a walk somewhere new!
What advice would you give artists struggling to find that creative spark and inspiration right now?
Take in everything around you, listen to music with your eyes closed, and welcome whatever it makes you feel and imagine, maybe lie on the floor or dance, I do that a lot! Always be kind to yourself. It will only stunt your growth more if you punish yourself for not feeling like you’re creating, you will never realize how much progress you’re making till you look back at how far you’ve come.
Your song “Hypnotize” was a huge success in Europe with over 100 million streams on Spotify it kept everyone’s spirits up in 2020. What do you hope to gain from the song’s outreach? Any big plans for post covid?
All I care about is being able to perform live and tour again, I’m especially excited to do so in front of these new crowds! And actually experience people enjoying the song in real life.
Do you have projects you’re currently working on that you’d like to share and your listeners can look forward to in the future?
I am focusing on new music with the band more than anything. Our sound has developed so much since Hypnotized and it’s so exciting! We can’t wait to share it with you.
