Q&A: Sophia Dashing’s “PHENOMENON” is Dance Floor Manifesto
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIMBERLY KAPELA ☆
CHANNELING SENSUALITY AND SELF-LOVE — Pop’s newest siren of the spotlight and Luna sweetheart, Sophia Dashing, is back — and she’s not asking for attention. She’s commanding it. With her latest release, “PHENOMENON,” Dashing dives headfirst into a world of glitz, sweat, and untamed desire, delivering a dance-pop banger that doesn’t just move — it ignites. It’s the sound of a night out morphing into a movement, where freedom, flirtation, and fierce self-expression rule the dance floor.
Infused with unapologetic energy and radiant self-love, “PHENOMENON” is Dashing at her most magnetic. “This song is about feeling yourself, dancing until you can’t anymore, and owning the present moment,” she says. “It’s that feeling when you’re in your power, the music is loud, and nothing else matters.”
Written as a love letter to euphoric nights and glitter-drenched confidence, “PHENOMENON” captures the sensation of getting lost in the moment and finding your most empowered self on the other side. It’s flirtatious, electric, and defiant — an invitation to escape, surrender and shine.
“This song is that fantasy — when you just want to step out on the town and go into a different world,” Dashing says. “It’s about putting everything aside for just a little bit and seeing what parts of yourself you meet when you're in that zone — whether you’re with friends, meeting someone cute, or maybe leaving the club with them.”
A high-glam, fashion-forward music video is on its way, promising a visual feast as fierce and freeing as the single itself. Expect seductive looks, sky-high hair, and a dazzling display of after-hours fantasy, channeling the raw, unfiltered energy of a midnight escape where anything feels possible.
Dashing has always thrived at the intersection of pop music and empowerment — but “PHENOMENON” feels like a true moment. A moment to let go. A moment to live loud. A moment to step into your power, own the night, and let the rhythm take you somewhere new.
LUNA: Welcome back and thank you for talking to Luna again. It's super exciting to have you back since the last time we talked about your single “Raindrops (On Your Pillow).” I would love to catch up and see how life has been treating you and what have you been up to since the last time we talked?
SOPHIA: I just signed with management in January, so I have a new manager and she is amazing. Her name is Ekram, and I always wanted a manager that was a woman. With all the experiences that I've gone through, and also being a very strong feminist and seeing how many boss women are in this industry, it's just amazing to have such a powerful team surrounding me. I'm very inspired by her, and I'm really excited for this year to be side by side with her, and to see what we're going to take on. And then, of course, being in Los Angeles, enjoying it so much. It has been a dream of mine since I was a baby to live here. It's been on my vision board for years and years. It's just happiness right now. Happiness, joy and manifestations coming true.
LUNA: You released your newest single “PHENOMENON” and it’s a high-energy celebration of confidence, sensuality and self-love. What inspired the song’s tone and what themes and emotions do you explore?
SOPHIA: Ever since I could get into the club, I would want to dance. I just would get up on podiums at different gay clubs and dance my heart out and feel free. Dance is the one thing that when I was younger, that's what connected and brought me into this whole world, that feeling that you get when you're in the club and you're just free and all of your problems disappear. I really wanted to replicate that in a song, and last summer, before I moved to Los Angeles, I was just dealing with a lot of personal changes and a lot of transformation that was super uncomfortable for me. And of course, naturally, I went to the place where I wanted to let loose and dance. I also worked with Alto Moon, Gareth Calk and Ph.D Lovely . They were my collaborators on this song and they were an amazing team to work with. They met me when I walked in the studio and they wanted to do a club bop. They played me a bunch of stuff, and the second I heard it, I just knew it was the one. We wrote “PHENOMENON” in 30 minutes and the rest is history.
LUNA: “PHENOMENON” is accompanied by a music video that’s just as bold and glamorous. What was your vision for the visuals and how did you bring that to life?
