There is a long, illustrious lineage of contemporary Canadian pop music. From Alanis to Avril, from Nelly Furtado to the brilliant, troubled Justin Bieber, the Land of Maple Syrup has, over the past three decades, produced no shortage of world-beating artists and anthems. You might sneer at Nickelback, but can you look me in the eye and tell me that “How You Remind Me” is not a stone-cold classic?
Within this tradition, the Vancouver singer, songwriter, and skater Sophia Stel’s brand of alternative pop represents a new Canadian generation of songwriting. Though it is decidedly contemporary in its sonics, the breakbeat pulse of her recent single “Everyone Falls Asleep In Their Own Time” has a bit of a Jagged Little Pill baked into its DNA. The song is just one of many in the artist’s catalog, which moves between styles and focuses more on melody and feeling than genre.
We sent some questions over to Stel—read the interview and listen to “Everyone Falls Asleep In Their Own Time” below.
Could you talk a bit about your new single and the adjoining music video?
I made it almost exactly a year ago in between rehearsing for my first live shows with my band. I was writing a lot on guitar at the time. I’ve been doing all my videos with my two best friends since the beginning, but this one was really special because we wanted to shoot everything in one take, which I’ve never done before. The whole thing happened so naturally—the background audio is really funny, because they’re telling me what to do and gassing me up. The coolest thing about it (to me at least) is this was my first time feeling like I didn’t need to edit myself, even though there’s unplanned parts, like me stumbling. It’s sort of a milestone for me as an artist. Our close working relationship was so obvious, because Aaron knew exactly how to follow me around with the camera, and Scarlet was directing it in a way that felt natural, and it was such a cool moment for our friendship. We thought we were going to have to do another take, but when we played it back, it was exactly what we wanted.
How does skating inspire your music?
Skating is the exercise that keeps me mentally healthy. When I’ve been working on a song for a while, and I can’t be cooped up anymore, my favorite thing to do is go outside and skate.
Tell us about the title track of your last EP. Why did you choose to name the release after that song?
I chose it because it was the final song I made for the project, and it felt like it was the song that encapsulated the whole feeling of the EP for me. “Object Permanence” talks about a lot of different relationships, and my struggle with attachment, because it’s not something that comes super naturally to me. Object permanence is a stage in early childhood development where kids learn that objects continue to exist, even when they’re not right in front of you. Just because something isn’t right in your face, it doesn’t mean that it ceases to matter.
Do you think that your music is guided more by mood than genre? What are your feelings about genre?
My music is definitely guided more by mood than genre. There’s obviously certain sounds or genres that I’m attracted to more than others, but I don’t think about genre too much these days. I don’t feel negatively towards the idea of genre, but it seems to be more and more irrelevant as time goes on. I feel like it’s gotten to the point where genres are basically just Spotify playlists.
You grew up in a house with ten siblings. What kind of music was getting played in that house? Were there fights for the stereo?
Growing up, my parents kinda pulled rank and we only listened to classical music or U2. But now I live with two of my younger brothers, and now they pull rank, so we’re listening to a lot of UK drill at the moment.
Who are some newer artists that you’ve been listening to recently?
I (and everybody else, it seems like) am listening to fakemink. I feel like he really makes music for the girls, which I love. Camille Keller just put out a new album recently that I think is really cool. Babyxsosa is great too.
What is your relationship to the history of Canadian pop music? Are there any Canadian artists that you especially hold dear?
Tegan and Sara are awesome. I really like their pop songs. Nelly Furtado. Alanis Morissette is huge for me as well, and Carly Rae Jepsen. And Justin Bieber, of course. It’s honestly a heartwarming thought to think about how many pop artists come from Canada.
What’s your favorite cheap restaurant in Vancouver?
I’m gonna say The Ivanhoe.
