Q&A: Sophia Bacino on the Thoughtful Storytelling of New Single, “Silver String”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY CHARLOTTE ISIDORE ☆
Photo By Sarah Eisman
THERE IS A GLORIOUS PRESSURE — to living in a city where so many of your heroes got their start, where so many creative projects blossomed into successful careers, where at the flip of a switch your life could change forever. Los Angeles is not an easy city to live in, financially, physically or mentally. Yet year in and year out people move here to chase their dreams. Why is that? This question is what inspired singer-songwriter Sophia Bacino to write the second single, “Silver String,” off of her upcoming EP Up Against the Door.
Originally from San Diego, Bacino moved to Los Angeles to complete her undergraduate degree at UCLA. After graduating, she decided to stay in the city to pursue a career in the music industry. After a few years of work at a recording studio, she made the brave choice to dive headfirst into her own songwriting career. Her intuition led her to this choice, but it was not without long hours of deep contemplation. As she describes, “something in your heart is telling you to be here, but you’re so scared you’ll fall apart. Am I supposed to be here?” The vulnerability and relatability of this reflection relieves the ears of young listeners who face similar lines of questioning - Is the pursuit of my passion worth the pain it causes? Should I follow my desires, or leave them in the world of dreams and hypotheticals?
Without fully answering the question for you, Bacino weaves together an encouraging story of her own fight to manifest her dreams into reality. Staring off with a simple acoustic guitar melody, the vocals and production build in depth as the story does. The production creates the perfect canvas for the lyrics to play on, with delicate guitar melodies, layered vocals, and live drums from Nate Cimino. The lyrics illustrate the musing of a passionate, yet cautious person aspiring for something more in an ambiguous big city. Written by Bacino, produced by Will Easley, Sophie Feldman, and Bacino, and mixed and mastered by Ash Levi, this song stands as an incredible introduction to her upcoming EP, that develops on the themes of this single.
Luna sat down with Bacino to discuss the inspiration for “Silver String,” and what we can expect from her upcoming EP, Up Against the Door. Read below to learn more about this fascinating singer-songwriter!
Photo By Harvey Hale
LUNA: Congrats on the release of your single “Silver String”! Your songwriting is incredibly visual. What were you hoping to illustrate through this song?
BACINO: I aimed to encapsulate the swarm of beauty, loneliness, chaos, and passion that comes with big city life. You can be surrounded by people and still feel like you’re encountering solitude and loneliness as you navigate “the pursuit” - or whatever you’re in the city for. This song is a confession and a promise to oneself … It confesses, “Hey, this is really hard. Is it worth it?” The promise follows, and says “Yes, it is.”
The night it was written, I lit a candle and started playing that first riff; the whole thing just poured out of me. Over the weeks before I’m sure I had subconsciously ruminated on these aspects of LA life – I missed my friends, and strangely I was so self conscious of pursuing something closely tied to fame and vanity. I felt like the city was almost playing a trick on me and altering my brain chemistry (this city plays me like a silver string) ... I needed to remind myself why I was here and what my dreams were.
I like to think this song walks you up a hill at sunset, above the blur of traffic and glittering lights, soft pink skies above. You are all alone, but held by strangers in the distance … you can almost hear the dreams of those that came before you, floating by in the LA wind.
LUNA: How would you describe your sound to someone who doesn’t know you yet?
BACINO: I hope to walk the line between folk, pop, and rock, but it is my aspiration to carve out the most whimsical, imaginative and unpredictable melodies possible. I’m so inspired by Joni Mitchell’s Blue album … Did you know she was only 28 when that came out? When I think of other artists that shape my sound, Father John Misty, Madison Cunningham, Carole King, Hannah Cohen and Dora Jar all come to mind. I mean, I'm still discovering what my sound is, just like I’m still figuring out who I am!
LUNA: Your EP, Up Against the Door, was written with a variety of talented musicians and friends. What is your favorite part of co-writing and collaborating in the studio?
BACINO: I wrote these songs across the span of five years. It was a project that truly operated on its own time … it was like carving out a sculpture from a stone, but I couldn’t do anything to speed up the process. As necessary as it was to write these songs by myself, you can only go so far with melody and lyrics. Choosing different collaborators for different tasks was a fun way to bring each little world of production to life!
Every producer has a different palette and skill set they bring to the table. Some of these incredible producers include Ben Thompson, Will Easley, Sophie Feldman, Aidan Rodriguez … and my favorite part about working with all of them is how much fun we have together! How lucky is that? I even got some of my best friends who double as my favorite musicians to play on the record including Tommy De Bourbon, Nico Johnson, Hannah Searles, and Raina Markham!
I feel super lucky to be in this orbit of people, and the ability to lean on them truly opens up the project. Now it doesn’t only belong to me, but is something we all share together.
LUNA: What is the story behind your EP’s title? Was it a concept that shaped the music from the start, or did the name come to you later in the process?
BACINO: Up Against the Door is a testimony to one’s future, and breaking down the wall that stands between you and your destiny. About a year ago, I was amidst a major storm of self-doubt. This happened to coincide with a pretty detrimental vocal injury and working a job that increasingly distanced me from my confidence as an artist.
When I started to sense the tingling courage to build this body of work, I had maybe four songs I was sure of, and definitely no title. I remember sitting down with my friend Tom Phillips who said to me, “Just keep working on it, things are going to fall into place, and the title is going to reveal itself.” A few weeks after that conversation, I ended up writing a few more songs, including “Up Against the Door,” which became the title track!
Being up against the door means having the knowledge you’re on the edge of great achievement, but something sits in your way. Oftentimes, that block lies within ourselves… fear usually. Recognizing that was the key that pushed me forward. The entire project is an ode to self determination, confidence and ability to knock down that door and go through it.
LUNA: As an independent artist, how do you stay motivated through the process of writing, producing, recording, and promoting an EP?
BACINO: Hands down creating the visuals. Being independent means you wear all the hats – writing and producing the song is the fun part. Then it has to be mixed, mastered, strategized, released, promoted and marketed. It’s totally draining, emotionally and financially! What always picks me back up is the constant curiosity of the visual world: What can I do to create a visceral and cathartic experience for the listener? What are the colors and textures I can use to compliment what’s going on sonically? It’s like being inside of someone’s brain and filtering the way they hear the music. You know, some days I slip down the rabbit hole of “Oh, no one’s gonna listen to this … maybe this won’t matter.” But I have so much fun making the mood boards, conceptualizing cover art and music videos, that it doesn’t matter how many people tune into what I’m doing. Ultimately I know I’m building something singular, conjured directly from my spirit and my essence. I'm practically over the moon to show everyone what I’m planning for the release! But I’m sure we'll talk more about that in the future...
