Katikati singer releases track of heartbreak

Musician Sophie Gibson's cover art for her first single, Reminiscing which was released on April 27.

Katikati musician Sophie Gibson released her first single titled Reminiscing on Spotify and online platforms Apple Music and YouTube, and feedback so far has been positive.

"The release is going really well and I've had lots of positive feedback.

"Lots of people are finding it relevant to the current quarantine situation, and are surprised when I tell them I wrote the song about a year ago," she said.

The 20-year-old wrote the song after she came out of a relationship when on a gap year in Chile. She is working on a music video for the song when lockdown is over.

Originally from Scotland, Sophie moved to New Zealand in 2005, and grew up in Katikati. Coming from a musical family she sings, plays piano and guitar.

"Mum enrolled me in all kinds of instrument lessons - but I took to the piano in particular when I had a great teacher, Peter Mitchell, who used to be Head of Music at Katikati College."

Sophie learnt guitar chords from her mum, then continued learning from YouTube videos. She gradually started singing and performing at local restaurants and events after she saw her older brother doing local gigs.

She won a Katikati Twilight Concert Scholarship in 2018 for tertiary education in music, and since then has moved to Auckland to study music, where she is based.

After finishing high school Sophie took a gap year and travelled overseas.

"I knew music was important to me but I wasn't quite ready or sure if I wanted to go to university and study there. I wanted to learn another language, and travel and learn new things.

"So while in high school I got a certificate in teaching English as a foreign language. I looked for a job teaching and found one in Chile, so off I went."

She spent 10 months there and went to Peru and Argentina, and visited friends in Santiago.

"I did some singing in restaurants there. I learnt a few songs in Spanish that are some of my favourite songs now."

Sophie returned to New Zealand to study music at university. Singing songs of heartbreak, heart mending and downright just complaining, she combines witty lyrics with catchy melodies and rhythms. Writing Reminiscing she was thinking about how hilariously awkward some of the situations she was in had been.

"I needed to process all the things I learnt from that relationship, some of the things I loved about it and how to let it go."

Reminiscing is a result of that big mix up of emotions, she said.

"It's so personal that when I sat down to write it I thought I'd never show anyone the song ever.

"Now it's one of my favourites to perform at gigs. I love when people come up to me afterwards and tell me how their own experiences match up."

Sophie said at the time living abroad it was pretty difficult.

"Getting used to living in a foreign country where everything was different - the language, even everyday things like going to the supermarket somehow managed to confuse me.

"In hindsight, it was funny how hopeless I was. I got into so many ridiculous situations because I had no idea how things in that country worked, and I knew no Spanish at all."

When Sophie finally left Chile she had become used to all of those things, so found it hard to leave.

"I love being back with my friends and family, and doing music here."

Previously Sophie has been involved in the National Jazz Festival in Tauranga, the Katikati Avocado Food and Wine Festival and the Waihi Beach Summer Fair in 2017.