I first met Filo Sofia, born Sofia Ines DeCastro Ribeiro, around five years ago when she visited California from Hawaii with her brother and father, staying for a night or two with my family. She was cool in a unearnest and effortless sort of way, a worldly it-girl with talent and blue hair.
In Portuguese, "filosofia" means philosophy, a name that fits the haunting, delicate, and self-produced sound of the 22 year old Brazilian born and New York City based artist perfectly. I recently had the privilege to sit down with Filo for a conversation that steps into the vibrant world she has created, what follows are excerpts from that talk.
Luiza: Tell me about the creative process behind your new single, what was it like producing and releasing your first song?
Filo Sofia: One day I was very uninspired, I was trying to write original music but I just wasn’t coming up with anything. Lately, I’ve been going heavy on the producing side of things so I thought, why not cover a song I already know and put my own spin on it? That’s the route I decided to take, but I only landed on “What’s Up” after covering another song, “Bring Me To Life”. Covering that one, I realized it was teaching me so much about producing so I was sold on making a couple of covers.
The music video for “What’s Up” is brilliantly quirky and vibrant, giving off an almost circusy feeling. What inspired that tone nad practically, how did it come together?
A group of my close friends is behind it, we’ve been hanging out throughout quarantine. My makeup artist for the video was actually my friend Grace who had brought clown makeup over that day and was excited to try it out. I had just finished the song and the video just beautifully came together in one day from all these different creative pieces. My friends all pitched ideas and we just went for it, it was a depiction of how we felt as artists in the city during this crazy time: the restlessness of being home during a pandemic.
How did you celebrate when it came out?
We went to my friend and manager’s house in Jersey, just the three of us. Then we went on Omegle and told strangers about my song [laughs]. The people that heard us out - and weren’t extremely mean upfront- actually really loved the song.
If you could go back in time to a moment before you released music, what would be a piece of advice you would give to yourself?
I think I would tell myself to release music a little sooner. Originally this wasn’t going to be my first release, it was going to be a cover I put on SoundCloud. But as things started happening for the song it kind of led itself to being my first single. I’m glad it did but it’s not like it’s the product I’m most proud of in the whole world. Release and move on, don’t be a perfectionist about it, that’s really hard for me. I finally have something out there and it is kind of cool that I did it all myself.
Filo Sofia is such a smart play on your name, I’m curious about how it came about
My brother and I have been thinking about my name for a long time. I wanted something that came from my roots in Brazil and wasn’t too far off from my birth name Sofia, so we tried out several things but Filo Sofia came about rather recently. Filosofia in Portuguese means philosophy so my brother, the true creative director brought it up. I love that because it’s short and I can go by Filo which is different from my given name. After years of searching for the right name, this worked out beautifully.
What got you into music originally?
My dad loves music, I grew up listening to a lot of Ray Charles and Brazilian music. My older brother is also a musician and since he started before me, I don’t think there’s a point in my life where music wasn’t a thing. My family loves music, they are not all very involved in it. My taste kind of came from what my older brother listens to what my dad listened to, I love old jazz- a little bit of everything.
I was looking through your Instagram account and I have to say, I dig your style, it just screams it-girl to me. Tell me more about how you express yourself visually
Clothes are actually kind of hard for me, but my brother is a bit of a genius in fashion so thank god he’s helped me in that way. He likes and knows my style so he just puts things together for me and they work. My brother is incredible, he’s like my creative director. He’s not only just into fashion but he’s also helping out in the music video, and really any creative elements. I love wearing oversized, big clothes and platforms. But I don’t really keep track of what’s happening in the fashion world, I just wear what my brother picks out. That said I’ll never put on something I don’t like
What are your musical guilty pleasures?
Justin Beiber for sure. Pop in general really, I mean especially now it feels like we know the people singing these songs so well. They’ve been around for so many years that listening to the music is personal and nostalgic. When I was 14 or 13 and I was so excited about the new Justin Beiber movie that I skipped class with my friends in the morning- in the morning! What was I thinking! My science teacher got so mad. It was worth it though.
Billie Eilish maybe? No, I wouldn’t call her a guilty pleasure because she’s actually incredible.
If you could open a show for any artist, who would it be?
That’s tough because I love these artists and I don’t know if I could compare but definitely James Blake and Imogen Heap. She’s my all-time favorite artist, an icon. She produces all of her own music which is incredible, her synth sounds - it’s so original. Her songwriting is just impeccable, I love how real it is. And the stories are diverse, the ones you wouldn’t think to tell. Oh, and Billie Eilish of course.
I feel like you and Billie Eilish have similar vibes!
Yeah, she kind of beat me to it so now I’m like release, release, release [laughs]
Are you working on anything right now?
Yes, I am currently working on my next three releases. I believe I’m going to release two more single covers and then I’ll be releasing a few more singles from my EP and then finally, my EP: Canvas. I’ve been working on this ep for 3 years now, and I’d love to make people feel. If someone cries listening to my song, I’d just love that. At the same time, I want it to be somewhat positive and hopeful, so it’s not completely gloom and doom.I do believe though that some songs need to be just sad. I’d say that I’m inspired by the people around me and their real stories, but sometimes also things that aren’t real
What are you obsessed with?
I have been really into Shark Tank. It’s amazing to see the things people would come up with and honestly, it’s inspiring! They’re making millions off of tiny little contraptions! I feel like I have lots of random million-dollar ideas, but it’s hard to know what would work, yknow? I wonder what they would like…
What’s next for you?
I’m gonna keep releasing music this year and start playing shows hopefully as the world opens up, I think it would be very cool to play at Brooklyn steel. And to live off of music, that’s the dream. ★
