Soccer Mommy on her album ‘Evergreen’, festival culture and DIY rock

Words: Lauren O’Neill | Photography: Charlotte Amy Landrum

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Sophie Allison, who makes music as Soccer Mommy, is no stranger to the festival circuit. The 27-year-old musician has been touring for years, and will release her fourth album Evergreen later in 2024. The record brings everything that makes the Soccer Mommy project so special together – there are the sparkling melodies of her debut Clean, along with the experimentation of Sometimes Forever, produced by Oneohtrix Point Never’s Daniel Lopatin, plus a warm, rich helping of strings and acoustic guitar. 

At Outbreak Festival in Manchester, the day after she played Glastonbury, we caught up with Sophie to talk about her thoughts on camping festivals, the differences between US and UK audiences, and her upcoming album Evergreen. 

Polyester: Welcome to the UK! You played at Glastonbury yesterday. Is that something you’ve done before? How was it? 

Sophie Allison: It was good! I didn’t get to go out in the crowd much. It was pretty nice but hot, and chaotic! The festivals where you're there like all day, they start to get to you! 

Are you a camping festival person? Do you enjoy those?

It's not something I even bother to try because I know I don’t want to do that. But I did one on my 21st birthday in America. We played at a festival at the Gorge in Seattle, which is a big amphitheatre. It was like, really nice weather. It was really chill, it was super nice. It wasn't hot. It was like, put on a jacket at night kind of thing. It was not overcrowded. That was really nice. But I’m not a camper. I want to shower. 

Do you have a favourite festival, to play and to go to?

That honestly was probably one of my favourites that I’ve ever been to. I thought Gov Ball was great. We tried to play it once and it got cancelled because of the rain. Pitchfork Fest is really fun. And they have one in Raleigh, North Carolina that is really fun. It’s nice when it’s like half a day, and it ends early. I’m not 18 years old. Is anyone 18 years old anymore? I get tired. I have high arches. I want a water, I want shade. I’m not one of those people that’s going to come in like, a little festival get-up. I’m like, “Absolutely not.” It’s a lifestyle. It’s like being a camper, you have to love doing that. I’m too vain. 

What are the big differences between the US and the UK crowds?

It depends. In the US it’s such a broad spectrum of different crowds. I tend to find that in places like New York and LA and very big cities, they’re super polite. So it’s very chill. And then there’s other places where the crowds are totally different – I feel like every time I go to Boston it’s a really fun time. I get that a lot over here too, crowds that wanna have fun and party a little bit, but also that are there to hear the music.

People here buy tickets for stuff because they’re actually really invested. 

I think when you’re an American artist, when you come over people are gonna buy tickets because they want to see you because you don’t come over a lot. Where as in the US, if you’re touring a lot, people start to be like, “Okaaay…”

“It’s her.”

Exactly.

Obviously we’re here at Outbreak festival which is a bit more niche than a festival like Glastonbury – do you have specific types of festivals that you like to play? 

I like when the festival is more specific. And a little smaller, comparatively, because it’s easier to get around. It's easier to just go see somebody you want to see, and just be hanging all day. Whereas at a big festival, it’s like “Okay, your van needs to be moved at this time, you have to be here at this time, and your stage is way far away and there’s no transport.” So it can get a little crazy, whereas it’s more like hanging out and having fun at a smaller one. 

I wanted to ask a little about your new music – your new album Evergreen is out on 25th October, and so far you have released a single called “Lost.” That song feels like it brings together everything you’ve been doing so far. The melodies you have an uncanny gift for crafting are obviously there, but then there's also those slightly more experimental, expansive layers of production as well in there that are really beautiful. And then on top of that there’s a more rounded, classic sound, too, with the strings and more instrumentation. Is this generally the combination we can expect from the new record?

With “Lost” there’s obviously a straightforward sound, but there are these more ambient layers, yes. That’s definitely what to expect from new music. I'm really liking trying to strip things back to their core, and have only stuff that needs to really be there, and feels really important and intentional. It kind of gives that feeling of like, dreamy ambience that’s kind of wistful. But keeping everything really straightforward. So that's definitely like what I've been going for. And I think it really speaks to early work very strongly, and it feels very true to Soccer Mommy. It’s a little folksy, a little singer songwriter. That’s a broad word though! But the new music has that ambience, something a little ghostly, that I started out with.  

Could you tell me a little bit about how you wrote and recorded the album?

I feel like whenever I write an album, it usually ends up taking about a year.. And different songs are fast – “Lost” was really fast, that came super quick. I just felt like I had some really creative energy and I just sat down playing this thing. And then other ones sometimes take weeks or months to complete. You get a big idea and you have a lot of it but to fill in all the gaps takes time to get something perfect. Yeah, so it varies! 

Was there any music or other art that felt really inspirational while you were making the new record? 

Musically, I listened to a lot of more folksy stuff like Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris, and stuff like that. But then also, I've always loved the sound of like, DIY indie rock kind of things, just like really beautiful, dreamy, loopy guitars, that are super clean. And I wanted it to feel very like, watery and clean, and get that kind of feeling. 

My final question is: who are you excited to see today? 

I really want to see Joyce Manor.

Great choice. Thanks Sophie!