WOMAD 2026: Sorvina Interview

GK  

Well, could you please introduce yourself first?

Sorvina  

Hello, my name is Sorvina. I am an independent artist, originally from New York, now based in Berlin. My music lies somewhere at the intersection of rap and hip-hop, but with the live band. So also a lot of jazz, gospel, soul.

GK  

Awesome. Have you been to a festival in the UK before?

Sorvina  

Yes. Last year we went to a couple different festivals, and in general, I love UK festival culture. It's always super enthusiastic and just a lot of fun. So happy to be back.

GK  

Yeah, awesome. So obviously, WOMAD is a festival about world music and culture. How important do you think it is to have a platform for that? To introduce people to music they haven't heard before from all around the world?

Sorvina  

Yeah, I mean music is as multifaceted and diverse as we are people, and when we consider the infinite combinations and points of reference on the spectrum, which is humanity... It is so special when there are places or epicenters where you can just grab a little taste of that spectrum in all of its different points. It's cool to be here and to be a part of that spectrum.

GK  

Yeah, well, thank you for coming here. So, what I was going to ask next - you're born in New York, is that right? And then you're Berlin based. I was wondering how those two locations have shaped your identity, and how that trickles into your music as well?

Sorvina  

For sure. I mean, I am from suburban New York, which is an experience that shaped who I am as a person a lot. But I would say, as an artist, and when I think about my journey in my career, I think being from a place that's so close to New York, which is of course this city where people really yearn and hustle towards their passions and the things that really light them on fire. I feel like that is a spirit that I really carry from within me, and that really keeps me ambitious and motivated in what I am trying to do with my music and with my shows. Yeah, and yet it wasn't until I really lived in Berlin that I actually found the infrastructure, the people, to bring that dream to fruition. So it's as if New York planted that seed of audacity, and then Berlin was a place where the audacity could bloom, and I'm super grateful for both cities for how they have shaped me.

GK  

Yeah, that's cool. That's cool. I've got a couple slightly more abstract questions now. Running a magazine, I always come at things from quite a visual perspective, and I find it interesting to draw the parallels from visual art to music. The first of these questions is - could you describe your music or your sound in a singular color?

Sorvina  

Purple, like a lilac purple. That's how I see it.

GK  

I feel like purple's quite a mystical color, almost. I like that.

Sorvina  

Yeah, one of my favorite stories, which has been adapted for film and also for musical stage, is called "The Colour Purple". Have you ever heard of it? It's an amazing story, and it hits so close to home because it's basically about the experience of Black women in the U.S. in the segregated South, and I am from suburban New York, but my roots and my ties come from the Southern U.S. The story is called "The Colour Purple" because one of the main characters of the story basically describes that something about the colour purple is so miraculous, and to see the color purple without acknowledging its beauty is one of the greatest heartbreaks of the universe.  I've always loved the color purple, I love that story.

GK  

I love that. I'm gonna have to check that out. That sounds really interesting.

Sorvina  

Yeah, you would love it.

GK  

Yeah, awesome. And then the next one, along the same lines as that question, is there a film that you think your music would, or should, be the soundtrack to?

Sorvina  

Oh my goodness! I can say what I wish it would be. I don't know if it's really exactly the right fit, but do you know the movie Happy Feet?

GK  

Happy Feet? Yeah, yeah. Love that.

Sorvina  

One of my favorite movies of all time. If my music would soundtrack that film, I would be such a happy person.

GK  

Love that. That's a good answer. Now, circling back to you as an artist and the way you write music, how important is storytelling to you? Because I've read this is a key part of your art.

Sorvina  

Yeah, storytelling is everything and for me it really comes through this tradition within Black families, Black culture, especially Black Southern culture. Stories are so important to keeping truth and history alive. And I think it is also such an important component of creating bridging and understanding. So whether it's in my music itself or in the things that I say in between, conveying a story is very, very important for me, and kind of what the entire show is built around.

GK  

I love that. I think that's really important in any kind of art. I try to do the same with the magazine - I guess that's more about telling other people's stories, but storytelling is obviously a key part of it. I think it's good almost to eternalise stuff, because when it's in a piece of art, it lives longer. But yeah, final question. I like to ask a lot of people this because the magazine is called Bloom, and the name represents growth - helping artists grow. If you could go back and meet yourself when you were at the very start of your musical journey, is there any specific advice you'd give to yourself?

Sorvina  

I mean, it's funny because in a lot of ways, I still feel like I'm at the beginning. But if I had to think back to those very first days, the advice I would give myself is that trust, faith, and hope, are very necessary ingredients of the process. It keeps the experience fun. It keeps you grateful, and it keeps you connected to a bigger picture. Yeah, that's what I would tell myself.

GK  

Awesome. Well, that's that's a wrap then. Thank you so much for joining us.

Sorvina  

Thank you. What was your name again?

GK  

George.

Sorvina  

Thanks, George.

GK  

Thank you very much. Awesome!