Musician feature on singer Sophia Schroeder

Colby is full of talented individuals and Sophia Schroeder `23 is one of this mix. As a biology neuroscience major, music is an escape for Schroeder in which she takes great pride. 

She has truly immersed herself in the musical world on campus as a member of the Colby Music Incubator (CMI) and as a solo artist. The Colby Echo had the chance to talk to her about her musical journey so far and what she hopes for her future.

“I have been playing guitar for about ten years now, since 2011,” she said. “I play all different types of music but especially once I got to middle and high school, I focused a lot on jazz and improv. and I was able to do more classic rock and grunge music as I went through high school. Once I got to Colby I was a varsity athlete and my academics didn’t really allow for me to work on my music.” 

Despite these time commitments, Schroeder managed to find an avenue to once again practice her music.

“In my sophomore year I joined a student band for a year called ‘Wooden Jelly Spoon and Peanut’ which was a pretty chill band,” Schroeder said. 

“We played a lot of different styles of music such as jazzy stuff and more older music,” she continued. “Then the seniors in that band graduated, so this year I am now a solo artist.” 

However, this transition has not stopped Schroeder in her musical endeavors. Just this past weekend she had the opportunity to participate in a CMI-sponsored event, Saturday Night Live. 

The event was an open mic night that took place in the Mary Low Coffee House and was an opportunity for artists to come together and perform in front of a small crowd in an intimate but casual setting. 

“Honestly, I have to say that last Saturday night was my favorite performance,” Schroeder said. 

“I appreciated it because it was the first time in a while that it seemed like the campus was waking up after the [COVID-19] hiatus,” Schroeder said. 

“The last time something like that took place was the fall of 2019,” Schroeder added. 

“Even if there wasn’t a crowd of a hundred people, I thought it was a great environment.”

Despite enjoying her solo performances, Sophia was not always the most confident performer, but she has been able to learn and grow throughout her musical years.

“The anxiety [stage fright] comes from performing solo pieces,” Schroeder explained. She has found ways around stage fright to gain confidence in her musical performances. 

“One of the ways I have gotten over that is by going on stage with an ensemble,” she said. “In middle and high school I was a part of a lot of jazz bands and jazz ensembles and being with other people and having a support group and feeling like we are all in this together. That really helped me feel more comfortable on stage. It really helps to perform with groups of all different sizes and being able to learn from our mistakes for when I do go on stage by myself.”

She has now developed different ways to prepare for an upcoming performance. 

“It is all about practicing my set and making sure I know all the lyrics and have memorized everything. I try to do some meditation right before I go on stage or some sort of deep breathing because I used to get a lot of stage fright,” Schroeder said. 

“The crowd is always very supportive so it really is about channeling some positivity and going on stage with a smile. I just like to slow down for a second, take a deep breath and say that it is going to be alright, and then just get on stage and have fun with it,” she continued. 

Schroeder shared the locations  that she likes on campus as a performer.

“I really like  Heights as a performance space,” Schroeder said. “I personally have never performed there, but I shadowed a sound engineer during this year’s Halloween concert, and that space had amazing acoustics. It was just a great space for the audience to get together so overall it is a good indoor space.”

Schroeder also has some exciting plans for what she hopes to accomplish during her time here.

“I am looking to record my own original music and work with other musicians if I am able to,” she said. 

“I’m planning on my music to be mostly guitar. I am also a vocalist but I don’t prioritize that. I am trying to focus more on songwriting and producing my own lyrics because I really haven’t been able to prioritize that at all, but I am experimenting with all different styles of music at the moment.”

~ Tanvi Iyer `22