Sophie Auster (born July 6, 1987) is an American singer/songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of authors

Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (February 3, 1947 – April 30, 2024) was an American writer, novelist, memoirist, poet, and filmmaker. His notable works include '' The New York Trilogy'' (1987), '' Moon Palace'' (1989), '' The Music of Chance'' (1990), ' ...

and

Siri Hustvedt Siri Hustvedt (born February 19, 1955) is an American novelist and essayist. Hustvedt is the author of a book of poetry, seven novels, two books of essays, and several works of non-fiction. Her books include ''The Blindfold'' (1992), ''The Encha ...

Early life

Sophie Auster was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York City, the daughter of authors

and

.Denes, Melissa (February 3, 2006)
"The dark side of happiness"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. At the age of eight, Auster began studying music and classical voice. A year later, at the age of nine, she was cast in the

Agnieszka Holland Agnieszka Holland (; born 28 November 1948) is a Polish film and television director and screenwriter, best known for her cultural and political contributions to Polish cinema. She began her career as an assistant to directors Krzysztof Zanuss ...

film '' Washington Square'' starring

Jennifer Jason Leigh Jennifer Jason Leigh (born Jennifer Leigh Morrow; February 5, 1962) is an American actress. She began her career on television during the 1970s before making her film breakthrough in the teen film ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' (1982). She re ...

Albert Finney Albert Finney (9 May 1936 – 7 February 2019) was an English actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in the theatre before attaining fame for movie acting during the early 1960s, debuting with '' The Entertainer'' ( ...

Maggie Smith Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (28 December 1934 – 27 September 2024) was a British actress. Known for her wit in both comedic and dramatic roles, she had List of Maggie Smith performances, an extensive career on stage and screen for over seve ...

and

Ben Chaplin Benedict John Greenwood (born 31 July 1969),''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com better known as Ben Chaplin, is a British actor. He is best known for his roles in films, including '' Feast of Ju ...

. After her early professional experiences, Sophie began acting lessons at the

Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute (originally the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute) is an acting school founded in 1969 by the actor, director, and acting teacher Lee Strasberg. The Institute is located in Union Square on East 15th Str ...

. As a teenager, Auster performed jazz standards at local New York clubs and was a member of an off-Broadway troupe at

The Gene Frankel Theater ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

in downtown Manhattan.

Career

Auster was sixteen when she recorded her first record. The album was a collaboration between her and Brooklyn-based musicians

Michael Hearst Michael Marcus Hearst (born December 27, 1972) is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, writer, and producer. He is best known for his solo albums ''Songs For Ice Cream Trucks'', ''Songs For Unusual Creatures'', ''Songs For Fearful Flyers'', ''Songs ...

and Joshua Camp of the musical duo

One Ring Zero One Ring Zero is a modern music group led by Joshua Camp and Michael Hearst that melds many genres and sounds to create a unique type of music. Instruments Hearst plays the theremin and guitar, and Camp plays the accordion and piano. They both p ...

. Using her writer father, Paul Auster's, early translations of French Surrealist poets, along with two original lyrics written by Auster herself, the poetic lines of

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, c ...

, Paul Eluard,

Robert Desnos Robert Desnos (; 4 July 1900 – 8 June 1945) was a French poet who played a key role in the Surrealist movement. Early life Robert Desnos was born in Paris on 4 July 1900, the son of a licensed dealer in game and poultry at the '' Halles'' ma ...

Philippe Soupault Philippe Soupault (2 August 1897 – 12 March 1990) was a French writer and poet, novelist, critic, and political activist. He was active in Dadaism and later was instrumental in founding the Surrealist movement with André Breton. Soupault ini ...

and

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire (; ; born Kostrowicki; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist and art critic of Poland, Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the ...

became songs set to music by Hearst and Camp. The collaboration began as a side project Auster pursued after school and on weekends. It was never intended for wide public consumption, but when a family friend heard the album, she was so impressed that she offered to release it on the French label

Naïve Records Naïve Records is a French independent record label based in Paris, specializing in electronic music, pop music, jazz and classical music. Founding and expansion It was founded in 1998 by Patrick Zelnik, former CEO of Virgin France, Gilles Paire ...

. Her subsequent self-titled album is ''Sophie Auster''. In July 2006, Auster was on the cover of the Spanish issue of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine. In 2007, Auster began writing with writer/musician

Barry Reynolds Barry Reynolds (born 27 October 1949, in Bolton, Lancashire) is a British guitar player, songwriter, composer and producer, best known for his long-lasting collaboration with Marianne Faithfull. Reynolds first emerged with the band TTPS://www. ...

