Atención Music Spotlight: Sophia Smith, Listening for Something Meaningful

By Felecia Ford

From Ontario indie-pop jams as a teenager to deeply expressive jazz improvisations today, San Miguel's multi-instrumentalist and saxophonist Sophia Smith speaks about music not just as performance, but as a path toward self-discovery.

FF: What first drew you to the saxophone, and when did you realize music was becoming something more serious for you?

SS: I was around 14 when I started jamming with friends and really connecting to the saxophone. Playing in an indie-pop band with slight hints of jazz was more what I was into at that age, and once I realized that I could make decent money busking and playing gigs with friends, with music that I loved, I felt like a path opened up for me. At that point, I started practicing more, and for some reason the connection with my sax felt a lot stronger than with other instruments. I loved playing live and I knew I needed to learn more.

FF: You started in classical music before moving more deeply into jazz at Humber College. What did improvisation unlock for you as an artist?

SS: Coming out of classical school and jumping head first into the jazz world was a complicated experience. Jazz is such a beautiful craft, and it takes years to learn the history, understand the vocabulary, and then be able to work out the musical math fast enough in your head in order to follow along and play something that makes sense. Then, being able to say something meaningful is a whole other level. That is my goal now — to listen to what’s happening, and to listen to what I hear in my head, and to say something meaningful. It unlocks the opportunity to get to know yourself. To put your ego aside, and listen to the voice you hear in your own head, and to be able to express what you are actually hearing and feeling in the moment. Getting more in touch with yourself as a person helps you to get more in touch with who you are musically, and vice versa.

FF: Living in San Miguel de Allende seems to inspire a lot of artists creatively. How has being here influenced you?

SS: It’s very special to have this much talent and creativity in such a small town. Since we are all around each other all the time, there’s lots of opportunities to connect and create. The musicians here come from different backgrounds with different influences, and being able to accept our different paths and collaborate openly creates a cushion where people are allowed to be themselves, both musically and as people. It creates a space to explore and express yourself in order to find out who you are.

FF: I couldn’t agree more. You have moved through some very significant health challenges in your recent past. How did music change for you during that time?

SS: The challenges with my health completely transformed music for me. For two and a half years until mid-2023, I couldn’t play saxophone at all, and for almost two years during that time, I couldn’t even listen to music due to the amount of nerve damage I had. When I started getting better and could listen to music again, it was like being a child and discovering the beauty of it for the first time. I stopped listening to anything that didn’t really call to me. I only focused on what made me feel good, and inspired, and happy to be alive. And I think this comes out in my playing as well.

FF: So glad that is all behind you. What are you working on now?

SS: I just finished recording an album with This is Entropy. It’s an album of all original music, written by fellow Canadian Mark Bissessar, with a few of my originals as well. I love the creativity of this band and all of the influences we combine in this album, and the space that we create for improvisation and expression. It’s a mix of modern jazz, funk, experimental, neo-soul, and samba, amongst other genres. We’re in the post production process now and hoping to release the album this summer.

FF: I hope to make it to that show, and I encourage everyone reading this to do the same. I’ve also heard they serve one of the best Reuben sandwiches in all of México!

Here’s to Sophia Smith — a courageous and deeply gifted young artist with the world of music at her feet and the courage to follow where it leads.  

IG @sophia_smith_music 

IG @thisisentropy

Sophiasmithmusic.com