A CONVERSATION WITH... SOPHIE GREY
A blast from the past and the future all at once, rising planetary icon SOPHIE GREY discusses her love for space, music, and fashion.
Photo by Maximilian Stafford
Hi, I'm Sophie Grey, the Retro Electro artist.
‘Retro electro’ really makes a lot of sense for you, but how did you discover that term for yourself?
I feel like time has been one of my best friends when speaking of the development of my music and the genre that I'm honing into. So over time, I’ve felt like those two words really spoke about my music genre and now it's finally being understood, because you can hear it in the production and the style of my melodies.
You say ‘now’ it’s being understood, so when you started out, did you feel like you were struggling to get that across?
I'm still a growing artist, but I feel like now, I would say that the internet has helped me significantly. Throughout my journey of posting and trying to discover the people who are like me, I've been able to do that now just with time. I think people who may have enjoyed this genre but didn't know what it was, now they do. We can bond on that. I think more and more, there's people who get it. I actually really enjoy it because there's these elements of the retro, familiar, nostalgia, and then the electro, futuristic, modern twist and I get to see other people enjoy it too at shows or online. It’s fun to see their expression when they hear it. Sometimes I do get to see an immediate reaction that really gives me that energy on stage, but sometimes I don’t know if people liked it. But I've definitely seen where people have taken a few days or weeks after a show and message me saying they like my music and it makes my day.
And that's really my job. And that's why I love it. And just being able to connect to people in a way that can open their creativity or maybe just feel like they're not alone.
So for people who are now getting into your music and haven't had a chance to see you just yet, what are three songs that you’d love for them to start with?
‘Lunar Highs’, one of my newest releases, is one that I'm very proud of. It puts you straight in the whole scene. That song's relatable to everyone, cause it’s about having that night out with your friends that's unbeatable. But it imagines that night on the moon and how it's ten times crazier. So I feel like that song really puts you in this energetic and fierce mode.
I also love ‘Cyberspace’ because it’s definitely the centre point of my live show now, which is a journey to cyberspace.
For a third song, I wrote this slower song called ‘Voice In Your Head’. That one is about how even when you see familiar faces, maybe you don’t feel that connection with the people you’re around, or maybe you feel isolated. There are people even out there further than Earth that may relate to you and maybe looking at you from above. I like that idea of knowing even if you feel alone on this planet, there are other planets where someone might feel the same. There are these scary undertones of space that I feel we should remove. I like to think that if people are out there, including myself from different planets, we're not all bad.
Photo by Maximilian Stafford
When you're creating these songs like ‘Lunar Highs’ or anything like that, is there some part of the production that you really love?
I have this chord progression that goes from this normal scale, and then it goes backwards. If you're playing it on a keyboard, your hands would be going in reverse. I love that motion because to me, it represents the push and pull of Earth and Moon rotating within and with each other. It’s the opposition that brings it together. It's that harmony.
You’ve toured quite a bit already, so where else are you going in 2026 and beyond? What else do you have planned?
Lots of new releases and lots of touring, because that's my mission right now. I feel I'm called to perform and to get the music out there. A lot of my show has unreleased music. This trip to cyberspace is full of unreleased music. It's a new thing I'm trying to see the live reaction. I really enjoy writing music for live because that's just something that I've missed over the years with COVID and the emphasis on online streaming. I want to write for live performances and live reaction and just human interaction. That's what I've been craving. So I don't know if that's because I'm interplanetary, but I feel like I need to connect to the humans right now.
Is there a dream venue for you to really connect with people?
It’s always been a dream to perform in London, so to be able to perform here is really special. But one dream I've had since I was very little is performing at the Wiltern in Los Angeles. It's one of my favourite venues because I saw Imagine Dragons on their Nightvision tour. One thing that really stuck to me was all the instruments on stage. When I was creating this live show, I couldn't do that because I had to think about the budget. I knew I had to get out what I'm trying to say to everybody, but in an efficient way. I took that idea of all the instruments on stage and put it in one keytar. During my show, I'm performing synths, piano sounds, bass, bells, and voices.
And I think that's the connection I had to it and I didn't even know it.
Was there any moment in particular that made you want to pursue this as a career and as your calling?
Not to sound cliche, but I feel like I've known since I was really little. I started with classical piano when I was four years old and I just knew I wanted to be in something very creative. I didn't know exactly what that was going to look like. But I knew it had something to do with being an artist in some capacity, especially because I do have a lot of passion for video editing -- which I'm able to do now with my music videos. I always loved writing, especially creative writing. I used to write short stories when I was younger, and then with the video editing, filming, acting and singing, It seemed like music was all of that in one.
So that's why I gravitated towards it. I really can't imagine myself doing anything else. So I feel really lucky that I had this calling so young and I was able to direct my life towards it.
With your music videos, would you ever want to create a longer-form universe for your music? Or do you feel quite comfortable with just the music videos?
I've definitely thought about that. Maximilian, my creative director, we collaborate a lot on the music videos. It still may happen because not all the music videos and not all the songs on this new run are released. It's more of an explanation because I think the Graybots, the community I’ve created, have so many questions about the universe. I would love to answer them in a way but I also feel that maybe seeing is believing. So I would love to do that and it's in our discussions all the time.
Your outfits are another recognisable part of your artist identity. Are there any places in particular that you go to for pieces or inspiration? How do you find the outfits you wear on stage or for your music videos?
I'm not opposed to larger brands, but I just try to really support the local community when I can, because sometimes that's where all the ideas are forming. I love this idea of growing with one another and building our careers together. For instance, on stage, I love being able to wear my instruments. I have my guitar, but I also have a mic holster, which I see as my weapon. Speech is like my weapon because I'm able to express myself. When I was working with this local dance shop in Los Angeles called Shelly's, we took this regular SoulCycle workout mic pac and transformed it into a holster. She was able to create this longer version of it and made it all on the budget. With repurposing of pieces, I feel like it has that person who really loved it because it's lasted all this time. I feel like their love and their care for it is with me on stage and it makes me really want to preserve it. Some of them, I have to fix them up a little because the love was there, but I don’t know about the care. I really do feel like the lives of everybody is still in me, but one costume in particular is a showgirl costume from Las Vegas. And I wore it in Irving and Nashville since I had two of them.
I just want to know, like what happened to her? But what I do know is that someone performed in that and I have to live up to that.
What's been a moment of joy for you that’s been out of this world?
One moment that I think will live with me forever is when I covered ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’, I was going to perform it in London at the O2. We reached out to Trevor Horn, who's one of the writers of the Bubbles. I was really nervous because he’s a legend and has written so many songs that I listen to on the daily. I didn't know what he would say because I didn't want to offend him. We send him the recording and he’s down to do it. He shows up to soundcheck and it was our first time meeting in person and he told me that he really liked what I did with the production. That has stuck with me because to make someone who's such an iconic producer proud of their own work was amazing. I wanted to show him that it's not just a cover, but it's a song that I think I really learned from. And I wanted to get it almost perfect, which it will never be because that's his version. That’s what made the live performance so special because it has this modern twist to it but it does have this stamp of Trevor Horn approval.