Wellington Music: New Single from Sofia Machray

What inspired your writing this time around?

I was pretty overwhelmed with life, so I decided to book a cabin a few hours away from Wellington at Waikawa Beach to reset. I left my phone in my car and spent a few days by myself walking on the beach and writing. This trip unintentionally inspired a lot of the core ideas from thoughts I was processing around the time. In a nutshell, it’s about recognising dissatisfaction in life and appreciating what we have before seeking more.

How close to your idea of the track is what finally appears after production and mastering? Does the instrument you composed the track on have an influence in the final version?

The bones of the song remained very much the same as when I wrote them, the acoustic guitar part was really the thing that drove this song. When going into recording and production with Will McGillivray (Goodwill, NOMAD) we explored options of percussion but in the end, decided to settle on a simpler is better approach to the song. We ended up recording everything in a day at Brighton Beach in Christchurch from his home studio and really only added a few more textures and fun bits to float around the main idea. I was lucky enough to get Greg Obis to master this track, Greg has mastered and produced some of my favourite artists such as Slow Pulp, Babehoven, and Mia Joy so it was super cool connecting with him. Will had already done such a great job on the mix that everything was sounding pretty sweet before the master but I think getting it back from Greg was just the cherry on top. I’m super proud of this song and think it’s one of my favourites so far.

How has your musical taste changed from when you first started playing to your latest release?

My taste is constantly changing with what music I’m making and listening to. For me, it depends on a lot of different things like my mood, headspace, and what’s happening in my life at the time. So yes, always! I currently have Al Menne’s album Freak Accident on repeat.

What is your current favourite song by a Wgtn artist? Which songs have truly helped you as an artist, or pulled you out of a dark place and given you inspiration?

My current favourite song by a Wellington artist would have to be Console by Mystery Waitress which is off their epic album Bright Black Night. A song that is constantly inspiring me is To Rage by Daughter, I’ve been a huge fan of their music since I was young so whenever I hear Daughter I find it really grounding and settling even though the music is quite sombre. This song has a kind of momentum to it that makes me feel a lot of hope when I’m overwhelmed.

Are you doing a gig to promote this release?

To celebrate the release I’ll be hosting a record fundraising show on Friday the 13th of September in Wellington at San Fran with support from Mystery Waitress and Debt Club. I’m hoping to raise funds to go towards recording my next full-length project. I’ve put together a raffle with amazing prizes from many local businesses which anyone can enter online (via Instagram) and at the show and I will have plenty of merch for sale too! Tickets are available from moshtix here.