Chloe Sofia On the Making Of “The Girl Next Door”
Photo Credit: Pm2media
What inspired you to write the lyrics/music for "The Girl Next Door?"
I actually caught the idea for the song when someone who worked in music marketing told me “the girl next door doesn’t sell”. Which I thought was the weirdest thing, because in my experience, it’s “the girl next door” types that get the guy. Thus was born “The Girl Next Door.”
Could you discuss the lyrical themes or messages conveyed in "The Girl Next Door?"
The main theme of “The Girl Next Door” is feeling like you’re too much, too rebellious, or too messy for someone to love. I wrote this song for all the girls who feel like a second choice next to “the girl next door”, well it turns out that being “too much” is way more fun and interesting.
What do you like the best about "The Girl Next Door?"
I think my favourite part of the song is actually the outro, where I start repeating the lyrics to the song in a yell. I think it perfectly captures the attitude and the personality of the song very well; it’s a messy, honest, and bold song that’s meant to be screamed at the top of your lungs with your head out the window of a moving car.
How did you first become interested in music, and when did you start playing your instrument or singing?
Even though I didn’t know it, I think I’ve always been interested in music. I grew up in a very musically inclined family, we loved to sing, play instruments, and dance. I was constantly listening to my mom’s pop music in the car and my dad’s old rock music he liked to play for me on his guitar. Though I didn’t know it for a while, I think that’s really what sparked my interest in pop rock. I started taking vocal lessons and joined show choir when I was about 7 or 8 years old, and a few years later I learned to play the guitar and started writing my own songs.
I always knew I wanted to be some kind of writer because I felt that I had a talent for manipulating words and I used to write a lot of short stories and articles that people seemed to enjoy. But when I really started getting into music, I realized that my passion and my talent was songwriting, and I think I really took it and ran with it.
Who are some of your biggest musical influences, and how have they impacted your own sound?
My biggest influences are Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, and Gracie Abrams. I think they all impact my music in different ways. For example, I really enjoy storytelling in my songs, much like Taylor Swift, and I think her clever lines and catchy melodies definitely make their way into my songs as well. I also like the way Olivia Rodrigo is very relatable and in touch with her emotions, I try to have that for my songs as well because I think that writing from your heart makes a song very authentic and can give them a very unique perspective. “The Girl Next Door” also has a bit of a Gracie Abrams ring to it because of the tone I have throughout the song and the feeling it evokes from the listeners, it’s really the kind of song you want to scream from a rooftop, much like a lot of the song’s on Gracie’s album “The Secret of Us”. And though I take inspiration from these artists in many different ways, I’m very set on establishing my own sound and style beside them, and I think I’ve been able to do that quite well with my last couple singles.
