Sofia Machray - Petals In The Rain
Sofia Machray is a hard worker. Among her list of answers to my question of “how would you describe yourself?”, that's the one that stood out. A hugely talented musician, Sofia is an artist in the full sense of the word. She has embedded herself into the Pōneke scene, not only through her own music but also as an event organiser and promoter under Peach Promotions. However busy, she nevertheless finds time to be one of the most exciting up and comers in the Aotearoa indie scene. Machray has just released her latest single, ‘Petals In The Rain’, a dreamy number laced in reverb over which she interweaves her distinctive ruminating vocals. I was lucky enough to chat to Sofia in the wake of the release to hear more about the inspiration behind that track and what to expect on her upcoming EP.
Sofia was born and raised in Arrowtown and made her way to the capital to study Commercial Music in 2018. “I studied Music Industry, I didn't actually study performance. I was tossing up between the two but I just thought, ‘I can perform and develop that craft and my skills in my own time.’” says Sofia. It’s reflective of her considered approach to artistry. “I'm happy to craft my own artistic performance or my creative skills, independently.” But don’t mistake her consideration for idleness. Sofia has grown a reputation as one of Wellington’s go-to live performers having supported the likes of Anna Mac, Wax Mustang, Ha The Unclear, Dolphin Friendly, and Racing. It’s an eclectic bunch, so I asked how Sofia would define her sound in terms of genre. “I would say the genre is Indie Dream Rock,” she says without too much of a second thought. In the newest release I can definitely hear that.
‘Petals In The Rain’ is the lead track off the upcoming EP Language of Flowers, and brings a new direction to a familiar Machray sound. The song is layered with dreamy guitars and soft vocals which flutter atop the mix. But there are also more alternative and rocky elements. “I love shoegaze music and I feel like that kind of music comes through. I love my reverbs and stuff like that on my guitars.” ‘Petals In The Rain’ brings together a recognisable sound with a fresh perspective. “‘Handstands’ and ‘Milky Ways’ were strongly influenced by my band. I was just like, “oh, yes, play that guitar, do this, do that!” but I think for this EP, the main thing was to take my time with it and to make sure it was something I was personally really proud of because I kind of look back on those early releases and I go, oh, that doesn't really feel like me now.”
The song’s release coincides with a music video that is also emblematic of Sofia’s wider artistic vision for the project. “I used to look at my favourite musicians and have no clue that there was this whole team behind them. There's all these moving parts and in learning to morph into being an independent musician, I have been trying to make that work for myself. I'm able to pull a team together, but I'm always thinking about the concept behind that - my brand, my songs.”
The creative direction of ‘Petals in the Rain’ feels much more considered and unique and a change from her early work, likely down to the substantial time between her first and last release. “I've always been quite obsessed with flowers. I think I had quite a strong concept coming into this EP. I love drawing connections in my writing between nature and humans. I had this strong concept and I thought “let's do an epic shoot.” The photography accompanying the release definitely reflects the dream rock nature of the song.
A musician’s lag between writing and release is often understated. The emotions and the stories of songs are often delayed and don’t reflect the performer at the time. Sofia tells me about how this led to a change in perspective for ‘Petals In The Rain’. “I wrote it last year and at the time I was navigating a lot of personal challenges. I had a bit of a hard time and when I originally wrote this song it was quite cinematic and mellow and sad. But then I completely rewrote it because after overcoming these challenges that I was going through and I realised there was a lot of good that came from these experiences.” Machray's ability to change up instrumentation to bring a new meaning to her lyrical content is testament to her ability as a songwriter. “The words can still be the words but the meaning behind them can change a little bit and that's really cool.”
I asked Sofia why she decided to release ‘Petals In The Rain’ as the first single of the forthcoming EP. “It was such a difficult decision. I just had a gut feeling about this one and this is the one that just kind of screamed at me. We've started curating this new live set and this is definitely one that I just always look forward to playing - and I think you need to be prepared to play the song a lot.” From the sounds of it we have much to look forward to on her upcoming release. “I feel like I've got this body of work now and a single that I'm actually so proud of. I'm so excited to put it out.”
Thank you to Sofia for chatting with Newzician.
You can check out Petals In The Rain HERE.
You can find Sofia’s Instagram HERE.
You can watch the video for Petals In The Rain Below