22-year-old Sonia Stein has travelled the world, now residing in Shoreditch, she’s set to release her first EP ‘Symbol’.

Having worked with producer Liam Howes (who’s teamed up with the likes of FKA Twigs and Lana Del Rey) for the last 18 months, Sonia Stein has both her debut EP and album in the pipeline. Sonia has lived in Warsaw, Berlin, New York and Boston but recorded her new work in Shoreditch, East London, where she is now based. Fellow Shoreditch citizens Art War created the poignant video for her beautiful new single ‘Waiting’. We talk to the singer about music scenes and being dubbed as ‘soulful’.

Having lived all over the world, why did you decide to move to London/Shoreditch?

The move sort of happened naturally when I came to London for a few weeks to work on a few sessions with some new people. I was having a bit of a creative lull in New York at the time and I just sort of met a bunch of really cool people who believed in what I was doing over here. Being from Europe originally it was an easy switch to make.

What about all the other places you’ve lived, where do you think has the best music scene with the best new music?

New York and London were the two most exciting places, especially when it comes to live music. London is definitely the winner when it comes to making new music though.

Agreed. Tell us, what’s your favourite song from your imminent EP?

I go back and forth between all four. They are all my babies. But the last couple of weeks it’s been ‘Closure’.

What is the story behind your single ‘Waiting’?

‘Waiting’ is a pretty simple song about being excited having just met someone new, and waiting for the next time you see them. It has an element of anxiety and preemptive disappointment for good measure but overall I treat it like one of my happiest songs

Did you enjoy making the video for it?

It was the first video I ever shot so it was really exciting. I was a little nervous to lip sync in front of a bunch of people I didn’t know and fun fact: had one of the worst flues of my life while filming.  So it’s definitely an experience I’ll remember .

So what are you waiting for right now?

I am waiting to play some more shows live. It’s what I enjoy doing the most, I get such a high from singing the songs I’ve been working on for so long on.

At what point in life did you realise you wanted to be a musician?

Singing has been at the forefront for me ever since I can remember but I started writing songs at 15 so that’s when I made the conscious decision to pursue it.

How did you come to work with Liam Howe?

I was already in talks with Marathon Artists who have been so good to me since I moved to London. They thought Liam and I would make a good match and played him some of my demos. We just went from there.

Lastly, if you had to, what genre would you place your music in?

This is always the toughest question to answer. I never think about it when I am writing the songs, or even when we are working in the studio. We try to focus on keeping it vocal led and atmospheric and maintain a very classic singer-songwriter approach lyrically and structurally. I prefer reading what others have to say about it genre wise. One recurring word that has been used that I never thought to use on myself has been ‘soulful.’

Words: Lily Walker.