Q&A: Triumphantly Taking on ‘The Space Between’ With Sophie Holohan

Q&AMusic

Nov 3

☆ By Carson Huffer ☆

NAVIGATING THE PERIOD BETWEEN ADOLESCENCE AND ADULTHOOD — Sophie Holohan’s debut EP, The Space Between, finds flourishing growth in the midst of confusion and chaos.

The EP is the highly anticipated debut of the 20-year-old internet sensation, whose previous singles “Codependent” and “butterfly effect - demo” exploded on TikTok. Holohan’s passionate lyricism finds six entirely new soundscapes on The Space Between, with each track moving between styles and energies to best encapsulate Holohan’s confusion in leaving behind youth and forging her own path forward. While stumbling through the all-too-relatable issues faced as a young adult, Holohan finds grace in the growing period, ultimately arriving at closing track “Fault Line” as she comes to terms with the changes she has endured and accepts not knowing the answers to all the questions she still has about her next steps.

Read on below to hear directly from Holohan about the earnest, heartfelt, and coherent riffs and revelations of The Space Between.

LUNA: Hey, Sophie! I am so incredibly excited about your new project The Space Between. What was the process of creating this EP for you?

HOLOHAN: Hi! Thank you so much! I started writing the EP a few weeks after my 19th birthday, when I first started taking trips down to LA for writing sessions in the summer of 2021. I had never really written with other people before, and the concept of creating a whole body of work felt like such a huge task so I was mostly focused on making individual songs. I wrote the first few songs on the EP during June and July of 2021 (“High Road,” “Real Person,” and “Megan’s Song”). I had no idea that these songs would end up on a body of work together — I was kind of just “musically dating” to find collaborators that I liked. I wrote “Olive Branch” on my own back at my mom’s house, and I wrote “Fault Line” and “Cognitive Dissonance” when I moved to LA in the fall. I probably wrote 40+ songs during the five month–long period between when I wrote the first and last songs for the EP, but I chose these six during a fateful drive from Los Angeles to San Jose (where I grew up) in February of 2022. I was sifting through all of my demos and realized that these six songs aligned and told a story that I wanted to share as a body of work. So I really didn’t know I was making an EP until it was written (even if the production wasn’t done!).

LUNA: The Space Between discusses the heavily relatable confusion and exploratory nature of the period of young adulthood. Do you think the EP has helped you find answers in this new era of your life as you leave adolescence?

HOLOHAN: This is such an awesome question. Definitely. I think every one of these songs has kind of helped me deal with or articulate the big questions I had going into adulthood. “Real Person” was one of the first songs I wrote for the project, and I wrote it when I was deciding whether or not to drop out of college and pursue music full-time. I was asking my cowriters that I was working with, David Arkwright and Justin Gammella, when adulthood would finally “click” and when decisions would become easy. And they pretty much told me that it never gets fully easier — the problems just kind of shift and you learn how to react to them. Now that it’s been over a year since I wrote that song, I can honestly say that some days I feel way more like a real person. A person that has good friends, a person that can order a latte at a coffee shop without anxiously sweating, a person that can advocate for what she wants. Other days, I am met with problems that I have no idea how to solve. And I think the beauty of this project is that it lets the listener know that these in-between times are okay!

LUNA: The six tracks that make up The Space Between explore a wide variety of sonic shifts and storylines. What inspired these shifts and explorations?

HOLOHAN: I wanted a project that summed up who I am, and I grew up with a bunch of different musical inspirations. I love Taylor Swift, Daniel Caesar, Matt Maeson, Brandi Carlile, Sam Cooke, and Adele, to name a few, and I didn’t want to narrow myself down to a singular “sound.” I love to experiment. I think in a lot of ways that was also my goal lyrically. The EP is called The Space Between because I wrote it while I was 19 (which in my mind is the space between adulthood and childhood), and also because each song highlights a “space between” two things. The EP tackles the space between action and inaction (“Cognitive Dissonance”), adulthood and childhood (“Real Person”), romantic and platonic love (“Megan’s Song”), resentment and forgiveness (“High Road”), and holding on and letting go (“Olive Branch”). “Fault Line” is kind of in a lane of its own, but I’ll talk about that later.

