After spending the last few years establishing themselves with a breadth of bold and inventive releases, Romanian artist Sofia Zadar returns once again to offer up their expansive new single 'RED'.
Lifted from their forthcoming new EP, which is set to arrive later this year, 'RED' makes for a brilliantly fresh and adventurous listen. Capturing a strong and diverse alt-pop aesthetic with some wonderfully immersive textures throughout, this new one cements them as one of the more innovative names on the rise right now.
So with the new single available now, we sat down with Sofia to find out more about their background and what has been inspiring them most of late.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
The piano, when I was in primary school. I then abandoned it and went through a guitar phase in my teens (don’t we all?) but the past few years I’ve been coming back to the keys in much broader ways through synths and electronic sound and it’s felt a lot like coming home.
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
Patti Smith was the first artist I loved wholeheartedly in a way that not only made me sing and dance along but actually altered my being and understanding of the world. There was a formative time in my becoming, around age 13-14, when music taught me a lot about the social and emotional complexities of life. It was also the time I was discovering my queerness so I listened to a lot of queer musicians - Ani DiFranco, Anohni, Klaus Nomi - people who spoke truth to power in extremely insightful and intricate ways, regardless of genre.
What was the first album you remember owning?
So luckily we had quite a bit of CDs, cassettes and even vinyls in the house when I was growing up because my dad believed in buying music as a practice (whenever he could, we were not the wealthiest). There was a lot of Pink Floyd, Depeche Mode, some female-fronted pop like The Corrs and Natalie Imbruglia… and at times I would even get a cassette as a present if he knew that me and my friends were listening to something in particular. But the first album I would say I actually asked for, desired and finally cherished forevermore was Horses by Patti Smith. It was still my dad who got it for me, when I was 14 I think.
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
I’d answer about writing and production as a whole, as this track is not only beautifully written but also has some of my favourite production, interpretation and arrangements - Reverie by Arca.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
No rituals, but I do need to have a whole day ahead and my own space to sit down and write. I cannot get started if I know I have something to do or somewhere to be later or if there is anyone else in the same space. And that is exactly so I can have a process as decentralised and organic as necessary, whether it’s walking and dancing around the room while figuring out a melody or having a shower to clear my head between writing different parts for different instruments…. It’s usually a hyperfocus kind of deal that lasts for hours uninterrupted until I feel drained or there is some feeling of finish of the part or song.
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
Lena Platonos, Sega Bodega, Lyra Pramuk, Yma Sumac… to name a few. It’s always a very diverse bunch and always shifting, but for a while now I’ve been drawn mainly to the intersection of experimental music and pop sensibility.
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
Anyone alive or dead? David Bowie. Living artists? Annie Lennox.
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
Lately for me it’s been the connection with the audience during live shows, when people sing along and smile/cry/yell/dance/express themselves in ways that are less censored than in most contexts. When you feel like you’ve facilitated a space for joy and relieving tension, for collective feeling and connection.
And what is the most frustrating part?
Being an underground musician in a subaltern country/culture closes up a lot of opportunities for connecting with other artists and platforms on an international level. While Western artists often benefit highly from the attention of press, venues, booking and management facilities, the same cannot be said for professional musicians in South-Eastern Europe. If you mix that with the occasional misogyny and homophobia you get a pretty frustrating mix and a lot of obstacles… So I would say these systemic factors of marginalisation that prevail in the music industry as well as in most other areas of work would be it.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
So this phrasing in particular belongs to St Vincent, but I’ve heard this key idea from many people around me in different forms: The more you do the more you can do. As in, give your craft the time and the practice it needs to grow and transform. Find the joy in this process, rather than having big expectations or set timelines for where you should be or how things should develop. The more you make music, the more you unravel its vast possibilities. The more you read and feel and process and express the more insightful you become as a lyricist and performer. Nurture your craft.
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Sofia Zadar's new single 'RED' is available to stream now. Check out the new video for it in the player below.