Sophie Villy's Second Homeland, International Music Career, and Charitable Efforts

It has been a year since Georgian-Ukrainian musician Sophie Khutsishvili, better known by her stage name Sophie Villy, has been helping Ukrainian children living in Georgia to forget the traumas caused by the war. Along with the charity activities, she keeps up a successful career and delights international listeners with her new songs. How the first recognition came and what messages her new song has for the world, Sophie Villy tells The Diplomat:

My mother is Ukrainian, while my father is Georgian. Despite having grown up in Georgia, I would travel to Ukraine each year to visit my grandfather, with whom I would spend the summer. When Russia invaded Georgia in 2008, I was a student in Tbilisi. Due to the unstable situation back then, I moved to Ukraine to finish my degree in tourism. Meanwhile, I also began singing my own songs there. Hence, in a way, it was there that my musical career took off. I met Ukrainian musicians, and in 2009 we started a band together called “Backstage”. Although I had been writing songs since I was fourteen, it was with this band that I started sharing them with a wider audience.

What was your path as a musician until you received your first recognition?

When you are alone in a big city like Kyiv or New York, you start to think differently, become more focused, and more opportunities appear. I recall going to jam sessions in famous clubs in the early-stages and introducing my original songs to musicians. I opened one such session with my performance, and the famous Ukrainian musician DIEZEL introduced me to the audience. After that, I had invitations to different events; among them was Kvartal 95, a studio founded by Ukraine’s current president, Volodymyr Zelensky. Our band later began to split, and the musicians went different directions. Then I started thinking about going solo, recorded first album “Mother Fish” in 2011, which continued with invitations to Florida’s Fall Arts Festival and Austin’s SXSW. Having annual tours in the US, new stage experience, and systematic rotation at major radio stations like KEXP, KCRW, BBC2, it all influenced my career. But, until now, the most important thing for me has been to do what I love with all my heart, as well as to remain devoted to my incredible listeners, who have been following me for 11 years. This is so important to me.

Along with your music career, you have been working in education for the past couple of years. What does your activity involve in this regard?

Five years ago, I started SOULSCOPE, a free creative space in Tbilisi where kids are exploring music and other artistic mediums in an informal way. Most importantly, they learn more about themselves, as art is the most universal key to self-discovery. Children are given the freedom to experiment, try new things, and figure out what they really like and want to accomplish through a variety of activities (music production and recording sessions, direct usage of all kinds of musical instruments, etc.). In addition, SOULSCOPE has a therapeutic effect on children, which is why the children dubbed this space “Soul Food.” We discuss topics that kids are especially interested in, like bullying and many others. We talk about each topic while sitting in a circle, which gives the kids a chance to practice healthy ways to open and communicate with each other. Communication is lacking by today’s society, which causes issues and conflicts. When I expose kids to different artists and musical eras, I also talk about the period and how it fits into history. This is because I try to help them gain critical evaluation skills and form their own opinions. I believe, this is crucial for developing individuals who will eventually make decent citizens.

It’s been a year that you’ve been selflessly helping Ukrainian children affected by the war by joining SOULSCOPE. Tell us more about it.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, I felt like everything, including my music, had lost its point. I remember being unable to do anything else but sit down and cry. It last like this for ten days or so. Suddenly, I realized I had to do something to help the people affected. So, I made the decision to extend an invitation to SOULSCOPE to Ukrainian children who had to flee their homes due to the war. Natalie Voroniuk, an actress, and Mariya Moskalenko, a film producer, are two of my Tbilisi-based Ukrainian friends who have been involved in this from the beginning. Among other activities, they started making creative slides and holding acting workshops for kids. We took in children from Bucha, Mariupol, and other cities in Ukraine that Russia had occupied. The kids were stressed out and anxious. Some did not say anything at all. We slowly started talking to children in Ukrainian and did our best to make them forget the sound of gunshots or alarm sirens. By having therapeutic conversations with them and giving them creative tasks to do, they slowly felt less stressed, gained trust, and felt safe.

You just put out a new song called “Blackout” along with a music video that both address current events in Ukraine. Tell us about the creation of this work and the messages it conveys to both Ukrainian and global audiences.

The song Blackout was written in November, just as Russia delivered its first heavy blows and Ukraine experienced a complete blackout. I recall talking to my Ukrainian friends, some of whom have toddlers. During one of these conversations, a friend mentioned that they had been without heating and electricity for a week while caring for little children. The song tells the story of this exchange. After this conversation, I realized that we could survive any blackout with candles, lamps, and thermoses, but we would not return to the Soviet swamp. This song is both a manifesto and a prayer, and the ending shows hope that we will finally triumph over evil. The video conveys some important symbols too. The clip was shot in a Baptist church with lots of candles around. Each of them represents children and heroes who lost their lives in the war. Cinematographers Dito Dekanosidze and Giorgi Makkari Gogoladze worked on this project and it’s a big honor for me to have such talented friends.

And finally, what does having two homelands mean to you?

The love I feel for Georgia and Ukraine is like a code in my DNA. As a musician, I always talked about my two countries to introduce both audiences to their respective cultures. This is what I did on stage and through the media. I am glad that Georgians and Ukrainians have a special bond that I can feel all the time. The histories of these two countries also share a lot in common, as both countries still have a common enemy occupying their territories. Thus, it is essential for each citizen, including artists, to address the issue openly and express their anger and protest. I feel the worst thing an artist or society can do is to separate art and politics. Artists are citizens who are widely listened. So, I do not grasp how artists can continue to focus on their careers while disregarding wars and hatred in their own countries and throughout the world.