Interviews (258)

• August 31, 2026
• Colleen Johnson
• 10
• 0

(photo credit: Alice Baxley)

As August comes to a close today, fall is just around the corner, and it’s already heating up this week. There is nothing I love more than a club show, and lucky for you and me, the dreamy pop-playing artist Solya will be in town this Wednesday. Still very fresh off her debut album, Queen of Texas, her return to the area has been long-awaited. She was last in the area in 2024, and especially considering this show in Somerville at the Crystal Ballroom was originally scheduled to happen back in June when her tour got delayed at the last minute, it’s been a long time coming.   In a sea of girlies taking over the airwaves, you’ll want to be able to say that you were at Solya’s first solo headline run, and I  hope to see you there! Limited tickets are still available here, with the music kicking off at eight pm that night, with opening act Tele Novella. Crystal Ballroom is one of the relatively newer venues in the area, and it just so happens to be one of my personal favorite listening rooms!

Before the tour was originally supposed to happen, I caught up with Solya to discuss the album, her tour essentials, her return to Europe, and much more! You can find that chat below, and I hope to see you Wednesday for a sure-to-be dreamy night and playthrough of a lot of tunes off her debut album!

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New England Sounds: This is to preview your Somerville show. I know you’ve been here in Cambridge once before. How are these final preparations going? How are the emotions going, considering you’re about to start your first-ever solo US headline run? 

Solya: Oh, I’m excited! I’m excited; I have rehearsals in about a week. And then I head to Nashville for the first show. 

NES: And I know you did a co-headlining tour in 2024, but maybe the three things you’ve realized you have to have with you while touring? Like three essentials that you have to tuck in that suitcase. 

Solya: Okay, Throat Coat tea. My flat iron and a lot of hairspray. 

NES: Hairspray, it’s crucial. 

Solya: Yeah, for my fate. 

NES: And then I know from looking at another interview, you’ve kept Queen of Texas pretty close. You weren’t playing songs from the album at those first few dates in Texas. You kind of kept it close to your heart. When did you really start working on that full-length record? I know you’ve been releasing music since 2023, but when did you really kind of sit down and start working on this album? 

Solya: I started working on this record, Queen of Texas, when I was eighteen. And then I recorded it pretty much right after I turned nineteen. Then I recently just turned twenty. So it had been in the back of my mind. I knew I wanted to make my debut record called Queen of Texas, because that has been my thing, pretty much ever since I started. Since, like, 2024, I’ve been the queen of Texas, so I knew I had to name my debut Queen of Texas. 

NES: Then you started releasing music in 2023, but this post-COVID era, it’s been so many female artists, they/them identifying artists that have really been dominating. Maybe who were some people that you were inspired by when you first started releasing music? 

Solya: I was really inspired by The Flaming Lips. I was really early on inspired by, like, Ozzy, Depeche Mode. Just a lot of old stuff for the most part. 

NES: That’s great. Obviously, you’re still pretty young, but when did you start to kind of sit down and realize that this was something you really wanted to do? Like actively pursue. 

Solya: Oh well, I’ve always known. I’ve always known that this was what I was going to do. When I was little, I always thought that I was either going to be a musician or a puppeteer. And obviously I’m not a puppeteer (laughs), so I’ve always known it needed to be music. It’s really been the only thing I’ve ever really truly been good at my whole life. And it’s really been the only thing I’ve ever been interested in. 

NES: And, for this new album, are you still doing everything kind of by yourself, in your room, or have you moved to a studio setting? 

Solya: Well, I recorded Queen of Texas in a studio. I still write everything in my room. 

NES: How is it to kind of take on that writing process by yourself, and not really have exterior forces? How is it to stay true to yourself? 

Solya: Well, I’ve never written with anybody else. It’s always just been independently, so I really wouldn’t know what it would be like any other way. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I feel like I would be kind of uncomfortable, actually sitting down and writing a song with somebody else. Because to me, that’s such a personal thing, such a personal process. I’d rather be alone during that process. 

NES: And I know you’ve already gone to Europe, you’ve already done the US. Are there any places that you’re kind of looking forward to on this run? Or, like, in Europe in general, going  to Paris. 

Solya: I’m looking forward to going to Paris; I think that will be really amazing. I want to eat croissants. Last time I went to Europe, I just went to the UK. It was really fun. I went with Bowie, and then I went with my record label person, Brie. And that was really fun, and we were in a van, which was nice. But this time, we’re going to more places. So I think that will be exciting. 

NES: I think the US/Canada tour is like 28 shows or something like that, so that will be a good amount of touring. Then speaking of it, these are your headlining shows. The album is so new, I’m sure you don’t want to share too much. But maybe a little bit of the plan for these sets that you’re curating. Is it going to be mostly the album? 

Solya: Oh, it will mostly be the album. Then a few of my older songs, the older songs that I feel like playing. I’ve grown tired of a lot of the older songs. People were upset that I didn’t play some of their favorite songs, but I don’t really feel like playing them, so I just didn’t (laughs). I’m just focusing on the record, and it will be with the full band. Danny on the drums, and Jason on bass, and so that’s really exciting. Because I’ve never done a tour with a full band before, besides these shows that I’ve done in Texas, so that will be really cool. 

NES: And how did that band come together? Was it just people you know from there, or people from California? 

Solya: Danny’s my producer, and he produced Queen of Texas. And then Jason played bass on Queen of Texas and the slide guitar, so we’re just all going on tour together. Which is really fun, because we all made the record together. So we’re getting to take it out on the road, which is really awesome. 

NES: I wanted to ask, those influences are pretty wild, old school, which are great. How did you first get into that music? Was it just like music was always around the house? 

Solya: Oh yeah, I grew up listening to what my parents played, which was a lot of old music. It’s just a very eclectic taste in music because they would always be playing something on the record player. 

NES: Then again, the album is still so new; you’re about to go on this tour, you’re about to go to Europe. You definitely have a busy next few months. It may seem cheesy, but maybe hopes or kind of goals for you as you get to bring this debut album kind of to life this year? 

Solya: I think that there is a difference between people connecting with the record through streaming services and seeing it in real life. I think it gives you a deeper connection to it. For those who have already connected to it, I hope that they become even more connected to it by seeing us perform it.

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