Sophs

Shortly before the release of their debut album, "Goldstar," we caught up with Rough Trade's new Los Angeles pupils, the Sophs, for a chat. Joining us on video are Ethan Ramon (vocals), Sam Yuh (keyboards), Cole Bobbitt (bass), and Seth Smades (acoustic guitar). Ethan almost always answers the questions, as expected, given that he's the primary songwriter (and mastermind) behind the songs. He and Cole seem decidedly in a prank mood, engaging in bizarre influences and unlikely collaborations, while Seth and Sam are much more shy and quiet.

Hi guys, how are you and how are the preparations for the release of “Goldstar” going?

Ethan: They're going very well. I feel like we're in a really fortunate place, just having the opportunity to open up for Shame here. And I feel like that's really kind of aiding the album process. It's like putting us in front of a bunch of new people every single night. So we're doing the Shame tour, and then we're going to have a little bit of time off just to kind of focus on the digital and the site stuff.
Cole: Yes, it's going great. We love the Shame guys, and we're really happy to be on the road with them. And we're excited for the album to come out.

Among the themes you address on the album, a lot revolves around the need and search for personal validation, resulting in degenerative attitudes. There are tracks that are explanatory in this sense right from their titles, for example I'm thinking of “A Sympathetic Person” and “They Told Me Jump, I Said How High”. Can you tell me about them?

E: Yeah, I think the whole “emo” of the album, the whole mantra there is that we're searching for some kind of intangible validation, some sort of external validation. And I feel like that is what the gold star is. And we're doing that. And it's just sort of a testament to a part of yourself that you can never truly fulfill, but you always kind of blame on the world. You're constantly saying, if the world would just give me my gold star, I would finally be whole. But at the end of the day, you're not going to be whole regardless. I feel like that really is what we're kind of trying to say with the album. We're writing the whole record from the perspective of a narrator that really finds it easier to point fingers than fess up and take accountability.
C: It's a battle that can't be won.
E: Yeah, one battle after another.
C: That's right.
E: And so, yeah, I think the whole album kind of revolves around that, you know, as far as the physical versus the metaphysical and the gold star versus, you know, the admittance that, you know, maybe you have to work on yourself.
C: Well said.

You made an impression on the founders of Rough Trade Records, Geoff Travis and Jeannette Leebefore, sending them some demos before you'd even played a gig. How is it going?

E: It seems to have gone pretty well so far. I mean, they're great business partners. And not only do they have such a massive business acumen, but they are actually genuine music lovers as well. And being in business with people that you can tell understand music to the degree that they do, I feel like is just a rare and really kind of sacred opportunity.
C: Well said.

For you, writing and composing are like a form of pop art, and you like to explore different musical genres. I saw this, for example, in "Sweetiepie," which features blues and country elements, in the flamenco influences of the title track, or in the unexpected electronic intro to "Sweat". Were there any particular music you were listening to that inspired you while working on your debut?

E: I think we listened to a pretty large variety of music, I think.
C: Tom Waits.
E: Yeah, a lot of Tom Waits. I actually have a pretty big cache of Russian and Slavic music, especially from the 20th century that I was listening to.
C: I was just thinking that.
E: And that, I feel like, influenced especially the moments of the album, like “The Dog Dies In The End” and the very end of “Blitzed Again”, where they have kind of navigated a bit more of a harmonic minor scale. And so I think, yeah, it was a lot of Tom Waits, it was a lot of Slavic music. In the same breath, we're all listening to a lot of like Bright Eyes and bands in that vein and stuff like that. So I feel like the influences, they have a pretty wide breadth.

One of the lyrics that struck me the most was that of “Death In The Family”, can you tell me how this song came about?

E: Yeah, I think it was a kind of catharsis. I was really trying to make peace with the part of myself that was dealing with a significant amount of paranoia and was struggling with being perceived. And I really kind of wanted to turn a journalistic eye inwards and figure out why I felt the way that I did, you know, and why I was freaking out in the moments that I freaked out. And I think the answer always kind of came back around to some sort of intangible parliament of vowels that I kept, you know, being freaked out that I was being judged by and I would change my behavior accordingly. And I really wanted to figure out why I felt that and how it was affecting my actions and my thoughts and my behavior and death in the family, I feel like is a product of just truly kind of turning a surgical eye inward and figuring out, you know, why I was paranoid and really getting down to the darkest kind of corners of that. And writing about it.
C: Well said.

