All Eyes on Phia

At the ripe age of 11, Sophia Moore stood fearfully in front of her middle school’s vocal ensemble. Despite hating the attention, she still sang. 

“My world is over, it was that bad,” she thought as she finished. Then everyone cheered, “Sophia, we didn’t know you could sing!”

Moore had always had a passion for music, but this was the moment that her singing journey started. It wasn’t until she was 16 that she began songwriting. 

“I think a lot and I feel a lot,” Moore said, and as a bored teenager stuck inside the house at the peak of the pandemic, Moore needed to do something about these feelings. So, her mother signed her up for a class at The Songwriting School of Los Angeles. 

“It opened up this whole world that I didn’t even know was there,” Moore said. “I finally had a place to put all of the things that I had been feeling.”

Songwriting quickly became everything that mattered to her, serving as a solace through not only the COVID-19 pandemic, but also her time as a young adult.

Taking inspiration from artists like Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers, Brandi Carlile and The Secret Sisters, the now 20-year-old Long Beach native finds a sense of freedom in her songwriting, seamlessly blending new Americana influences with an indie pop sound to create a style of storytelling unique to her own. 

“I feel like people always have these cool processes when it comes to their songwriting, but mine is rather mundane and sort of silly,” Moore said. “I sit on my bedroom floor, grab whichever guitar is closest by, and usually, a song will just kind of fall out within 30 minutes or so.”

The 20-year-old singer songwriter was born and raised in Long Beach. Photo by Georgie Smith.

After these raw sessions of creativity, Moore takes her work to Rob Seals, her once teacher at The Songwriting School of Los Angeles and now producer, who has been a catalyst for most of her industry experience so far. 

Seals and Moore never intended to work together, but on one random Friday, he called Moore and said, “I told someone that I have a cover of ‘Over the Rainbow,’ and I need you to sing it.”

Moore drove up to Burbank that day, recorded the track and the rest was history. The cover was even featured in an episode of the Apple TV+ show, “Amber Brown.”

The two artists now collaborate on all of Moore’s original music, ensuring that each song says everything that Moore had originally intended. Sometimes, this process is meticulous, while other times, all her words fall into place perfectly.

Concluding the simple revision process comes the tedious, yet rewarding recording process where Moore gets to work alongside drummer Ryan Brown and bassist Sean Hurley, long-time friends of Seals.

“Rob just knows everybody— and the best people, too,” Moore said. “He is such a special human being, and I really lucked out that I happened to meet him.”

Seals entered Moore’s life and stuck with her through moments of heavy grief, especially following the passing of Tom Kell, Moore’s first mentor. Seals did not replace him, but he was able to help hold that space for Moore. 

In relation to that grief came motivation for Moore’s first single, “Inside Joke,” which was released on October 11, 2022.

“I wasn’t worried that people wouldn’t like it since music is so subjective, but it definitely felt nerve wracking to put my own lyrics out into the world,” Moore said. “There came a point though where I just had to say ‘screw it,’ which was honestly really liberating.”

Grief tends to inspire many of Moore’s other works as well, such as “when the candles are mine,” the introductory track to her four-song EP, “group therapy.” 

You can listen to Phia on Spotify under the artist name “Sophia Moore.” Photo courtesy of Sophia Moore.

“For that song, I wanted to show what grief meant to me, because it's different for every person,” Moore said. “It's about that loss and the sort of anger that comes with it, not anger at the person who passed away or the situation itself, but more so anger at the world along with a reconciliation for it.”

After being worked on for a little over a year, “group therapy” was officially released on September 22, 2023, which also happens to be Kell’s Remembrance Day.

“This album was very much dedicated to him and who he was,” Moore said. “So, although at some points I felt impatient with the release, it worked out well that it came out when it did.”

Upon its release, “group therapy” garnered great support from friends, colleagues, and even strangers to Moore. 

“Everybody was so supportive, I had random people who I went to elementary school with reaching out to me about it, along with complete strangers who were messaging me and telling me that they had listened to my music and resonated with it,” Moore said. “It was seriously like an out of body experience.”

Besides Seals and her team of musicians, Moore is also indebted to her family for their constant encouragement.

“Being a woman in the music industry is not easy, by any means,” Moore said. “I am thankful that all the people who are with me have taught me to speak up for myself and let me know that I am important.”

Moore’s songwriting process usually lasts between 30 to 40 minutes during which the lyrics and melody typically come to her all at once. Photo courtesy of Sophia Moore.

Other than building her brand and working on her next album, Moore is also pursuing her bachelor's degree in child development at Long Beach State.

In the future, she hopes to perform more of her original music live. She dreams of going on tour and doing festival work, as singing for an audience tends to elevate her experience as an artist.

“It feels so much more real when I’m on stage,” Moore said. “Watching people react to my music in live time is really cool, and I like having the chance to get to talk about my songs and what they mean.”

Moore also uses her Instagram page, @phiamooremusic, to share behind the scenes content and promote her art and upcoming performances. She is currently in the works of transitioning her artist name to Phia, but for now you can find her full discography on Spotify under Sophia Moore.

“Singing and songwriting is my heartbeat,” Moore said. “It lets me connect with people deeper and has honestly made my life feel so much more purposeful. Having that one thing that I know that I can count on forever is honestly comforting and empowering.”