Soccer Mommy is ringing in the New Year with Falls Festival
Subscribe
X

Subscribe to Forte Magazine

Soccer Mommy is ringing in the New Year with Falls Festival

Last time Soccer Mommy – AKA Sophie Allison – was is Australia she took in a little tennis and beach culture while waiting to play at Splendour In the Grass. “It was totally awesome! I didn’t really know what to expect because I’d never been to Australia and neither had any of the other guys in the band. We loved it, it was a really relaxing trip, we got a bunch of days off, the weather was beautiful and it was super nice.”
This time, the Swiss-born, Nashville bred singer-songwriter will see more of what our beautiful coastline has to offer when she arrives to ring in the New Year as part of Falls Festival. “I don’t know much about it. I mean, I’ve obviously heard of it but I’ve never seen videos or anything from it,” Allison adds, “So it will be interesting to get to experience it.”
The unassuming 22-year-old has experienced a lot in the last few years. In 2015 she left home for the first time to study Music Business at NYU, leaving behind her best friends and a toxic relationship. Much of this time was fodder for her debut studio album Clean. “Songs like ’Last Girl’ and ‘Your Dog’ definitely were about that time, I spent a lot of time alone, feeling depressed,” she says.
Now, back at home in Nashville things are looking rosy for indie rock’s new obsession. Not only did the New York Times rank Clean at No.1 on the list of the 28 Best Albums of 2018, she is now in a steady relationship with her band’s guitarist Julian Powell, and she’s just moved into some new digs downtown. “I’m actually moving into a new place right now which is really nice. It’s so cheap but that’s good because I’ll only be there half the time anyway and it will be great to have my own space.”
Having launched her career with music made in her bedroom with the help of a TASCAM recorder, Allison has a passion for the DIY ethos and strong sense of how she wants her albums to sound. “I don’t really like writing with other people. I just kind of want it to be my ideas – and my ideas only. I don’t want to sacrifice or compromise on anything.
“I like being involved in every aspect of recording also,” she continues. “I like to write a lot of the guitar parts and I play a lot of the guitar parts on the tracks too. I like to mess around with little toys in the studio as well when I can,”she laughs.
Naturally the conversation turns Nashville’s DIY live scene (where Allison cut her teeth) and I’m saddened to hear it’s going the way of many capital cities around the world. “Nashville has been struck with every single all-ages venue I went to when I was younger closing down, so it’s definitely harder for young people to be exposed to live music these days, and that sucks because I think that exposure was really important in shaping the artist I am today.”
When & Where: Falls Festival, Lorne – Dec 28-31. Soccer Mommy will also play a solo show at HOWLER in Melbourne on Monday January 7 with special guest Kelso.
Written by Natalie Rogers