Words by Art Jefferson
Photography by Wanda Martin & courtesy of Sophia Amato

Sophia Amato is an artist who can not only sing multiple styles of music, but she can do it extremely well. Whether R&B, jazz or pop, the Sicily-born, London-based singer/musician delivers with a fierceness that drips over each song wrapped in a hefty bundle of soul. It’s no surprise that she has worked with top producers including Bastian, Dan Caplen, Lapsley, and Karma Kid, just to name a few.

Making her debut in 2020 with the track ‘Glorious Mess’, Sophia Amato followed-up her initial recording with ‘Why You Trying Not To Love Me’ and ‘Seven Sad Sins’. She released her brilliant Glorious Mess EP this year. The 5-song record is a sleek, stylish and insanely well crafted offering that is fused with electronica, pop, R&B and even gospel in one dynamic packaging. Flipping vocal flows the way that an emcee would confidently attack a mic, Amato is rapidly proving that she can punch pound for pound with the biggest pop stars out today.

Whilst Sophia Amato’s career may be in its early stages, rest assured she is poised to leave a massive mark not only in the pop stratosphere but music overall.

Growing up, was music something that was always playing in your home, and if so, what were some of those early songs that you heard?

Sophia Amato – Yes! But in the car! I travelled quite far to school and classes so I’d listen to Queen, Beach Boys, Aretha Franklin on repeat.

In terms of your vocals, were you always singing as a kid? Also when did you discover that you had such a powerful and soulful voice?

Sophia Amato – Ah thank you! I started singing really young, although I was so shy. It took me a while to feel comfortable with my voice. Probably teens I wanted to understand how to use my voice as an instrument.

When did your love of jazz begin and who were some of those artists from the genre that touched your soul?

Sophia Amato – My love for jazz really began in college. I had an awesome eccentric music teacher who would always play Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. Then I started going to jazz gigs. Now I love finding spots in soho London, or west village New York!

One thing that you have managed to do extremely well is to create musical hybrids that incorporate a variety of styles that are intricate and detailed, yet never pigeon-holed to any one obvious sound. Is that something that you were conscious of early on when recording?

Sophia Amato – That’s awesome! It wasn’t so conscious, but I love so many different genres I think they naturally show through. I really like to create an atmosphere in my music. Sometimes it’s the more subtle sounds or vocal qualities that are the most interesting.

With a song like ‘Seven Sad Sins’, there are the gospel vocals, the drum change ups and a continuous build up throughout the track that is really brilliant and clever. It almost feels like you’re listening to more than one song. Can you talk about what went into the creative process of that cut?

Sophia Amato – Well, we started with the organ chords and I knew immediately that it was going to be called ‘Seven Sad Sins’, a title I’d been trying to use for a while. And for me there always has to be a sense of theatrics when I write or perform a song, because I want it to be a full transportation! So we built up choir vocals, drums, and changed the textures pretty boldly!

’Stay Strange’ is another one where not only do you have these epic progressions, but you also switch vocal flows. There are also intro lines like “jump never look up, need the fear to feel the height”. I interpreted it as, embracing that which can be uneasy and transforming that feeling into something great, especially when it comes to love. What was the inspiration behind this particular song?

Sophia Amato – Exactly! This song idea came from a conversation with my friend about tattoos! And originally was meant as a self reminder to stay in your magic and steer a little left from the crowd. Then we realised it could be a reminder for someone else. And we also managed to get a really fun word, ‘phenotype’ into the song which we loved 🙂

In my opinion, your Glorious Mess EP can compete with many artists’ albums! How proud are you of this release and has recording this project helped to seal the deal of acceptance for you?

Sophia Amato – Wow, thank you! It’s so healing writing songs from your experiences. The journey with lyric decisions, production decisions, as well as processing what you’re writing about does feel very vulnerable and messy. But weirdly, as soon as I released this project I immediately felt something shift. I felt lighter.

You’re cover of the INXS tune ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ is featured on the Original Sin – The Seven Sins soundtrack. You completely transformed the song and totally gave it a new makeover. Many artists tend to redo tracks, keeping much of the original elements in place. What made you decide to redraft the entire piece rather than doing just a standard cover?

Sophia Amato – I only had a day to work on the track in Paris with producers Global Network. We kept production empty so it was just vocal over sparse synth chords then we experimented on electronic drum machines building layers of odd sporadic drum beats. I love that the song slowly builds and then out of no where it’s fall to the floor and you want to be in the club. I secretly always wanted an extended version of that song.

Finally, when you’re in need of creative inspiration, where do you turn to for that burst?

Sophia Amato – Mostly art. Visual arts. But it’s everywhere paintings, poetry, conversations with friends, strangers, the news, and also soundtracks. I love soundtracks for inspiration.

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