A ‘Stern’ hold on what’s real
Malibu musician, singer and songwriter Sophie Stern talks about her musical future and role as an eternal student.
By Olivia Damavandi / Special to The Malibu Times
If music is what feelings sound like, 23-year-old Malibu resident Sophie Stern is making hers loud and clear, and without option.
“It’s not a choice for me,” Stern said. “It’s something I just have to do. It’s why I’m here on this planet. My place on this earth is to make music.”
Stern’s poised realization is not a recent discovery inspired by Mark Wahlberg in the 2001 movie “Rock Star.” It is an innate proclivity she has enriched through education and life experience.
Before attending Berklee School of Music in Boston, from which she graduated in 2007, Stern was a self-taught piano player and song writer who, at the age of three, used a tape recorder to record her singing, and at the age of 11 started writing them. Throughout her childhood and adolescence, during which she attended Juan Cabrillo Elementary and Malibu High School, her musical interest became her pursuit of passion.
Stern has always exposed herself to a variety of music genres. She grew up listening to a variety of artists, but predominately listens to soul, hip-hop, and rhythm and blues. At Berklee, she started a five-person band called Miss Ballerina Soul Project, which performed in Boston and Los Angeles.
“As an artist, you’re always looking for your big break, so you go into this industry with the hopes of making it and getting noticed,” Stern said. “I just put all that aside. Getting noticed and becoming famous won’t get you through [Berklee]. The school has a huge dropout rate.
“You have to be yourself and be there for the pure love of music and for the knowledge,” she added. “It’s a really intense school.” (She took 10 classes per semester.)
It was at Berklee where Stern met David Greenbaum, a 26-year-old Thousand Oaks native who studied music production and engineering, and now helps with the writing, drumming and producing of Stern’s music, which they describe as “an eclectic mix, new soul, a new type of sound with an electronic twist.” The two started musically collaborating together in January after they experienced a bizarre concurrence.
After graduating and moving back to Malibu, Stern became very ill with a throat infection that prevented her from singing or playing music for six months.
“When I finally started getting better, I had a dream in which the phrase ‘let’s make this love holy’ kept repeating to the rhythm and beat of this Indian- type music,” Stern recalled. “When I woke up, I got a text message from David who told me he had created a beat inspired by a dream he had. When I heard it, I realized it was the same music I heard in my dream.”
Ten minutes later, Stern wrote the song “Holy.”
Greenbaum, like Stern, is passionate about his work, and is influenced by other artists with whom they have played. “I value classic music, but the future is what fuels my passion,” he said. “When I hear young people coming out with new music, I know there’s infinite creativity and that music has no limits. I think it’s horribly dark when people say ‘rock is dead’ or ‘rap is dead.’ It’s more about creativity.”
Experiencing life on opposite coasts of the country has also added to Stern’s talent and artistic integrity.
“Growing up in Malibu has made me the person I am and has affected my perspective of the music business,” Stern said. “Frequently seeing people from the music industry, who I have looked up to forever, around [Malibu] has allowed me to learn from them, respect them and pay attention to their talent, not their stardom. Growing up in Malibu has allowed me to focus on the music, not the industry.
“There is also something really romantic and beautiful about being surrounded by nature that has also inspired my music.”
But Stern also enjoyed living in Boston, as city life provided much more human interaction, which inspired her song writing and which speaks of her life experiences, and the trials and tribulations of being 23. “In Malibu, people are always in their cars or behind gated houses,” Stern said. “There’s something about walking down cold allies and constantly interacting with people in Boston that’s grimy and good for writing.”
The future looks bright for Stern, who has been approached for publishing deals and has been frequently playing shows in many Los Angeles hot spots under her own artist name, Sophie Stern. She and Greenbaum, who also assists Linda Perry with her recording sessions, are currently working on Stern’s new album, but have not solidified a release date.
“I just have to keep making music, that’s what it’s about for me,” she said. Though she aims to get signed to a record label, Stern ascertained she will always be an evolving student.
“Forget about the money or the career,” she said. “I make music from my heart.”
Sophie Stern will perform Oct. 15, 9 p.m., at Greendoor, 1429 Ivar Ave., in Los Angeles, 323.463.0008; and on Nov. 9, 9 p.m., at Molly Malone, 575 South Fairfax Ave., in Los Angeles, 323.935.1577. More information and music samples can be obtained online at www.myspace.com/sophiesternmusic