Una alma hermosa.
Una alma amable.
Un alma llena de fuego…
One of the scariest things in life is to take a leap of faith. There are times where it feels as though we may never get that second chance. As though we may never get that next opportunity… And then, one day, we take that leap and find ourselves exactly where we want to be, pursuing and welcoming everything we ever wanted (with some hard work of course). After trial and error, the talented Mexican singer, Sofía Reyes, finally took her leap which not only began her solo career but also, saved her.
You see, when Sofía was about fifteen years old, she auditioned to be part of a girl band of five where she left her town and found herself rehearsing twelve hours a day. “It was a very intense experience,” she admitted. “It was the opportunity I had at that time to sing but I wasn’t hapxpy, did not like the music; the people and the environment…not so good.” Having left her life, her friends, and her boyfriend, Sofía realized after this experience just how depressed she was. Luckily, it was during that time that she met her managers, Paloma Hecht and Charlie Guerrero, who would prove to be her guardian angels…
After giving almost two years of herself to the girl band and losing some of her fire within, Sofía couldn’t keep doing it anymore. On the phone, one day, her mom told her to just get up, leave, and figure the rest out after…Which is what she did. Back home and feeling as though she had missed her one shot, Charlie and Paloma put Los Angeles on the table. Hesitant at first, it was “thanks to my parents pushing me to go to L.A. , that I did, despite not believing in anything at that time,” opened up the artist. “It took years and little by little things were moving around.” Looking back at that moment, what also pushed her to move to Los Angeles was that feeling in her gut, and thank god she did! “It’s beautiful how things start moving and I swear, it’s always for the best!” she exclaimed. Sometimes it just takes a little faith, a little motivation, and a little push to finding your way out of the darkness.
So there she was, on her true path of light as an independent artist until she signed with Warner Music and released “Muévelo.” This was a pivotal moment in her life as she felt like her career was truly taking off; especially when she was invited to perform at a music festival in Spain with about 35,000 music lovers in the crowd. With dreamy eyes and a nostalgic tone, she said, “Everyone knew the song from the beginning to the end and that was crazy for me. I remember I couldn’t stop crying!” The universe was already working its magic!
After all, Sofía’s love for music runs deep in her heart and soul. “Since I was very little, I really wanted to be on stage,” she explained looking back on her childhood. “I would be that person going to stores with my mom and performing, dressing up, and stuff like that. I always told my mom that I wanted to be a singer and that the most important things to me in life were to eat and to sing.” Surrounded by an extremely supportive family, there was nothing stopping her from fulfilling her dreams.
While taking a trip down memory lane, Sofía had stars in her eyes remembering different musical moments that left an impact on her. The first one being sitting next to her grandmother as she would play the piano for hours which sparked the artist’s love for playing as well. Moving on was the presence her father had and the hobby he took up after work… “He built a studio in my house and it was his escape place. After work he would go there and just play the bass, write, and sing,” she shared. “He’s amazing and loves writing songs. I grew up looking at him playing for hours and then we made an album together!” And yes, she was twelve years old.
Whenever the young Sofía invited her friends over, there was no playing dolls or dress up after school. After being taught how to use Garageband, Sofía would love to create, produce, and performs songs with her close ones! Something she can still relate to, especially now that she is a renowned artist who collaborates with other ones on different projects. Just this year, “Dancing on Dangerous” with Imanbek and Sean Paul as well as “Casualidad” with Pedro Capo. “I love how a song has its own world,” shared Sofía as we discussed what it is like collaborating with other artists. “And how someone else with a different story, different everything, comes with an idea and creates something with that song and builds something completely different.” She takes in everything they have to offer and discovers new things about herself and the world each time.
Expression, love, passion, courage, care… These are just a few words that come to mind when thinking of Sofía Reyes. Through her music and personality, she merges different worlds, different sounds, and different people. Born in Mexico and living in Los Angeles for the last nine years, the artist stays true to her heritage all the while opening herself up to other cultures. “Musically speaking, I love the fact that I have been able to do songs in English and some others in Spanish. For me, music has no limits,” she said proudly. “I love the world.”
Currently feeling a strong wave of creativity, we can expect many new song/album releases from Sofía. Inspired in a whole new way, her upcoming songs will represent “a side of me that I want to show that is more minimal, vulnerable,” she said candidly. “I am excited and ready to share it!” Enamored by the rise of Latin songs, artists, and collaborations in the music world, Sofía Reyes reminds us to keep evolving, keep believing, keep working, and always stay true to ourselves!
Grandes Besos, Sofía!
And a special thanks to the handsome Austin Bieber who participated in the shoot! Also known as “Kaffeene,” Pronounced, ”Caffeine,” he is a music producer who merges multiple genres of electronic dance music together. Inspired by the culture of dance music, Kaffeene finds ways to merge together everything from house music, to techno, to trap, and dubstep often in one song. Ultimately the mission of Kaffeene as a producer is to bring people from different backgrounds together through dance music.
TEAM CREDITS
@BELLOmag
Talent SOFIA REYES @sofiareyes
Model AUSTIN BIEBER @kaffeene_music
Photography STEVEN GOMILLION @stevengomillion
Photo Team @marvincortes1 x @n_bartels21 x @chancedogle
Digital Tech TYLER CHICK @realtylerchick
Art Direction BLAINE CATHEY @theblainecat
Styling PALOMA HECHT @palomahecht
Styling Assistant ESTELLA APORONGAO @estella.png
Hair SARA TINTARI @saratintari
Makeup T’AI RISING-MOORE @tai.rising
Interview ALEXANDRA BONNET @alexbonnetwrites
Production @devon_speckman x @BELLOmediagroup x @maisonpriveepr_la x @alexbonnetwrites x @m.i.t.h.media