Sophia J Smith turns heartbreak into something a little more fun. We chat with the Melbourne indie-pop artist about her new single ‘Confetti on the Floor,’ finding humour in messy endings, and learning to be bold and playful in the songwriting process.
Futuremag: Your new song is called Confetti on the Floor. If you had to describe it using only party leftovers – think glitter, flat champagne and the aftermath of a big night – what would you use?
Sophia: I think obviously the first one would be confetti. The second word I’d say is burnt-out sparklers all over. And the third thing I’d say is the red party cups. That would be how I picture this song.
Futuremag: You compare memories to confetti because they keep showing up long after the party ends. What’s one tiny, random thing that instantly transports you back to a specific moment in your life?
Sophia: Something that has always taken me back, and something that I love to keep for memories, both good and bad, is photos. There’s a lot of physical photos in my life. I love printing them off or Polaroids. I have all these different little bundles of photos because I have this big photo wall that I update every year. That’s something that always takes me back – kind of looking at the people throughout my life, whether they’re still people I see or people that we’ve grown apart from. I think physical photos are always things that take me back.
Futuremag: I love the idea of a photo wall. You wrote this song after a summer fling came to an end. Looking back now, do you laugh at the situation, cry, or does it depend on the day?
Sophia: It depends on the day as well. I definitely see this song as more of a laugh. It’s a little bit of an eye-roll moment, like, “Oh, for God’s sake.” I look back at that situation and it’s one of those ones where you just go, “Was that worth it? Did we have to go through all of that?”
So it’s definitely bittersweet, and maybe for other people when they listen to it, it’ll be like, “Oof, that hits me harder.” For me, it’s definitely a laugh. You’re like, “Oh God, that was a time in my life.”
Futuremag: There’s a little bit of sass in this song, which we all love. Was there a moment while writing it where you thought, “Okay, this is definitely about someone”?
Sophia: All my songs come from a place of real, true experience for me. But I actually think this is a song kind of directed at my friends’ experiences, too – people that came in and there were, quote-unquote, “love bombers”.
It’s kind of a little note to them, just being like, “Why did you have to get so close?” That was the first line I wrote after the confetti idea. It’s that question of, “Why’d you have to get so close?” So, yeah, I think there were definitely people that came to mind, but it’s more just about love bombers as a whole and having a laugh at them, being like, “That was so unnecessary.”
Futuremag: You’ve worked with people like Alexander Goh, Scott Horskoff and Andy Mack already, which is pretty incredible given this is only your second release. What’s the biggest piece of advice you’ve accidentally carried with you from working with these professionals?
Sophia: What I learned, especially from the people that you just listed, was to be bold and to sit in the uncomfortableness when songwriting. I think sometimes it’s really easy to go back to whatever’s comfortable – the same chords, the same progressions – because it’s scary to make mistakes.
They’ve all taught me that before you get a good song, you’re going to have to write some bad music to get there. You’ve got to try new things that you’re going to be like, “I’m not putting that in there. That’s so strange.” They’ve really taught me to crack out of that box and be really playful.
So, yeah, very spoilt to get to work with them. They’re all really harsh but amazing people.
Futuremag: I think it helps you grow when you’re willing to get out of your comfort zone and not just stick to what you’re used to. Does that freedom also change the way you understand your own emotions?
Sophia: When I’m doing that instrumentally or doing that lyrically, it also makes me go, “Oh, I didn’t realise I felt this in that situation.” The more you play with it, I guess the more you’re willing to not be perfect. I feel like the better music will come out of it.
Futuremag: If someone listened to Confetti on the Floor without knowing the story behind it, what’s something you hope they misunderstand before they eventually figure out what it’s really about?
Sophia: I think there’s a lot of metaphors that I use. Every verse is kind of a different object as a metaphor. I kind of love when people maybe don’t get that it’s about something that was great and then fizzling out.
On first listen, it’s more about the heartache. Then I want people, the more they listen to it, to realise that it’s also just a bit fun. It is a bit of a gag. It’s a song to help you kind of get over it and go, “Yeah, that wasn’t great, but also it was a little bit funny.”
I’m also very big on people taking those metaphors as they want and, on the first listen, running with them. Being like, “Well, what do I think she means by fireworks and meteors and all this stuff?” Then, as they go, maybe they’ll unpack it and see what I’m saying.
Futuremag: I love that you’ve put the humour into it, too. These situations are never fun, but now that you’ve gone through it and healed from it, you can look back and laugh and be like, “What the fuck just happened?”
Sophia: Literally. I think that’s why this song is so exciting for me to come out, because my other ones are like, you’re really in it. You’re like, “That person sucks.” Where this one is a little bit different. It’s for those situations where you’re like, “I’m upset, but I’m weirdly just like, what happened?”
Getting to have a bit of a laugh sometimes with those emotions, I think, is healthy.
Futuremag: Looking ahead, imagine your future self hears Confetti on the Floor 20 years from now. What do you think she’ll remember first – the person who inspired it, the writing session, or the version of yourself who needed to write it?
Sophia: For me, it would be the writing process of this song. It was really beautiful. It was one of the first ones I did with Alexander Goh, and it was at his beautiful place in Carlton.
It was such a different process for me because he’s really big on talking it out and really chatting before you start writing, rather than revealing as we go. I think, yeah, that will always be really special to me because it was the first time I felt really bold to talk about my experiences and not be scared of, “Oh, what I’m putting my personal diary on the line here.”
I’ll always hold on to that because it was really, really special.
Then taking this to Andy Mack and Lola Scott and fleshing it out, I think the process for this song will definitely be what I’ll hold on to because it was really beautiful and really fun.
Futuremag: You’ve already made a huge first impression with your first single, and now you’re following it with another deeply personal song. Do you ever worry about running out of stories to tell, or do you feel like life just keeps handing you new ones?
Sophia: I think any songwriter is so worried about running out of stories, but until my story ends, I think it’s just not possible to run out. I’m pretty lucky at the moment that I’m at uni and I have beautiful friends, and I’m meeting all these new people.
So I think the stories are definitely just beginning with me. I think I’m steeped in such a beautiful life, so I’m not too worried. And I guess when stories run out, you write about that. You write about things slowing down. As long as my life’s still ticking, so will the stories.
So, no, I’ve definitely got a bank of things to say.
Futuremag: We love that, because that means more music after this! Last question: if your life right now had a party theme, what song would play after the closing credits, while everyone heads home and the confetti is still on the floor?
Sophia: I love “Don’t Delete the Kisses” at the moment. I think that’d be such a fun song to walk out of a party to. I’ve got to go with that right now.
I’m listening to a lot of Blondie at the moment, too. “Call Me” is a fun walkout, kind of saying that, you know, I’m still going. We’re still pumping.
I think I’m just kind of going with the flow of life right now and trying to keep it upbeat and enjoy it all. So, maybe a bit of Blondie and a little bit of “Don’t Delete the Kisses”.