Kana jira tsawon lokaci don waƙar pop mai ban sha'awa game da yin fim, sai biyu su zo tare. Bayan waƙar Charli XCX ta "Camera," sai waƙar Sofie Royer ta "Actress" ta zo, tare da kalmomin da suka ambaci rotoscoping, call sheets, screenplays, establishing shots, cinéma vérité, da ƙari. "Lokacin da ƙura ta lafa a kan zuciyarka / Ina so in yi audition don babban rawar," tana cewa a kan bugun disco mai ƙarfi, tana tara misalai don lallashin wani mai son fim da wayo. "Mise-en-scène na ba shi da aibi, ba ka sani ba an ƙaunace ni sosai / Zan rinjaye ka a 35mm 4K-restored."
Waƙa ce mai kaifi da wasa daga mawaƙiya, marubuciya, mai kunna kayan kida da yawa—kuma, kamar yadda ya faru, mai son yin acting—wadda wayonta da ɗanɗanonta ke haskakawa a cikin ɗayan mafi kyawun kundin waƙoƙin shekara, mai zuwa Before/After. Waƙar ta ta farko, "Cowboy Mouth," ta mayar da wasan kwaikwayo na Sam Shepard zuwa waƙa; wata waƙa tana juya kalmar "sesquicentennial" zuwa waƙar funk-pop mai jan hankali. Kiɗan ta na duniya ne don ya haɗa Italo disco da new wave da garage rock, kuma a cikin kundin ta, tana jawo manyan mutane na al'adu, daga Andrei Tarkovsky zuwa Kenneth Anger, Luigi Mangione zuwa Ivy Wolk, tana daidaita saninta da wayon barkwanci.
"Wataƙila na shafe shekaru da yawa a kan JSTOR, amma ina son kyakkyawan tunani, ko?" tana cewa, bayan ta yi karatun falsafa, ilimin halin ɗan adam, da Ingilishi don digirin koyarwa. "Kula da nassoshi ɗaya daga cikin mafi kyawun abubuwan da za ka iya yi: shi ne ƙaramin maɓalli zuwa wani ilimi."
A cikin wani kiran bidiyo mai zurfin tunani daga gidanta a Vienna, inda take shan sigari masu kyau a gaban hotuna da kayan daki masu daɗi, Royer tana yi mani tambayoyi da yawa kamar yadda nake yi mata. Bayan rayuwa mai yawan ƙaura, yanzu ta zauna lafiya a birnin.
Yanzu tana da shekara 35, an haife ta a Amurka ga mahaifiyar Austriya da mahaifin Iran, dukansu ma'aikatan IT ne a California. Ta yi shekarun sakandare a Vienna kuma ta halarci makarantar kiɗa saboda ƙwarewarta a kan violin. Wannan ya bar ta da tunanin kiɗa wanda "ya dogara sosai a kan classical." Ta ce ba za ta kira kanta mawaƙiya-marubuciya ba. "Ina wahala har ma da kiran kaina mawaƙiya!" Amma, ta ƙara da cewa, "idan kana yin violin solos a matsayin yaro, dole ne ka so ka kasance a kan dandali. Don haka ba ni da yawan tsoron dandali—duk da cewa ban iya waƙa sosai ba lokacin da na fitar da kundi na na farko, na dai ce, komai, kamar karaoke ne da waƙoƙina."
A shekara 19, tun kafin ta fara rubuta waƙoƙi, Royer ta koma duniya ta zuwa Los Angeles don yin aiki a kamfanin rikodin na Stones Throw. Shin ta sake jin cewa Ba-Amurke ce? "Wannan tambaya ce mai wuya. Idan ka fito daga gaurayen asali, sannan ka girma a ƙasa ta uku, ba ka taɓa kasancewa cikin wuri ɗaya ba. Ni koyaushe 'wani ɓangare' ce, ko?"
Ta kuma san yadda za a iya tattara gaurayen asali irin nata don sayarwa. Ta ambaci wata waƙar izgili da ta yaba daga Charli XCX—"Asalina zai iya ba ni USP"—kuma ta nuna rashin jin daɗi game da ra'ayin daren DJ na mata kawai. "Ina tsammanin kana son zama mawaƙi ba tare da la'akari da jinsi da asali ba. Na san ba haka ba ne gaba ɗaya, amma ina son wasu fasaha su kasance, aƙalla a ɗan ƙaramin yanayi, tsarin da ba na siyasa ba. Ina son surreal; ina son abubuwan da suka wuce abin da ake iya tunani."
Bayan LA, ta sake ƙaura zuwa London, inda ta kasance ɗaya daga cikin ma'aikatan farko a Boiler Room, wanda tun daga lokacin ya zama ɗaya daga cikin manyan kamfanonin kiɗa na duniya saboda livestreams na DJ sets tare da haɗin gwiwar brand. Boiler Room daga ƙarshe ya karɓi babban jarin kuɗi, kuma da yawa a cikin underground suna ganin ya sayar da kansa. "Babu buƙatar haɓaka haka," tana cewa. Tana cewa, "Abin takaici ne domin yana sa ka yi tunani: duk wani abu na countercultural yana da ƙaddara, ko ba haka ba?"
