Sophie Rose Raymond

You started out in country and folk music, competing at festivals and performing along the Queensland coast. How did those early experiences shape the artist you’ve become today?

Those competitions taught me so much. How to entertain a crowd, how to dress for the stage, how to manage my time backstage and how to use the short amount of time on stage to get the audience on your side. I met a lot of incredible people who gave me amazing advice and helped me through the nerves. It opens you up to collaboration and receiving constructive criticism so you can utilise that to grow and improve. Having extremely supportive parents who were there every step of the way also really helped.

You’ve released music independently, worked with Bill Chambers and now arrived at Final Girl. Looking back across those different chapters, what do you feel has changed most about you as a songwriter?

I think the more experience I have in life in general, the more I have been able to write from different perspectives. The different musicians I have met over the last 17 years have all influenced and inspired me. I have gained a new confidence in myself that what I have to say is just as important as everyone else's words. Also getting a degree in music really helped me understand music theory better and I learned how to implement that in my writing in ways I never had before.

Final Girl moves into alternative rock, pop and blues territory. What did you want to explore with this record that you hadn’t been able to explore in your earlier work?

I had full creative control this time. I was in a toxic relationship for 8 years and he was extremely controlling under the guise of "constructive criticism". I lost a lot of confidence in myself and my songwriting abilities. This album was the first time I had full control over every lyric, every beat and every note since my 2016 album Forget The Sunrise. I loved working with Bill Chambers on my 2019 album I Am A Warrior, he was absolutely incredible to share a studio with but my abuser was hovering over my shoulder and holding me back.

For Final Girl I worked with Zac Wholohan who is an extremely talented musician and producer. He encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone and every idea I threw at him he implemented perfectly. It felt incredible to work with someone who embraced my creativity instead of feeling threatened by it or trying to squander it.

You’ve spent years performing regularly around Queensland. How has playing live so consistently influenced the way you write, arrange and perform your own songs?

I noticed a big difference when recording Final Girl in the songs I had been singing live vs the songs I had never performed. I found the songs I had performed a lot were much more polished and had come into their own the more I sang them whereas the ones I hadn't performed before needed a little more workshopping before I was truly happy with them.

Singing every weekend for years has improved my vocals and guitar playing significantly. I found when writing new songs I have been focusing on how they will sound with a full band, how they will come across when performing live, when before I would write as if I was writing in my diary. The focus was more the lyrics and getting out emotions. Now I try to write for the stage just as much as I write from the heart.

There’s a strong sense of momentum around this new chapter, with the album launch followed by shows across Queensland. What are you hoping Final Girl opens up for you as an artist?

I hope that this album finds other people who have been through similar things. The people that need the message of hope, of what it's like on the other side of the leap of faith. Music has always been there for me through all kinds of pain and joy and I hope I can be that for others too. My career was stalled for so long because I was under someone else's thumb. Now I'm free I want to push it as far as it will take me.

After so many years of performing close to home, you’re looking to take your music to wider audiences in 2026. If you could build the next chapter entirely on your own terms, what would you like it to look like?

I would love to get my music to new fans and to play at more music festivals. Performing at new places with my band is a dream. Travelling outside of QLD for gigs would be absolutely incredible too.