Photo courtesy of artist’s facebook page
From the confines of her bedroom, Sophie Allison constructed Soccer Mommy, a project known for ‘chill but sad’ tracks fit to underscore various levels of bliss & torment one may experience as they navigate the various relationships in their life. The band’s most recent release ‘Clean’ has been met with glowing, heartfelt encomiums from various publications. The bandcamp comments alone are filled with so much appreciation for this band that it’s impossible not to smile while skimming through them.
As a newer fan, the element that hooked me right away was the lyrical prowess. Allison has a knack for laying things out in an unvarnished manner; a sort of heat-seeking missile that has no trouble getting to the heart of the matter. Soccer Mommy’s elocution coupled with top-notch musical arrangements have garnered the band sold out headlining shows and spots on tour with Speedy Ortiz, Liz Phair and Paramore.
Before the band’s sold out show at Great Scott with Long Beard, Allston Pudding got to chat with Sophie Allison about the record, astrology and conspiracy theories.
AP: You tweeted that your mom was playing your album at home. Does your mom have a favorite track from ‘Clean?’
SA: I think she likes ‘Wild Flowers’ & ‘Scorpio Rising’ a lot. I don’t think she has a deep reason besides just enjoying those two.
AP: Congrats on Iceland airwaves! Have you been to Iceland before? Is there something you’re particularly excited to check out while you’re there?
SA: I’ve never been to Iceland! I don’t know anything about it so I have no clue what I’m going to try and do there but I’m excited because it seems like a cool place.
AP: You tweet a bit about astrology; are you a strong believer in sign capability? Are there certain signs you exercise caution around?
SA: I think I’m kind of a believer in sign compatibility. I don’t think I ever have to exercise caution with some signs because I’m compatible with air signs and I also have earth and water in my chart so I’m pretty flexible. There are definitely signs that I wouldn’t want to date. I do find that I tend to be compatible with the signs I’m supposed to be compatible with but I feel in friendship I can work with a lot of different signs.
AP: I know you’re a Gemini; which songs on ‘Clean’ do you feel are the most Gemini-esque?
SA: Hmmm; I don’t think there are any super Gemini-esque tracks. I feel like what I talk about on the album doesn’t talk about my personality as much. I feel like it much more reflects my rising and my moon.
AP: What’s your rising and your moon?
SA: I’m a Scorpio rising and my moon is an Aquarius moon.
AP: What does that mean?
SA: From what I’ve researched about myself, the rising sign is how people perceive you at first. For a Scorpio rising, they tend to come off as cold and mysterious; you can’t really tell how they actually are. The moon relates to your emotions so for Aquarius moon, I’ve read that means you’re kind of moody but don’t want to show what would be perceived as unattractive feelings. They’re kind of closed off, emotional and difficult to read because they’ll try to act above their emotions. So, I think a number of those things are definitely reflected in the music.
AP: Where are your favorite places to write in your hometown?
SA: I usually write in my room. I don’t usually write anywhere else.
AP: What was it about Gabe Wax that moved you to invite him into the creation process?
SA: He just seemed to really understand what I wanted to do and we vibed really well. I liked his ideas a lot and he also had production ideas that I wouldn’t have thought of that made the record sound the way I wanted to. It truly worked out perfectly.
AP: If you could re-record and update the arrangement of a song from ‘For Young Hearts’ which song would you choose and why?
SA: ‘Henry’ because I feel like the sound on that one has the potential to be a lot bigger and I think it’s super catchy.
AP: Do you remember how old you were when you 1st heard ‘Exile in Guyville?’ Do you remember what your initial thoughts and feelings were about the record after you heard it?
SA: I was in college when I first heard it so it wasn’t that long ago for me! It was during the end of high school/beginning of college when I started checking out Liz Phair. I remember playing the record a lot and it really spoke to me. I think now that I’m more heavily involved in the music scene, the album speaks to me more because she wrote a lot about being a women in the music scene in Chicago. Now that I’m an artist in the scene, I have an increased understanding of where she’s coming from and the emotions she experienced on that record.
AP: Is there a song you hope she plays live?
SA: I would love to hear ‘Shatter’ live.
AP: I’m always curious about what music folks are listening. Is there an artist who’s discography you’ve recently explored?
SA: In the last year, I got into Yo La Tengo; that was a band I really dove into. I usually get into a single album but that’s a recent one where I flipped through the full discography.
AP: With the idea that’s been floating around the internet that we’re living in a simulation, I’ve been thinking a lot about conspiracy theories. Is there a conspiracy theory or a series of theories you believe to be true?
SA: For a few moments, I can be really convincible of a conspiracy theory but if someone were to come up to me in that moment and say ‘Oh that’s not true; here’s this, here’s this, here’s this’ I’d be like ‘Oh! It’s not true.’ I can kind of sway either way with those things. I’ll watch things on conspiracy theories and will get really freaked out and think I’m gonna get murdered; but I’m also like ‘It’s probably not true.’ I feel like some of the government conspiracy theories are true. I feel like there are definitely aliens that we found and their dead alien bodies are being kept somewhere. Especially with the Area 51 bit, it just feels like something they didn’t do a good job of keeping under wraps.
Soccer Mommy plays a ~sold out~ Great Scott tonight, May 1st: doors at 8:30