The cover artwork of your album caught my attention, ‘cause it reminded me of a work by Magritte entitled “Not To Be Reproduced”. Does it have a particular meaning in the context of the album and how did you choose it?

E: Yeah, so it's quite literally a reproduction of “Not To Be Reproduced”. And I find that pretty poignant for the album and its themes because, I don't know, you know, you yourself use the term pop art to describe the album and its themes, and the disparity between genres, I feel like it navigates that in a way that's very appropriative, but very tongue in cheek about how it does so. And I feel like that's the album art being what it is, is kind of the perfect thing. Like it's a reproduction of “Not To Be Reproduced”. It's pretty on the nose as you can get as far as the bastardization of classic art, the pop art element of the record and the way that it kind of explores genres in an appropriative way. But tongue in cheek about its role, you know.

Which song did you enjoy working on the most and why?

E: I think, for me at least, I really liked working on “A Sympathetic Person”, because it had a lot of analog instruments.
C: Yeah.
E: We were all over at Seth's and we were opening and closing the gate, actually, in his apartment complex as the percussion in that song.
Sam: Personally, I loved working on “They Told Me Jump, I Said How High”, because every single instrument in that song is one take. Like all of the bass and the guitar, everything was exactly how it was Diy into the system, and it was amazing. And then all of the lyrics that Ethan put on there were totally a surprise to us. We had no idea what he was going to say, and as soon as he said them, we were like, this is awesome. This is so much fun, and we're so thrilled that this is on the track.

Who are the figures who have inspired you most as musicians?

Ethan: Daffy Duck.
C: [laugh] Me too. I like Tom Waits a lot. Tom Waits and Frank Sinatra. I love Frank Sinatra. What about you, Ethan?
E: I already said Daffy Duck.
C: You didn't have to get chippy. Don't get chippy. What about you, Sam? And don't say something weird.
Sam: I like Porter Robinson.
E: Oh, I love that answer, dude.
Seth: I like Bruce Springsteen.
C: You what!?
Seth: Bruce Springsteen, Cole.
C: I mean, okay, you know how I feel about him.
Seth: I know, that's why I said it.
E: I like Wile E. Coyote as well. I recently saw a video. I didn't really know what was going to happen, but I saw him racing towards a sunset, and it really freaked me out because he was barreling towards it.
C: Martina, who do you like? Who's your favorite musician?
Hayley Williams from Paramore!
All: Oh yeah! She's the best.

Are there any artists or bands you'd like to collaborate with in the future?

C: Frank Sinatra.
E: I actually talked to him last weekend.
C: What!? [laugh]
E: You find you can talk to him if you drink enough. One time I had four martinis and thought I was a member of the Rat Pack.
C: I know I was there. I had to bring you home.
E: I think as far as artists that we'd like to collaborate with go, I think we'll collaborate with anybody that would have us. As a band, we're at a massive deficiency of friends. Nobody wants to be our friend, so if anybody wants to be our friend, we'd probably collab with them.
C:Honestly, yeah. I'd be friends with anything at this point.
E: Yeah, same.

Speaking of something that can be traced back to forms of validation: what does it mean for you to be artists in the reality we are living in?

E: I think especially in America and in Los Angeles and the way that we are, I feel like we obviously are indelibly proud of the community that we have in Los Angeles. That community is full of immigrants. It's full of people of all different walks of faith. But at the same time, conversely, we are incredibly ashamed of our administration and their mismanagement and just the cruelty and the stupidity in which that goes behind every single decision. It's kind of an embarrassing country to live in and to talk on behalf of in today's world. But I think regardless, as an artist in the modern day, it's less so about focusing on your art, because I find that to be a kind of pretentious way to get out of doing any real work. But it's more so about being a human, and being a human is something I consider inherently political. I feel like being a human isn't something that's mutually exclusive from being an artist. You have to navigate the world as a human with art as the tool, rather than branding yourself this whole new identity as an artist. And I feel as though if you navigate the world as a human with art as your tool, rather than considering yourself an artist, then it makes it a lot easier to create art and tap into some sort of collective consciousness about the world around you. And I feel as though that's kind of all we write about, is really tapping into that collective consciousness.
C: And I just want to say I feel really lucky and thankful to be an artist. It makes my life easier to navigate through, because I have an artistic outlet with me and my friends. So I feel lucky and really thankful.

So I think that's all. Thanks for your time guys, I wish you all the best for your debut and I hope to see you live in Italy soon.

All: Yeah, we absolutely love Italy! Goodbye, have a good day!