London based singer-songwriter Sofia B is set to be the next big thing. The 24 year old is hitting the music scene hard with her soulful lyrics and catchy melodies. She’s also a queer heartthrob, known for her music as well as her friendships with androgynous model ‘It’ girls like Harmony Boucher and Lillie Rage. But don’t let her good looks and bravado fool you, there’s more to Sofia B than that. Sofia has bravely come out about her battle with chronic illness – her passion to bring awareness to Crohn’s disease is palpable and infectious. I sat down with Sofia B to talk about heartbreak, family, models, date nights, embarrassing moments and more.

What was your creative process for your latest EP, “In the City”? 

It all started when I was living and working in NYC and had gone through a pretty horrendous breakup. For me it always starts with a lyric, story or emotion and then I start improvising over chords until I find something that sticks. Some of the songs I wrote to and from work, mostly writing lyrics on my phone and then recording videos of myself, so I wouldn’t forget what I came up with!

Who was the inspiration for your first single from the EP, “Ice Cold Love”

My last girlfriend was the inspiration for “Ice Cold Love.” She is actually a native New Yorker and I moved to NYC after graduating from Berklee College of Music, partially to be with her but also to pursue my career. We broke up only a few months after I had moved and then I had to face the brutal NYC winter all on my own, which is where the song came from!

Tell me more about your second single from the EP, “Soldiers.” What inspired it?

My best friend and fellow Crohn’s buddy, Avery Nejam aka The Candid Observer, was checking in on me one day at work while I was still in NYC. I told her hard I was finding it to cope with the severe cold and my Crohn’s, so she flat out convinced me to book a flight to New Orleans and just take a mental health trip together. It genuinely was one of the most incredible trips of my life, we went everywhere, tried everything, met some amazing Thai girls who were working at the beignet place, ‘Cafe Du Monde,” and they ended up following us everywhere and becoming life-long friends! Anyways, only me and Avery knew how sick we were or how hard it is for us to fight this disease, which is where the idea of being soldiers comes from, as well as the fact that we both happen to be half Lebanese!

Very few musicians and entertainers are open about chronic illness. Why did you decide to ‘come out’ about your Crohn’s disease? How do you think your journey can help others? 

If I’m really honest with myself, I think it’s because of Avery. I could try and explain the extent of her struggles but honestly to this day I still find it hard to comprehend the severity of her situation. We were diagnosed around the same time in Boston, where we met. The only difference was that she had been dairy, gluten and just about everything intolerant and had never smoked or drank. Me on the other hand, I’d been smoking cigarettes for a while, drinking casually and McDonald’s and I were certainly no strangers!

Yet, this made no difference, she ended up losing her colon and I ended up with three blood clots in my spleen (which they saved) and eventually remission for my Crohn’s. Avery is an inspiration, she fights religiously for her life yet she still makes time to check in on me. I hope that my journey and my songs will allow other Crohn’s sufferers to feel like I’m here for them and have made time for them.

How does your Lebanese and Venezuelan background influence your music?

My Father is Lebanese, and he is where I like to think I get my musical skills from, because he is the best guitarist I know. He is actually playing on “Ice Cold Love,” which was recorded in Beirut where he lives. I decided to bring the record to him, because I didn’t want to lose out on the opportunity of recording with my Dad. My Mother, who is Venezuelan, is a jeweler and isn’t exactly musically inclined, but she has been my number one supporter my whole life. Whether she was taking me to singing, ballet, violin or maths (I was truly rubbish!) lessons, she always made sure to make me feel like I could do anything I set my mind to. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that I think my Venezuelan side is where I get my drive and motivation from!

What is the overall message that you want your fans to take away from “In the City”? 

Heartbreak and city life have never been good company, this record pretty much captures my healing process, which, yes I did actually manage to do. It’s really easy to think that you’ll never recover from a breakup or heartache when you’re living in a busy city or have a hectic job or just generally have a lot going on. But that’s the amazing thing about us creatures, we heal until we die.

Your music has been compared to Tegan & Sara, Ellie Goulding and Ingrid Michelson. Who are your music idols? 

Fleetwood Mac, The Weepies, Eliot Sumner, Beyoncé and I mean Justin Bieber’s alriggghhhhhhhhttttt

You’re rumored to be friends with models Lillie Rage and Harmony Boucher. What do musicians and models do for fun? 

I’ve never been a model before really, especially because I’m quite short, but my idea of fun is a night out of dancing with friends, recording or writing a new song, cooking a meal for someone and attending concerts, fashion shows, galleries and all of that fun stuff! But if I’m very honest, I’m quite a homebody especially with my Crohn’s Disease, so a lot of the time, a night in watching ‘House’ really is like heaven for me!

