Sofia Stanley is only 17 and is already making great strides in the music industry. Born into a musical family, don't let her age fool you. Sofia Stanley has a strong, confident stage presence that grabs everyone's attention in the room, a unique voice, and amazing songwriting skills.
She is also a student at Europe's most acclaimed music college BIMM Birmingham and has been played on radio stations such as BBC Radio, Black Country Radio, and Ocean FM in Ireland. With many years of songwriting and performing under her belt, Sofia Stanley has a promising future ahead of her.
The most recent release from the bubbly emerging artist carries enough charisma to carry a generation. "Why?" is the passion forward bop that unexpectedly emerges from your speakers. How you find yourself grasping onto the edge of your seat as you take this song in is remarkable. The powerhouse vocals that Sofia Stanley fervently croons are like no other.
The prevailing tenors you're exposed to have you falling under the deep spell that Sofia Stanley casts out. Carrying forth the melodic bliss in her euphonious harmonies, it's hard not to be engrossed in every note that Sofia Stanley hits. The entire song is arranged in a way that allows the luscious guitar riffs to embrace the divine timbres shed as each component in the production seamlessly works together for the grand finale that is, "Why?"
The instrumentation being simplistic allows the listener to fixate upon the striking vocalization that Sofia Stanley belts out loud. "I can't believe this happened to me" is the lyrical motif that drives this song to victory as we continue to ask, why did this happen to you? However, that's how life goes sometimes, and Sofia Stanley is the queen at finding silver linings in any series of unfortunate events. Wise beyond her years, Sofia Stanley is an artist to look out for as she climbs the ladder of success.
Congratulations on the release of “Why?” We love the entire structure of this track! What is the event that inspired the songwriting in this track?
Thank you so much for having me! I wrote “Why?” back in October, based on many different events in my life, and just a variety of different scenarios that people will experience in life, in general. It’s a song that came to life when I had a pretty humiliating and awkward day at work, where I spilled red wine all over someone, and later that day I tripped over a step on the ground, fell flat on my face in front of a restaurant full of people! I remember the humiliation, the unwanted attention, the awkwardness. That day, when I got home, I said to myself “I never want to go back ever again, I just to hide my face for a trillion years”, which then sparked an idea, as I knew I needed to get this awful feeling out of my system… I wrote a song about it. And then, within the space of about 3 hours, “Why?” was born.
The line which seems to be getting a lot of attention “Commit a photobomb, get someone's name very wrong, or call my teacher mum” has some truth to it, as I have accidentally photobombed pictures on many occasions, and I get peoples names wrong all the time! I have gotten people's names VERY wrong to the point where they sounded inappropriate! Although I’ve actually never called my teacher mum (thank goodness!), the closest I’ve ever experienced was calling my male teacher ‘miss’, which is still pretty embarrassing! However, my friend called our teacher mum before, and he was absolutely mortified, and I’ve heard of people calling their teachers mum before, so I decided to add it into the verse, so the song could have a sense of inclusivity and relatability, while also partially being based on my own personal experiences. Another line that sticks out to people on the track is a line in the chorus “If I had a dollar for every time I hollered something stupid, yeah I would be rich”, and let's just be real; I say stupid sh*t all the time! If it's not asking people unimportant or trivial questions at the wrong time, it’s telling jokes that people just don’t seem to understand!
Could you please take us into what the recording process was like when fashioning this track?
In terms of fashioning the track's overall sound and vibe, I had a few influences come to mind. The first instrument I recorded for the track was the guitar riff, which was inspired by Little Mix’s song “Not A Pop Song” from their album “Confetti”. So the chord structure was definitely inspired by that song, however I wanted the track to have a “quirky” element to it, so I added a slow-tempo, Imagine Dragons-esque kick drum. Also Julia Michaels's song “Anxiety” has inspired this track, both in its sound and raw lyrics. The track has underlying synth sounds such as a sub-bass and an electric piano, to give it a more Hip-hop/R&B-ish flavor, as that’s the style of music I usually write about, however, I’d say I’m pretty versatile as I love playing around with different genres and styles!
How does it feel being 17 years old and writing about such mature topics? Do you feel any unspoken pressure on you for the content that you write about?
I don’t really feel much pressure, I just write about what I feel in that particular moment and topics that I'm passionate about, that’s it. Especially in an era of music, where we have other young artists such as Billie Eilish writing songs with very deep, dark, and mature themes to them, music is becoming a lot more raw, unapologetic and carefree. I’m very lucky, having the ability and opportunities to do what I want to do when I do it and how I do it. I love to be able to write songs that people can resonate with, songs that can help people going through a tough time, and songs that people can just vibe to and dance around in their bedrooms to! It’s awesome, the response and reactions to my past songs, and now “Why?”, have been so great, I’m forever grateful for all of the support!
How does “Why?” compare to other songs released in your music catalog?
“Why?” is a song I wrote with the most “I don’t give a sh*t” attitude. Even though it’s definitely one of my favorites, musically and lyrically, from my discography, I didn’t really take myself too seriously with this track, as I wanted it to be a fun, relatable track, with a slight comedic element to it. I can confidently say that it was one of the most fun tracks to write! My other songs, “Angel" and “Respect", are definitely not as carefree as “Why?”, “Angel” being about losing a loved one, and “Respect” being about when you get bullied by someone, to stand your ground. “Why?” is about a feeling, it’s a fun, silly song, while “Angel” and “Respect” are more serious, aimed at certain people and particular situations.
What would you like new fans and listeners to know about you and the music that you create?
That life is about enjoying yourself, not taking things too seriously, and just living life. I have an upcoming EP called “Growing Pains” which is about learning and growing from mistakes, the pains of growing. Sometimes we don’t realize it, but growing and evolving as people can be hard, and can be painful, because we, as humans, don’t always adapt well to change. But if we’re in this together and support one another, we can conquer anything!
This upcoming project is about that, and that’s basically my vibe as an artist too! I will be announcing the first single off this EP next, and I can’t wait for everyone to hear it!