LUNA: Do you have any favorite lyrics from the EP?

HOLOHAN: I have a few (laughs). “So glad that you didn’t fall, I can’t catch you from beneath me” is a line in “High Road” that is so petty that I love. I’m so proud of “Olive Branch” in general, but one of my favorite lines from it is “Have I finally found it, the root of all my issues, or are you just the person I’ve tied ’em all on to” because I feel like that is definitely an issue that I have.

LUNA: Is it hard being so vulnerable lyrically?

HOLOHAN: While writing it, no. While releasing it, yes. When I’m writing a song, it often feels like things are just being channeled. The words flow out of me and so does the honesty, I think. When it morphs into something that might come out, sometimes I start to panic, especially if the song is clearly about someone in my life, but I’ve come to realize that it’s much more important to be honest and afraid than to censor myself.

LUNA: I particularly resonated with the closing track, “Fault Line,” which feels to me like finally finding some comfort and community in a world of unknowns. What was your thought process as you created this track?

HOLOHAN: I’m so glad — that means so much to me! “Fault Line” was actually the first song I wrote when I moved to LA to live full-time. I wrote it with one of my closest friends, Miki Ratsula, who produced the first song I put out, called “Codependent.” I actually brought in the phrase “the space between” for the prompt for the song and how I wanted to write something about being okay in the in-between places. Eventually, when I was arranging the tracks for the EP, I realized that this song felt like the end credits to a movie. It perfectly summarized the journey of the rest of the songs. I wanted it to feel super comforting to the listener, like everything was going to be okay on the other side of the “betweens.” That’s why Miki and I added a ton of background vocals, to kind of emulate a communal sing-along of “it’s going to be okay” at the end of the song.

LUNA: I also have to ask: Since you mention being a Gemini in “Fault Line,” do you find people actually shame you for being a Gemini sometimes? I am proudly a May 30th Gemini and I felt so seen the first time I heard “Tell me if I'm out here being selfish or just a Gemini.”

HOLOHAN: Oh my gosh, we’re almost birthday twins! My birthday is May 31st! I find a lot of people are scared of Geminis. We get a bad reputation for being “two-faced” when I think it’s actually that we’re just very malleable, very adaptable. I used to not like being a Gemini because of the reputation, but now I wear it as a badge of honor. I love being unpredictable and changing. I think it helps me see other people’s points of view in a really cool way.

LUNA: You have received major support online, including previous single “butterfly effect - demo” going viral on TikTok and garnering over 5 million streams to date. What does this community of support mean to you?

HOLOHAN: It’s absolutely insane. Never in a million years did I think my music would be able to reach this many people. I’ve been making music my entire life and I always did it for the love of it, but the fact that people actually enjoy and connect with the tunes I make is pretty mind-boggling. I don’t think it will ever feel normal. I am so grateful.

LUNA: If you had to assign a color to represent the energy of The Space Between, what would it be and why?

HOLOHAN: This is such a hard question. I feel like I have colors that I associate with each song, but I haven’t really thought of the color of the whole project. Maybe a nice light sky blue color. I think this EP makes me feel open and free — like an expansive sky!

LUNA: Now that you’re on the other side of releasing your first project, is there any advice you wish you had received when you were first getting started in making music?

HOLOHAN: Oh my gosh, I think the biggest thing is to trust your instincts. Sometimes there are songs that people don’t necessarily “get” at first. I’ve come to realize that if I believe in something with my whole heart, there will be other people that feel the same. When I first started working on “Olive Branch,” I brought it to a producer who basically told me that I needed to change the whole thing because it was too experimental and that I needed to learn to take rejection. That really hurt because that song felt like my baby, and those comments really made me doubt my instincts. I decided to produce it myself instead of giving up on the song, and I think it’s the song that I’m most proud of on the EP. If you believe in something, go for it. Don’t let one person’s opinion dictate your art! It’s unique to you, and that’s what’s so beautiful about it!

LUNA: What comes next for you?

HOLOHAN: I’m currently working on a ton of new music. I wrote the last song from this project a year ago, so I’ve had a lot of time to write new new stuff. Some of which might be coming out sooner rather than later!

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