WHEN Sophia Berlyn arrived at the University of Newcastle fresh-faced from her hometown of Tamworth, music wasn't a top priority.
Music had always been a passion at school and she'd played the odd gig, including a three-hour Tamworth pub covers set without a PA where the audience called out for then teenager to "sing louder".
But upon moving to Newcastle to study environmental science, Berlyn familiarised herself with the local music scene and suddenly found herself inspired.
"I started singing lessons at the age of five and I always had it as something I loved, but I didn't think it was something I could actually end up doing something with," Berlyn said.
"I just decided to start giving it a crack in my second year of uni and then it became more achievable than I thought it could be."
The kicker was finding her band and performing their first gig in late 2019.
Currently the line-up features Mitchell Cordingley (lead guitar), Connor Ritchie (drums) and John Wallace (bass),
"From there it was a feeling of, 'this is sick, this is what I wanna do'. It felt like I can actually do this," she said.
Fast forward to last November and Berlyn shared the Maitland Gaol stage at the Bitter & Twisted Boutique Beer Festival with acclaimed Sydney indie-rock band Middle Kids.
The five indie-pop singles Berlyn has released since 2020 have also found a receptive audience and Triple J support.
The 2021 single Easy To Love has racked up 167,000 streams on Spotify.
On Friday Berlyn will release her sixth single, Falling, which provides an atmospheric taste of where her songwriting is headed.
The track was produced by Jack Nigro at The Grove Studios on the Central Coast.
"I recorded this song two years ago, so even since then it's moved to a slower sound," she said.
"Falling still climbs to quite a big chorus, but definitely I wanted to add more atmospherics and I was thinking about the musicality of it more."
Falling also comes complete with a new music video filmed by her cousin Henry Smith and features a dance routine from another cousin, Heather Gurner.
Berlyn will launch Falling at the Adamstown Bowling Club on August 4.
