Our Los Angeles–born, Irvine-raised Arts & Entertainment intern Kat Sophia admits that she opted for UCSB when she couldn’t get past the UCLA waitlist, but she’s come to love Santa Barbara’s art scene, and looks forward to spending her last year abroad in London. “I’m excited to see the locations of One Direction music videos and Harry Potter/Fleabag scenes,” said Sophia, who’s covered a number of bands big and small during her time with us and dreams of interviewing such artists as Dominic Fike and Phoebe Bridgers.
But this young scribe, who’s also an editor at WORD Magazine, may be best known as a singer/songwriter herself, having gigged at Isla Vista’s Tacos & Taproom every Friday night before the pandemic. “I mainly make indie pop/folk music, and my lyrics have the sincerity of Taylor Swift with a dash of sarcasm à la Lily Allen,” said Sophia, who’s also a huge vinyl enthusiast. “My collection’s worth around $10,000, but we don’t need to talk about how much pain I’m in thinking about that.”
What else should we know? “I love shibas,” said Sophia. “If I could eat food that tasted like a song, it’d be ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ and I really hope fairies are real. They’re so cute! I’ve also met Barack Obama.”