Sophie Hopes from indie rock band Tired Lion is a woman on a mission. Having recently moved to Brisbane to re-stoke the creative fires and get a definite change of scene, Hopes and her band will soon front up for Unify Gathering in January.
Hopes hails from Perth but made the move after a stint in Melbourne where she grew tired of the music scene.
“I’ve lived here [Brisbane] for about a year. It sort of feels like the new Melbourne. I’ve been catching up with all the cool local bands and it really does seem to be a good scene here.”
Hopes picked up a guitar at 12 and learned her first chord, but soon realised that playing other people’s songs wasn’t for her.
“I felt like, why waste time learning someone else’s songs? It was easier writing my own music. I remember I made my own version of a Vines song from tablature. I learned that and made my own guitar solo,” she says.
“Now when I write songs, I do it instrument by instrument. I’ll program drums and work on it for hours. It can be very difficult but it fluctuates. I love it when the inspiration comes.”
With her lyrics, Hopes usually digs deep into her life experiences to help formulate some groovy songs.
“It’s usually personal experiences. I’ve been trying to be more poetic and look outside the box. I’ve been drawing on poems a fair bit lately.
“Quite a few of my songs have really started out with joke lyrics almost. I don’t think anything is really off-limits writing-wise. I love Australian suburban imagery.”
Unify will be a chance for Hopes and the band to re-focus after the Christmas period, but don’t expect anything but a ‘balls to the wall’ performance.
“We will definitely have the cobwebs dusted off by Unify,” she laughs. “And you can expect some awkward stage banter too. Sometimes I nail it and sometimes I don’t.”
UNIFY Gathering takes over Tarwin Lower between Thursday, January 9 and Sunday, January 12. Expect a cracker of a performance from Tired Lion, and grab your tickets now via www.unifygathering.com/tickets/
Written by Chris Michaels
