Skofee is a fresh young talented indie-pop singer who is not afraid to speak her truth and convey candid messages through her music. Not only is she a singer, but she is also a talented songwriter. Her latest song, “QVC”, was recently released along with its creative and colorful music video. She also released an EP, “Polished”, last year containing 5 songs each conveying different messages. She has been involved in performing arts since high school where she performed in musical theatre and choirs.
What is the story behind your lyrics being candid and sometimes frank?
I try to keep my songwriting as honest as possible because I don’t think it’d be very interesting if I didn’t! I’m all for imagery and descriptive lyrics but I also think it can be refreshing to also add lines that just say exactly what you mean, so I do my best to incorporate both into my music.
How did you come up with the concept for the music video of your song, “QVC”, in terms of colors used, props, locations of scenes and so on?
I wanted to create distinct spaces within the video to show that the phone line was leading me to different rooms and eventually outside of the house. Doing that was super fun and I’m really happy with the rooms we came up with, especially since they were all filmed in front of a green screen in a garage haha. The “saleroom” was especially fun to design, I found an old TV on the side of the road that ended up working perfectly for the scene and the BoxFort guys made it come to life with the gold fabric and ladder.
What would you say was the inspiration behind the “QVC” music video?
I wanted to take inspiration from how infomercials are laid out, but make it weirder. So I thought the concept of getting a call and trying to find the end of the phone line would be an interesting way to show the meaning of the song, while still incorporating the QVC concept with a few shots that are set up to look like that.
You have a very familiar and soft timbre, is that one of your secrets behind being able to successfully convey uncomfortable frank messages in your songs?
Thanks! I have no idea (Laughs) but I’m glad my voice feels familiar.
You used to perform in choirs and musical theatre when you were in high school, had you already made up your mind then that you would go into the entertainment Industry?
I think musical theater and choir were my first avenues into music in general, and I’m really
grateful that I had those outlets in high school. Writing my own music and finding my sound that
way definitely solidified my desire to go into the entertainment industry.
After your graduation from university, you decided to stay in Los Angeles with your musical peers in a household, how has living with other musical personalities impacted your creativity and motivation?
I love walking through my house and hearing my roommates working on music through the
walls. It’s inspiring to hear what they’re coming up with, plus being able to work on music
together and also live together is really special.
Could you describe the emotions you were feeling when your first EP, “Polished”, was released?
It’s funny because the songs on that EP had been in the works for such a long time that I went through so many emotions before the songs were even out. I think the feeling on the night of the actual release was one of relief and also of anticipation because I was kind of already thinking about the next stuff.
Your EP has 5 songs of which you have explained each contain individual thoughts, could you give one emotion for each of the five songs that best summarizes them?
Fantomlimb: ache
Polished: frustration
Spiderman: jealousy
Bleach: numbness
Crabapple: nostalgia
Could you also describe the roller-coaster of emotions you went through writing the EP?
At the beginning it was a lot of self doubt, because I felt a lot of pressure to figure out my sound immediately. Once I got rolling writing the songs themselves it was every emotion at some point in time (LAUGHS) , especially since the songs were written over a period of two years.
What inspired you to choose indie pop as a genre for your music?
That’s just what came out of me! I think I listen to a lot of different types of pop music and am drawn to similar music to what I tend to write.
Who would you say is your biggest musical inspiration?
What a hard question! I feel like I draw inspiration from a lot of different places but Lady Gaga comes to mind in terms of both musicianship and creativity. She’s such a visionary and I love how she’s changed through her career.
What one album from any musical artist would you describe as a masterpiece?
Channel Orange by Frank Ocean