What was your most embarrassing “on stage” moment? How did you recover? 

The first time I ever performed a song I had written was when I was 18 and was due for my Berklee College of Music audition in a few weeks. Like a total nimbus, I decided to go to an open mic night in London and drink a beer right before I went on… Anyways, I started to play the first few chords and next thing I know I had forgotten my lyrics… I ran off stage grabbed my phone looked up the first line and went right back up and I finished the song. I was sweating and all red after, but a bunch of people came up to me after and said how much they loved my song, especially because it was written about my music teacher at the time.

What does your perfect date night look like? 

The perfect date nights are the ones that are spontaneous, when you decide to just say hey, lets do something! There really isn’t anything much more romantic than walking around (weather permitting!) with the person you love with them as your only destination in mind.

Need more Sofia B? Follow her on Instagram @officialsofiab or visit her website to check out upcoming shows, merch and of course music!

The post Interview with Singer/Songwriter Sofia B first appeared on Lesbian.com.

BY SARA PALMER

Inspired by the suggestion of “heartbreak.”

When I was young, I was a collector of sorts. Some, like my immediate family, may have called me a pack rat. Yet, everything in my room had its place. That place was unrecognizable to most and I was totally OK with that. Although, it did not come without explanations, I felt like I was constantly having to explain this to my mother, but it was a process.

“Ask me where something is and I’ll tell you.” I’d often say to her. To which she would frustratingly sigh and tell me to pick things up and put them away. She didn’t get it, I would think. I mean, I just told you everything was in its place. These sort of interactions between my mother and I would continue and I would hesitantly move things off the floor or table tops and put them on the shelves where she believed they should reside.

Then off I’d go, taking to the sidewalks on bike with neighborhood friends. We’d ride around all day, exploring new building sites, making ramps and daring each other to ride down steep entrances into what would eventually become the foundations of apartment buildings or business parks; then, off to the gas station to load up on penny and nickel candies. I always loved the flavored Tootsie Rolls. The green and blue wrapped ones; representing green apple and blue raspberry were always first picks, while the yellow, banana flavor, was skipped over every time. If there was cherry, that’s all I’d get.

We’d ride down, through the wooded bike trails where the trees would cut out the sun, leaving the running water cool and the rocks green with moss. Throwing our bikes to the side of the trail and taking off on foot, jumping from rock to rock until we’d reach the water’s edge. Then daring each other to skip the path where the tips of the rocks protruded through the water like miniature icebergs. Foraging along as if we were giants hopping across a great body of water by way of such iceberg.

Our imaginations ran wild as we created many worlds, and our bikes were never just bikes. They were motorcycles, animals (generally horses) or fast cars; mine, usually a Trans Am, black with a gold eagle on the front. Second choice, also a Trans Am, but white this time with a royal blue eagle on the front, and blue and yellow stripes on the sides. This represented a Matchbox car I once owned.

Believe me, I know — and am still not sure why that was my cool car of choice — but I will also mention that this lasted well into my teenage years, until I somehow flipped to the complete opposite side of the spectrum where the more practical Land Cruiser became the obvious choice.

As the day would pass and adventures would grow far beyond anything we could ever imagine, we’d see the end closing in. Soon it would be dinnertime and everyone would file off to his or her appropriated homes.

As I made my way up my street, turning into the driveway without cutting my speed, instead leaning to the side and dragging my foot on the ground, I noticed my mother packing up the garage sale she had set up that morning. As I looked to the table still set up on the south side of the driveway, I noticed, in horror, some of my stuffed animals.

I screeched my brakes, dropped my bike and ran to the table shouting frantically to my mother: “What are these doing out here? These aren’t for sale.”

I ran to my room, looking to see if anything was out of place. My stuffed dog, where was it?

Shouting through the house and into the garage about this stuffed dog. My mother calmly explained to me that it must have sold during the garage sale. Then, adding that she never saw me playing with it or any of the stuff she had put on sale. I guess she figured I wouldn’t notice or miss it.

I went back into my room, cleared a space on my bed full of stuffed animals and sat there. Twelve years old and heartbroken over a small stuffed dog with oversized eyes, wearing a green t-shirt that said “hugs” or something like that on it.

Sara Palmer is a an improviser-writer-storyteller based in the Phoenix, Arizona, area. Share your ideas for her next blog in the comments below.

The post A place for everything, heartbreak, too first appeared on Lesbian.com.