Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Katikati singer releases track of heartbreak

By Chris Steel
Bay of Plenty Times·
14 May, 2020 12:17 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

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

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.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"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.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

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.

Discover more

Katikati Library welcomes borrowers back last week

20 May 07:36 PM

Everyone keen to connect face to face

10 Jun 08:37 PM

"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."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

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.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Premium
Letters to the Editor

Opinion: Why brachytherapy is crucial for prostate cancer treatment

Bay of Plenty Times

Man hides out in bush for 5 months after slicing victim with machete over $20

Bay of Plenty Times

Waipuna Hospice burglary: 'Dumpster divers' raid charity's skip bins


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Premium
Premium
Opinion: Why brachytherapy is crucial for prostate cancer treatment
Letters to the Editor

Opinion: Why brachytherapy is crucial for prostate cancer treatment

Opinion: Our readers have their say.

17 Jul 04:00 PM
Man hides out in bush for 5 months after slicing victim with machete over $20
Bay of Plenty Times

Man hides out in bush for 5 months after slicing victim with machete over $20

17 Jul 08:00 AM
Waipuna Hospice burglary: 'Dumpster divers' raid charity's skip bins
Bay of Plenty Times

Waipuna Hospice burglary: 'Dumpster divers' raid charity's skip bins

17 Jul 05:45 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP