Issue 95 / Dec18/Jan19

SMOPH
You may be more used to seeing her behind a drumkit with Pale
Rider, but Sophie Thompson, aka SMOPH’s talent with her guitar
and voice is just as formidable.
If you had to describe your music in a sentence, what would
you say?
Soft as shit: memoirs of a wet flannel.
How did you get into music?
I guess I’ve always messed around with instruments since
I’ve had access to them. I started recording with my mate on
his laptop when I was about 17 and that made me think a bit
more about what I was doing. Around the same time, I was in a
band with three mates from school so I learnt a lot from writing
with them. When I went to uni I taught myself to record, which
allowed me to write independently.
Can you pinpoint a live gig or a piece of music that initially
inspired you?
I remember seeing a lass (can’t remember her name – standard)
covering A Case Of You by Joni Mitchell when I was just starting
to play. I went home and learnt it and I guess that inspired my
guitar playing a lot. From there I got into a lot of Nick Drake, Bob
Dylan and other artists with a similar style.
Do you have a favourite song or piece of music to perform?
What does it say about you?
I think Never Sleeping is my favourite to perform. It’s the only
song that I’ve thought about lyrically first. It’s also quite recent, so
I remember where I was when I wrote it and that it came from a
good place.
How does where you are from affect your writing, if at all?
I’m from Carlisle originally. Live music when I was growing up
was alright, actually, but you had to know what was going on. My
favourite band from home has always been The Lucid Dream, so
they got me onto The Black Angels, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club,
Spiritualized and all that. Clearly that doesn’t influence my solo
stuff, but it definitely does Pale Rider [who Sophie drums with].
I’ve occasionally considered covering some psych on my acoustic
but surprisingly it’s always sounded like dog shit. Who knew?
How useful do you think music is as an expression of your
emotions? Do you ever use it to express things that you’d find it
difficult to say otherwise?
Yeh, 100 per cent. It’s really cathartic to write. Also, it’s quite
interesting to listen to songs you wrote at a different time. It puts
things in perspective.
Why is music important to you?
It makes a lot of sense but it’s not boring.
Photography: Richard Haywood
soundcloud.com/smophmusic
“It’s really
cathartic to write.
It puts things in
perspective”
CHARITY
SHOP POP
Ranging from danceable 80s pop
to lo-fi bedroom productions, this
Ormskirk native’s lush music has
caught the attention of The Label
Recordings, who release CSP’s
debut single in December.
“There’s something special
about music that you
don’t get with anything
else… It just allows me to
express myself in ways
that I can’t otherwise do”
If you had to describe your style in a sentence, what would you say?
‘Bedroom indie pop’ is the usual summary, but it’s rather genreless,
in the sense that one song will sound like an indie pop
banger, and then the next will sound like you’ve got a DeLorean
back to the 80s; but whatever it is, the sound is quite often very
laid-back, because that’s the sort of person I am.
Have you always wanted to create music?
Nope, I wanted to be a car designer up until I was 16. Then after
flunking college, I spent some time thinking about what I actually
wanted to do in life and I kind of naturally fell into writing music
about love and stuff.
Can you pinpoint a live gig or a piece of music that initially
inspired you?
I think probably when I went to see The 1975 back in 2014. The
music was incredible, they were the first band I’d properly fallen
in love with and the fact it looked so cool to be up there playing
groovy indie tunes to thousands of people, I was just inspired to
start making.
Do you have a favourite song or piece of music to perform?
What does it say about you?
I’ve just written a new track in the past few weeks, which is not
the sort of music I usually write, but I love it for that reason. It’s
about partying in the 80s, which is the only music I actually feel
comfortable dancing along to. Because of that, it’s quite a groovy,
80s-sounding song, so I can dance along.
What do you think is the overriding influence on your
songwriting: other art, emotions, current affairs – or a
mixture of all of these?
Mostly I’d say my emotions, like trying to explain my feelings.
Although, I’m kind of branching out of that lately, to give
myself more credibility – I hope – with some more political
tracks referencing Donald Trump and Brexit. Sometimes I mess
around on Photoshop with some visual ideas and then write a
song off the back of that, so I try to mix it up.
Why is music important to you?
It’s important to me, because it just allows me to express
myself in ways that I can’t otherwise do. Even before I was
making it, just listening to music helped me release something
inside, it felt like therapy for whatever I was going through. I
think there’s something special about music that you don’t get
with anything else, it’s hard to put my finger on what I mean
exactly, but it just helps. Whatever you’re feeling, you can
find a piece of music that will help in whatever way you need,
whether it’s a ‘make you feel better’ dance song or a ‘cry along
to’ emotional song. I have a sweater that says, ‘Life without
music would B-flat’ and there’s nothing that more sums up
music for me than that.
charityshoppop.co.uk
Charity Shop Pop’s debut single Always You is released on 7th
December on The Label Recordings.
SPOTLIGHT 31