We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sofía Élan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sofía, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
As a musician, I used to worry too much about what other people would think and how successful I had to be to “deserve” being called a musician/artist. But the reality is that I started loving music without thinking about any of these things. I began making music because nothing has ever made me feel so connected to myself, the world, and my emotions. Over the past year and a half, I’ve been focusing on enjoying the process and getting better at what I do, regardless of how many streams and likes I get. I realized that we are all going to die, so why not keep doing what I love the most?
As a Latin artist, my resilience to keep making music in Spanish comes from the deep connection I have with the language. Even though I have many influences, I believe my feelings translate into two languages: music and Spanish.
Furthermore, Latin music is diverse and constantly evolving. This diversity allows me to explore different styles, collaborate with artists from various backgrounds, and experiment with unique fusions of sounds. The ability to innovate and adapt in the ever-changing music landscape is a source of inspiration and resilience.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I was born in Guanajuato, Mexico. At the age of 18, I moved to Boston to study music. I graduated in 2021 from Berklee College of Music and then moved to Los Angeles later that year. I started singing as a child, and even before learning to play any instrument, I was already creating songs. I began playing piano and guitar at the age of 13, and ever since, I have been dreaming of creating my own project as an artist. I released my first official song as Sofía Élan in 2021. Since then, my main focus has been on playing live shows, releasing new music, and connecting with new people. I just released my second ep called “diminuta” a few weeks ago.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
My advice to anyone trying to create is this: Don’t compare your journey to others’. We all come from different backgrounds. Worry less about popularity and invest more time in improving your skills, because, at the end of the day, this connection to your art is what matters the most. Spend time alone working on what you want and be patient with yourself
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
As an independent artist, you find yourself juggling various roles. While I deeply love the process of creating my music, I struggle significantly with the promotional aspect. Social media induces anxiety in me, so I’ve been dedicating time to figuring out how to genuinely connect with my audience and determine the kind of message and voice I want to share. I’m not a fan of virality, trends, and all that, as I’m extremely sensitive and tend to overthink everything. The rapid pace of the social media/TikTok world is overwhelming, and it often feels like it’s stuck in a loop, with everyone producing the same type of video repeatedly, which is crazy to me. Disconnecting from it all might seem like the easy way out, but I’ve been challenging myself to do the opposite: not just resent social media, but to truly understand it and find my unique way of using it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/sofiaelan
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sofia.elan.music
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sofia.elan.music/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofiaelan/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SofiaElanMusic
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6pSo2XeVzujfKewzhzXK1P?si=Yv5zUsucQFmjZNY6Jqf4EQ
Image Credits
picture provided from: Laura Agudelo
