Nashville musician Soccer Mommy has been playing guitar since she was 6 and recently performed at Coachella. (Photo courtesy Fat Possum Records)
Sophie Allison, aka Soccer Mommy — a name that came from her school-age Twitter handle — has been writing her own songs since she was 5 years old. In high school, she started releasing her work through a music sharing website and soon signed a record deal with Fat Possum Records. Now the 22-year-old plays festivals such as Coachella and tours with major rock bands including Paramore. She’s known for guitar-driven, lo-fi pop as heard on songs such as “Scorpio Rising” and albums such as “Clean” and “For Young Hearts.” Richmond magazine spoke with Allison about her past, her music and what it's like to find success quickly.
RM: You’ve been playing music since you were young. Would 5-year-old Sophie like the music you make today?
Sophie Allison: I think 5-year-old me would love it. The sound is not that far off from stuff I was listening to when I was like 5 or 6, like Avril Lavigne and sh*t and Taylor Swift. I think that’s definitely stuck with me from childhood. I think music you listen to when you’re that young kind of comes back at you later in life. I think young me would like it very much — she’d maybe think the lyrics were a little dark. I was a very happy child, I don’t know what happened. [Laughs]
RM: Do you find it difficult to share details of your life with your audience?
Allison: No, it’s really not. I think that the stuff that’s happened to me is masked in literary devices, so it’s not like I’m telling people a story about something that happened to me and everything about my life. It’s different.
RM: How did you adapt personally to going from having a relatively small following to playing big festivals like Coachella?
Allison: You know, it’s hard. It is really hard having people following you, you’re a public figure. It kind of takes away a little from your humanity. There are tons of people watching you all the time, and responding to everything you do that you don’t even know, and it’s not even the hateful people. It’s just having people following you that don’t even know you commenting on your stuff. But it’s also great — I get to do what I’ve wanted to do all my life. I get to play these big shows now, and interacting with fans in person is always nice, if they’re not, like, creepy. It’s a mixed thing. You kind of lose a little bit of yourself, but you get a lot back.
Soccer Mommy performs at The Broadberry July 10 with Kevin Krauter and Kate Bollinger. $15 to 18. 2729 W. Broad St.
