Elisabeth Kiko: On your new album before/after, you become the main target of your own satire and critique. Why do you think you turned that critical gaze towards yourself?

Sofie Royer: I’m most comfortable and entrusted to speak on myself as the subject matter, my own experiences, my perception. This is generally a theme throughout every record I’ve put out. Maybe it’s the most on the nose this time round!

EK: Do you think being hard on yourself has also been part of what has pushed you forward?

SR: Perhaps, but it can just as easily become an obstacle.

EK: Definitely can be an obstacle, what motivates you from a place of joy rather than pressure?

SR: Inspiration! Also the making of something is really fun, the journey rather than the destination. I absolutely love writing and producing music, I love finding new sounds, learning new techniques…

EK: You left Vienna to return to California when you were 19. What were you looking for at that point in your life? And where are you based now?

SR: I only left the US when I was 12, and I’d spent a few summers out of high school back at my cousins in Torrance, so there were elements of my life that I missed. I applied for an internship at Stones Throw Records and when I received it, I originally was only supposed to do a two month stint and come back home when the internship ended. However, I was subsequently offered a full time job, and getting to work for the label played the biggest role in me choosing to make the move permanent. I moved back to Vienna around 2019, after my mother was diagnosed with cancer, and I couldn’t really imagine leaving again; though I’m happy to enjoy and be afforded the ability to travel frequently for work.

EK: Where is home for you?

SR: Places that feel like home and I spend the most time in are Vienna, Paris, Los Angeles!

EK: You went from being a conservatory-trained violinist to DJing, working at Boiler Room and Stones Throw, and now choosing to only create and live as the artist. Did becoming an artist feel inevitable to you or did you have to give yourself permission to take up that space?

SR: I’ve been a musician since as long as I can remember— I’ve played the violin for 31 years now. I don’t really remember a life without playing music. I think if you make art you’re an artist, regardless of what your day job is or where you’re currently working!

EK: You find yourself living and choosing with that intuition through all areas in your life? Also the way you create?

SR: Definitely in terms of creating music, or at least in choosing what to release.

EK: What does pop music mean to you?

SR: I’m not sure. I think good music is good music, regardless of genre.

EK: What do you feel is missing from pop right now?

SR: I don’t know, perhaps I get frustrated by the contemporary landscape of music right now sometimes, both on a musical/ production level and on a lyrical level, but maybe a lot is just not meant for me, which is also OK. I don’t need everything to be imbued with meaning or false depth; but at least your place of creation should be coming from somewhere authentic. And it’s really nice to see artists like Princess Superstar or La Roux getting recognition right now for songs they wrote years ago, for example. I’m not super nostalgic for anything, I am happy to have a wealth of different eras and genres to study about and look back upon— I enjoy leaning into the fact that I am a postmodern artist!