Soia

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BIOGRAPHY

Soia’s music is diverse. You can hear jazz samples and world music sounds, sophisticated hiphop beats, deep bass, experimental electronics, broad and enveloping lounge sounds, elements of funk and a whole lot of soul. Soia aka Sophia Hagen, who was born in Taiwan and lives in Vienna, and her producer Mez, a jazz pianist with Israeli roots, have developed a sound that goes well beyond the boundaries of standard pop. One that unites diverse influences and expresses them in a detailed but not easily categorised form. The result is a very artistically embellished whole.

The skill this duo possess that sets them apart from others is their ability to combine diverse elements into an unmistakably individual musical language. The two musicians first collaborated for their 2011 single “Obtaining”. They released their Neo Soul oriented album ‘Mood swings‘ on the Philadelphia based label Record Breakin‘. The sophomore album H.I.O.P. (an abbreviation of “Hidden in Obvious Places”) was more oriented towards world music samples and jazzy composition, and was released in October 2016, again on Record Breakin’. Additionally, an exclusive release with two bouncy bonus tracks was released in Japan and Taiwan by ‘Sweet Soul Records‘. Soia and Mez are supported by the Austrian Foreign Ministry’s music programme NASOM for 2018/2019. Additionally, Soia has been cooperating with other producers like Moo Latte from Copenhagen and the two Brooklyn based musicians P.U.D.G.E. and Bae Bro for the “Papaya sessions”.

After performing at jazz festivals throughout Europe, showcasing at SXSW, Waves Vienna and Sonic Visions as well as touring in South Africa, Soia released her third album “Where Magnolia Grows” (Beat Art Department/Compost Records) in spring 2019. German and international media started to pay attention and the single “Run With Wolves” got featured on a Spotify playlist with half a million listeners.

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