SOPHIA: For the visuals and with the cover art, just with me moving to Los Angeles and loving pop culture, loving Hollywood glamor and Marilyn Monroe, I wanted to really touch on that, because the song is so bold and it's so expressive, sensual and old glamor. Angel Rivera shot the cover. I told him that I see myself laying on a star and using the Hollywood Walk of Fame as inspiration. He's just such a talent. Then as far as the music video goes, of course, since I was inspired by how you feel dancing in a club, we had to shoot it in a club. A lot of the videos were shot in a club with amazing choreography. I worked with Keith Nedd Jamal for the choreography. He is so talented, and I cannot wait for everyone to see the choreography because it is awesome.
LUNA: Dance-pop has such a rich history of empowering anthems, especially in queer and femme spaces. How do you see “PHENOMENON” contributing to that lineage?
SOPHIA: I grew up in the gay clubs, so I feel like I've always wanted to make music that emulates the feeling that I felt at 18 years old, dancing at a gay club in Paris to Brittany or Kylie Minogue and just all the divas. I definitely hear “PHENOMENON” in the gay clubs. I just hope people feel good when they hear it, and if they can dance, bop their heads, forget about their problems for a second, I'm happy.
LUNA: What do you hope fans feel or experience the first time they hear “PHENOMENON” on a crowded dancefloor?
SOPHIA: I hope that they forget about their problems a little bit and further add to their experience going out just to dance and let loose and have fun. The gist of “PHENOMENON” is the night has just begun and you just never know what life holds. It's all about grasping the moment and letting loose and having fun, feeling free, surrendering to the time that is now, because you only have it once, so you may as well surrender and feel free.
LUNA: Why do you love “PHENOMENON?” Are there any particular moments or lyrics in the song that hold a special significance to you and why?
SOPHIA: This type of song is everything my inner child would just die to hear from me, and I feel like I'm finally doing that, and it's just an indescribable feeling as an artist, just to like, feel that I'm finally making the music that I've been trying to make for so long, and I've been doing this independently for four years, so it's taken time to find the right people to work with. This is the sound that I have just dreamt of creating, and the music that we're getting ready to put out after this is just chef's kiss to everything I've been wanting to do. It made me emotional when I started answering, because younger me would just adore it. I feel like I'm doing something right, just for that alone.
LUNA: You radiate so much femme power in this track — from the lyrics to the visuals. Who are some of your femme or queer icons that inspire you when creating music?
SOPHIA: What comes to mind recently is, of course, Chappell Roan. I think her music is so powerful, especially her song “Super Ultra Graphic Modern Girl” and I love that energy. She's super inspiring. I love Madonna, Brittany and Janet. I mean, just so many iconic women that have paved the way and that have really taken a stance on embracing their sexuality and speaking up for other people's sexuality as well, and believing in freedom and in love and embracing oneself.
LUNA: Lastly — what does being a “PHENOMENON” mean to you, in your own words?
SOPHIA: “PHENOMENON” is the ultimate expression of oneself when they are feeling like they just want to step out on the town and go into a different world, feel the feeling of euphoria, and put everything to the side for just a little bit and see what parts of yourself you meet when you're in that feeling of getting in the zone and having fun with your friends, or meeting somebody that's cute, or maybe leaving the club with them. Just letting that open space for a fun night out just take you wherever you want it to go.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like for you that you would love to share with Luna?
SOPHIA: I feel very inspired and just happy. I feel like a lot of things that I prayed and asked for are starting to finally happen right now. It's a really weird, surreal feeling, like I've had a lot of moments here in LA of emotion, just looking around and taking things in and being like, ‘I can't believe the things I wanted two years ago are literally happening in front of my eyes.’ It's a lot of feeling like, is this really happening? And just a lot of gratitude as well. I'm so excited because we have so much new music coming. My next single is just as out there as “PHENOMENON.” I'm excited to keep going on this path and make fun summer bops for everyone to dance and have fun.
