Sitting outside the box

There’s an important lesson that musician Sophie Koh has learnt -” don’t mix sport and music.

I tore my Achilles while taking a break playing tennis with my producer and the band, she laughed.

I was on crutches for three months, which made things pretty interesting and entertaining when recording the album.

With the injury now healed, she’s was looking forward to the release of her new album, All Shook Up.

But who is Sophie Koh? She’s a mysterious songstress who’s emerging into the music limelight, thanks to the many years of gigging at pubs and clubs around the country.

Her signature lyrics and distinctive voice have earned her a large following but it’s her merging of music genres which has caught the most attention.

I’m not sure if I’m truly pop, indie, alternative, electronica or folk, Koh told Sydney Star Observer.

I love it when people can’t put me in a category or they get confused and surprised. It’s often hard to describe it myself but I guess it’s all about the melodic line in the end.

I write with the melody in mind first and then the words come much much later.

When in the recording studio, we do so many different takes of the vocals but we always end up using the very first take. I always like the first take because for me it’s more personal, more instinctive and more sincere.

Koh prides herself on her music being a combination of beauty and experimentation, with many of the instruments used on her new album designed to test the standard beats and sounds we hear today.

We used a lot of sampled beats and toyed around with cross-rhythms and used lots of unconventional instruments like the Chinese erhu, zither and all sorts of bells, thumb pianos and even a toy frog, she said.

This spring Koh will perform at venues across Sydney including September dates at The Vanguard on Thursday 4, Triselies at Katoomba on Friday 5 and The Brass Monkey on Sunday 7.

For more information on Sophie Koh log onto www.sophiekoh.com.