Sophie Yau

Sophie Yau\Sofee Yow\,n.[F. Sofie, L. Sophy]

London based indie folk pop singer-songwriter. Ridiculously short-sighted and permanently big-haired, Sophie Yau is a kaleidoscope of talent, charm and blithe sagacity. Can be found staring longingly at a pair of over-priced shoes at any London shoe-shop. Tough like a 3 day old biscuit gone stale in the sun; kind like the young man that gives you his seat on the tube, Sophie sings about French monasteries and carbon footprints. She also follows laineygossip.com obsessively.

Sophie was born in Camden, London England and grew up in East Anglia, Kent and Wales. She spent a brief time as a toddler in Hong Kong, birthplace of her parents. Daughter to a Chinese take away proprietor, she grew up on a mix of cantopop & eighties pop. She was also partial to Disney classics and a few Show tunes. Sophie showcased her first composition on the recorder one morning during school assembly when she was 7 years old, with her head-teacher accompanying on piano. Later on she was introduced to Christianpop and hymns both traditional and modern.

One afternoon in her father’s shop, aged 17, she picked up a baby classical guitar and punched out a basic rhythm. She practiced every day after that until she could play well enough to write her own songs. She wrote her first songs while studying at university, playing her first gigs at dinner parties with fellow students and open mic nights at the student union. During this time, she listened to a whole bunch of music with a tendency towards folk Americana.

After graduation, she moved back to London to live the life of the Modern Arts Graduate i.e. dis-illusioned, directionless and hopelessly in debt. She quickly registered herself with a job agency and considered every possible career path, from computer programming to medicine. But, she kept coming back to the music and soon found herself in pubs and coffee houses playing her songs. She toured the open mic circuit, scoring gigs at The 12 Bar Club, The Blues Bar, Battlefest and Buddhafields music festivals. She went onto support various fund-raisers for Friends of the Earth and local Amnesty Groups. A fan of House Gigs, Sophie can frequently be found gigging in someone’s front room, or back garden.

Her debut in radio was on Zoe Baxter’s Lucky Cat show for Resonance FM, later receiving airplay on BBC Radio 6 and UCL’s Rare FM. She debuted at City Showcase in Spring 2009. She is currently working on her EP debut ‘Some Great Union in the Sky” [release date: July, 2010].

Sophie is committed to social justice and frequently uses her live shows as a platform to promote the work of organizations such as Burma Campaign UK.

TRIVIA
Sophie was born Sylvia Yee Ting Yau.
She graduated from the University of Bristol receiving a BA Hons in Theology & Religious Studies.
If she was a boy, she would want to sing like Conor Oberst from Bright Eyes. And maybe Bon Iver.
If she could have any super power she would want a telekinesis/telepathy combo, with turbo flight.
She thinks that Battle Star Galactica Reimagined was the greatest show on television
Sophie supports Burma Campaign UK and Crisis London.