Sophie Villy is an internationally recognized singer-songwriter, known for a unique sound that draws upon elements of both Georgian and Ukrainian culture. Her burgeoning catalog is noted for its minimalist arrangements, often framed by resonant, vintage guitars. Older still are the echoes of twelfth-century poet Shota Rustaveli –a reminder of the artists and poets who visited Sophie’s home during childhood. That initial peace and comfort would, however, change radically…
Sophie has composed soundtracks for feature films from her homeland, America, and France –one of which was selected for the Cannes Festival Short Film Palme d’Or competition in 2015, and won “Best Original Music” at Euro Film Festival (Spain). She has been reported by KCRW in Los Angeles, BBC Radio 2, and London’s The Guardian newspaper as a primary representative of new wave in music from around the world. In 2015 Villy presented her side-project “Philosophie” in Europe and the United States, while opening for Mercury Prize and Brit Awards nominee Anna Calvi in Budapest. Also in 2015, she played at the SXSW festival in Texas––as the only representative from either Ukraine or Georgia. She has toured America on three occasions, including a show at New York’s Brooklyn Bowl and with onstage support from Tom Waits’ guitarist Omar Torrez.
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In this interview spotlight, we chat with Sophie about her influences, her newest project, surviving as an indie musician and much more.
Full Q&A along with links and streams available below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I am from Tbilisi, Georgia.
Usually, I try not to put my music in some “frames” of genres, but of course, like anything else it has some details and directions and if we follow them, then it’s a mixture of trip-hop, alternative rock and electronica. To me it’s music of the oceans.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to stay the course?
As a child I was always very close to music. In Tbilisi we were living next to the state conservatory and every morning I was waking up with the magical sounds of different instruments. My parents had an amazing collection of vinyls and when I saw the instrument I tried to play it and sing at the age of three. Then, at 5 I went to music school to study piano and after four years I turned to my fathers guitar, so now I’m here.
This path is not easy at all. But with every single day I believe in it more and more. I understand why I’m doing this and why I’m here. It’s a kind of whisper of inner voice. My family, band members and of course people that believe in my music, inspire me and give me motivation to keep going and keep creating.
How is your new release different than previous ones? Did you set out to accomplish anything specific?
To me “Planet A” is a totally different feeling, expression and sound. Previous two albums “Dress” and “Mother Fish” were also emotional and full of true stories, but I hear light “sister sadness” in them.
I’ve been working on this LP about two years. Sometimes we worked distantly, (Tbilisi-Kiev-Stuttgart), because our drummer – Dmitry Zinchenko and guitarist Stas Kononov live in Ukraine, Zura Dzagnidze lives in Stuttgart and me and our bass player Levan Mikaberidze were in Georgia. We recorded it in Tbilisi at Gvaji’s Studio and we’ve been searching for a unique and specific analogue sounds to mix it all with a soft voile of electronica.
With this album I found happiness and a planet, that I wanna take care of and keep till the end of my life. When people ask me “Why “Planet A”?” My answer is – ‘Coz there is no planet “B”.. There’s only Planet A, that is called Love and everyone can discover and keep it.
And also, it might seem a bit weird, but after all these things with climate change and global changes on the Earth, it’s stuck in my mind and I think we need to apply the same attitude, reveal love and respect to our planet. We have to remember that there’s no other planet for us to live and we gotta do something now, to leave a safe place for the upcoming generation.
Do you face challenges as an indie musician in a digital age? How has technology helped you (assuming it helps)?
Digital era has its pluses and minuses. Positive thing about it is that you can upload your music and sell it on your own without any label. But when someone buys it and tries to make it available on other free streaming resources, you can’t control it. Most people actually don’t want to pay for music, because they know that they can find it on some torrents and eventually on YouTube.
It’s absolutely not easy thing to make a record happen, spend big enough amount of money in the studio and then try to promote it. Anyway, if not a label, an artist needs a good team. So far I’ve been doing this all on my own, but now I’m in the process of making a perfect team for this movement.
Where can we connect with you online and discover more music?
Anything else before we sign off?
Here is our new video for track “Swim On” feat. Nikakoi, taken from the new album. It was my idea to remember my past as a professional high diver, so in the video I appear on the trampoline and unlike anything else this motion describes my feelings about this song.
Right now We’re on tour in NY.
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