This week, we’re welcoming local producer, vocalist and songwriter Sophie Hawes to the site. Based in Vinylettes’ hometown of Bristol, Sophie – who makes music under the name Slowe – has been writing and performing since her teens. Now signed to Brighton label Tru Thoughts, she produces sleek neo-soul inspired by the likes of Erykah Badu and Cleo Sol.
In our conversation, Sophie reflects on how growing up with musical parents fuelled her passion, gives us a peek into her record collection, and shares her favourite spot for crate digging in the city.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your journey into music…
Music has been my entire personality for what feels like forever! I was raised by parents who love music, my dad is a drummer, so I grew up with him playing music in the car and telling me how good the drums are. I think I wrote my first song when I was around 14, and I haven’t stopped since. I played gigs solo and in bands for years, and when I was about 20 I started to teach myself to produce, and that led to sampling and crate digging which opened up a whole new world of vinyl to me. In my teens I just wanted to own all the albums I loved, and then that turned into being able to explore new music through records.
What sparked your love for collecting records?
Just being obsessed with music I think! Having my favourite albums on vinyl as a 16 year old just felt like a way to really connect to the music, me and my best friend would buy each other a record for our birthdays, and would get the bus into Bristol to try and find albums we wanted in charity shops.
What is it about vinyl that draws you in?
It feels so special to hold an album in my hand, to read all the liner notes and see all the pictures and artwork, and pull out the big poster that comes in the insert, it really can feel like a sacred ritual! I think the ritual of it is what keeps me collecting this day. The ritual of finding an album you’ve been looking for for ages, or of buying something you’ve never heard of and being blown away by what you hear.
I love that vinyl forces you to sit in one place and listen, I am very much a person who likes to listen to music while doing other things, walking, cooking, working, but when you actually have to be still and appreciate a full body of work, I think that’s what keeps me buying.
“I love the process of finding songs, and making sure they flow together in the perfect way”
How would you describe your sound, and what influences the music you create?
I would describe my own music as having a soul and neo-soul inspired sound, dipped in indie, sprinkled with jazz and a touch of psychedelia!
I have so many influences from throughout my life and they all compound in various ways to form the music I make. When I first started writing songs as a teenager, I was really influenced by songwriters like Jeff Buckley and Laura Marling, and then when I started producing I was really into classic hip-hop, and basically started my producing journey by sampling records and being inspired by producers like J Dilla, Q Tip. My beat making turned into song making, and I started to do less sampling, but still working in that frame of mind when working with real instruments. I’d also cite artists like Tyler The Creator, Erykah Badu, and Cleo Sol as major influences for production styles and sounds, and my new project is heavily inspired by 70s soul artists like Minnie Ripperton and Bill Withers.
What can we expect from one of your sets?
I don’t play live and haven’t done any live DJ sets so far, but I really enjoy putting mixes together, which you can find here. In a mix of mine there will always be a mix of genres including hip hop, jazz, soul, reggae, R&B, latin and whatever other goodness I can dig up! I love the process of finding songs, and making sure they flow together in the perfect way.
Which women in music inspire you most?
Locally, Bristol artists Holyseus Fly and Rose Holland FKA Dutchie have been killing it and inspiring me lately. Holly is an incredible singer, songwriter and performer who has been releasing and performing some amazing music. I’m a bit of a marketing nerd and I’ve been so obsessed with her attention to detail with her visuals and overall artistic brand.
Rose Holland is a producer, vocalist, songwriter, DJ and audio engineer, who creates really soulful, intricate and textured electronic music. She often speaks out about the gender gap and sexism issues and her own experiences within the music industry, and is so talented at what she does. She has also actually done a remix for one of my songs, Fix Me Up (Dutchie Remix). This song features, was produced by, and was remixed by women!
What’s the most prized record in your collection, and is there a story behind it?
The most prized record in my collection would definitely have to be my copy of Jay Dee Unreleased EP from 1997. It’s the first instance of J Dilla being on wax, and was released by his friend House Shoes, a green and blue version with 1500 copies being made of each. I got this about 5 years ago on Discogs and it contains 8 remixes by J Dilla that were at the time unreleased, and is definitely my pride and joy as a ‘Dilla enthusiast and collector.
What’s your go-to crate digging spot?
My favourite spot and also luckily my closest spot is The Centre For Better Grooves, on Gloucester Rd in Bristol. I’ve been going there since I started uni almost a decade ago, and Gordon has always pointed me in the direction of amazing records that I’ve never heard. There’s always great music playing on the speaker too.
Follow Slowe over on Instagram and Soundcloud.
