Viennese singer/songwriter Sofie Royer draws from a disparate well of cabaret, electronica, 1980s soft rock, and opera to create her peculiar brand of art-pop. A classically trained violinist and violist, she became heavily involved in Los Angeles' underground DJ culture, launching the Boiler Room's West Coast outpost and serving as an A&R rep for eclectic indie label Stones Throw Records. After moving back to Austria, she recorded her solo debut, 2020's Cult Survivor, which was followed in 2022 by the even more ambitious Harlequin LP.

Born in California to Iranian and Austrian parents, Royer's formative years were spent studying violin and viola at Vienna's famed Konservatorium. Later, while living in Los Angeles, she became an intern with experimental label Stones Throw Records. As her role with the label grew to include digital manager and A&R rep, she also began a concurrent career as a DJ, hosting the first West Coast broadcast of London's Boiler Room, and playing DJ sets with artists like J Rocc, Dam-Funk, and Stones Throw founder Peanut Butter Wolf. Her influential 2016 mixtape, Sofie's SOS Tape, focused on the West Coast's vibrant underground hip-hop scene.

Royer eventually headed to New York, London, and finally back to Vienna, where she continued DJ'ing, studied painting, and began forging a career as an experimental pop artist. Her solo debut, Cult Survivor, was released by Stones Throw in 2020 and introduced a unique sound that fused vintage pop singer/songwriter melodies with an amalgam of classically adjacent styles and moody synth pop textures. Her follow-up, 2022's Harlequin, took this even further, adding a theatrical flair that tossed elements of cabaret and opera into the mix. ~ Timothy Monger