Yayin da take aiki a can, an gano mahaifiyar Royer tana da ciwon daji. Tun da ita kaɗai ce ɗa, Royer ta bar aikinta kuma ta koma Vienna don kula da ita kuma ta fara karatunta (da kuma wani a fannin zane, wanda ba ta gama ba). Tare da magani da gwamnati ke bayarwa, rubuta waƙoƙi ya zama hanyar da ta bi don jimrewa. "Ina yawan yin karaoke a lokacin a ginin ƙasa na jami'ar fasaha, sai abu ya bi ɗayan. Hanya ce ta gaske don tserewa. Lokacin da kwakwalwata ke tafiya da sauri, lokacin da kowace hankali ta shagala, shine lokacin da nake kunna wani abu kuma ina waƙa."
Kundin ta na farko, Cult Survivor, ya fito a 2020, amma yin shi a raye "ya kasance kamar sake buɗe tsohon rauni," don haka ta fara faɗaɗa rubuce-rubucenta. Ta yi ado kamar hali na pierrot don Harlequin na 2022, "wani hali na daban don taimaka mini in shawo kan tsoron a gan ni a matsayin mawaƙiya a kan dandali, watakila," kuma ta kafa Young-Girl Forever na 2024 a kan wani rubutun falsafar Faransanci game da sha'awar al'ada ga matasa mata. "Kyakkyawan shekaru shine ka ƙara rage damuwa game da su. Ba za ka iya biya ni don komawa shekarun 20 na ba." Ta sake tunani. "Ina nufi, za ka iya biya ni, domin ni mai aikin kai ne, don haka ina son kuɗi."
Ana girmama ta sosai daga takwarorinta, tare da Lana Del Rey, Air, da LCD Soundsystem duk suna da ita a yawon shakatawa, amma ba ta jagorantar wuraren wasa iri ɗaya ba. Ta magance wannan ƙarancin nasarar kuɗi da shahara da barkwanci a sabon kundin. "Koyaushe zaɓaɓɓe, ba mai nasara ba / Yawan ci gaba da wannan yana rage ikon siyan abincin dare," tana waƙa a Sold Out the Jazz Club, ɗaya daga cikin nassoshi da yawa a cikin kundin game da yadda Royer take, kamar yadda waƙar ta ke cewa, "too pop for the art world, too indie-darling for the mainstream."
"Ƙananan sana'o'i ne ake auna su da ƙididdiga kamar masu fasaha," tana cewa, "musamman kiɗa, kuma waɗannan ƙididdiga suna a fili"—kamar masu sauraron Spotify da tikiti da aka sayar. "Kuma ba wannan kawai ba, sai a yi maka tambayoyi: 'Ina kake ganin kanka a cikin shekaru biyar? Menene nasara ke nufi a gare ka?' Wannan shine abin da nake so in saki game da waɗannan waƙoƙin."
Ta kuma gama da magani, tana waƙa "Na shafe shekaru biyar a kan wannan kujera, kuma ba zan sake komawa ba" a wata sabuwar waƙa, C'est la D. "A gaskiya na yi magani fiye da shekaru biyar, amma ya fi kyau a ce biyar maimakon bakwai," tana cewa da rashin jin daɗi.
Ta ce da farko tana buƙatar magani, amma lokacin da ta kai iyakar sa'o'in da gwamnatin Austriya ke bayarwa, likitanta ya ce za ta iya ci gaba, amma bai ga tana buƙatar hakan ba. Ta yarda da shi: "Mu a matsayin mutane muna da ƙarfin juriya, amma akwai ƙimar kuɗi da yawa a kasuwar ilimin halin ɗan adam a yau. A cikin wasu al'adu da yawa, waɗanda watakila ba su da zamantakewa kamar wadda nake ciki yanzu, akwai ƙarin darajar a bar mutum cikin rashin farin ciki da dogaro da magani har ƙarshen rayuwarsa."
Yanzu mawaƙiya ce ta cikakken lokaci ("yawancin aikin saƙon imel ne"), tana kuma shiga acting bayan ta fito a cikin sake yin Emmanuelle na 2024, tana wasa mawaƙiyar mashaya (ko da yake wani yanayi tare da Naomi Watts, wadda "ta kasance abin farin ciki," bai shiga cikin ƙarshen fim ɗin ba). Ta kasance tana yin fina-finai biyu tare da daraktan Austriya Jasmin Baumgartner, tsohuwar ɗalibar Michael Haneke: Too Hot to Die, wani wasan ban dariya game da wasan kwaikwayon soyayya na gaskiya, da kuma babban fim ɗin ban dariya Sentimental Fail Club. "Ba na nan don kaina ba; ba ni da buƙatu ko fata lokacin da nake acting," tana cewa game da sha'awarsa. "Kai ne kawai goga, kuma fim ɗin shine zane. Kai ɗaya ne daga cikin abubuwa a cikin hangen nesa na wani."
Duk da ma'anoni da nassoshi masu yawa a cikin sana'arta daban-daban, tana kuma ƙware a waƙar soyayya mai sauƙi, kamar "Opium," inda take kwatanta jin ta game da saurayinta da shan miyagun ƙwayoyi: "Shekaru ɗari ba komai ba ne da shi, ina son ƙari," tana waƙa. Ko da a nan, akwai ɗan zurfin fahimtar tarihin fasaha. "Wannan ta ji kamar waƙa ce kai tsaye, mai gaskiya," tana cewa. "Kuma, haka nan, tsarin dadaist. Don haka ta shiga." Before/After za a fitar da shi ta hanyar Stones Throw a ranar 4 ga Satumba.