. The two have collaborated on many songs. After graduating from

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...

in 2010, Auster began recording again. Her self-produced E.P., ''Red Weather'', was released November 13, 2012, through Lost Colony Music. Auster's full-length LP, ''Dogs and Men'', was released in June 2015 via

Sony Red RED Music, stylized RED MUSIC, formerly RED Distribution, LLC (Relativity Entertainment Distribution) was a Sony-owned sales and marketing division that merged under The Orchard in 2017. RED previously handled releases for more than sixty i ...

. In 2016 Sophie was a grand prize recipient in The John Lennon Songwriting Contest for her song "Little Bird". In October 2017, Sophie won the

Cosmopolitan Magazine ''Cosmopolitan'' (stylized in all caps) is an American quarterly fashion and entertainment magazine for women, first published based in New York City in March 1886 as a family magazine; it was later transformed into a literary magazine and, sinc ...

singer of the year award in Spain. She appeared on the cover of ''

s, Spanish edition, in the March 2018 music issue. In 2016, Auster began work on her last full length album, ''Next Time'', with producer

Tore Johansson Tore Johansson (born 6 November 1959) is a Swedish record producer, composer and musician based in Malmö, Sweden. Biography In an interview with ''HitQuarters'', Johansson claimed that the main impetus for his becoming a music producer was the ...

. Introduced by fellow songwriter,

Nicole Atkins Nicole Atkins (born October 1, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter. Her influences include 1950s crooner music, 1960s psychedelia, soul music, and the Brill Building style of writing. Atkins has been compared to Roy Orbison and singers from t ...

, Sophie packed her bags and left to record her album with Johansson in Malmo, Sweden. Johansson and Auster, alongside musician and producer assistant,

Martin Gjerstadd Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * Mart ...

worked for months recording and mixing the album. After shopping the completed album around for over a year to different labels, Sophie was then signed to a recording and publishing contract with

BMG Music Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music co ...

worldwide, and ''Next Time'' was released in April 2019. Sophie toured the album extensively around Europe and the United States. She subsequently opened for

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

inductee

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. He became known as the frontman of the band Roxy Music and also launched a solo career. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established ...

in the summer of 2019. The lead single, "Mexico", from ''Next Time'' will be featured in the upcoming

John Turturro John Michael Turturro ( ; born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his varied roles in independent films, and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers and Spike Lee. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award a ...

film The Jesus Rolls. The film had its world premiere at The Rome Film Festival on October 16, 2019. It was scheduled to be released on February 28, 2020, by

Screen Media Films Screen Media Ventures, LLC was an American-Canadian distribution company founded in 2001 and owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment since 2017 alongside its subsidiary Popcornflix. In 2008, Screen Media selected The Creative Coalition ...

. The film stars

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actor. With a career spanning over five decades, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...

Bobby Cannavale Bobby Cannavale (; born May 3, 1970) is an American actor. His breakthrough came with the leading role as FDNY Paramedic Roberto "Bobby" Caffey in the NBC series ''Third Watch'', which he played from 1999 to 2001. Cannavale received the Pri ...

Audrey Tautou Audrey Justine Tautou (; born 9 August 1976) is a French actress. She made her acting debut at age 18 on television, and her feature film debut in '' Venus Beauty Institute'' (1999), for which she received critical acclaim and won the César Awa ...

Pete Davidson Peter Michael Davidson (born November 16, 1993) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He began his career in the early 2010s with minor guest roles on ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'', ''Friends of the People'', ''Guy Code'', and ''Wild 'n O ...

, and

Christopher Walken Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Christopher Walken on stage and screen, His work on stage and screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Christopher Walken, accolades includin ...

. After touring, Auster went back into the studio with Brooklyn-based producer

Daniel Schlett Daniel commonly refers to: * Daniel (given name), a masculine given name and a surname * List of people named Daniel * List of people with surname Daniel * Daniel (biblical figure) * Book of Daniel, a biblical apocalypse, "an account of the activi ...

. Together they created a more progressive pop sound for the indie singer. In November 2019, the two song EP entitled ''History Happens at Night'' was released via

. An accompanying music video for the single "If I Could" followed, featuring trans activist and actress, Jari Jones, and ''

Are You the One? ''Are You the One?'' (often abbreviated as ''AYTO?'') is an American reality television series featuring a group of men and women that are secretly paired into couples via a matchmaking algorithm. While living together, the contestants try to i ...

'' MTV alum, Basit Shittu. The video, premiered on V Magazine's website in November 2019, is directed by Auster's photographer husband, Spencer Ostrander, and cinematographer, Theodore King. She continues working on new music in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Discography

Filmography

References

External links

*
Artist's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Auster, Sophie 1987 births Living people Musicians from Brooklyn Actresses from Brooklyn Singers from Brooklyn American women singer-songwriters American alternative rock musicians American people of Norwegian descent American people of Polish-Jewish descent Sarah Lawrence College alumni 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from New York (state)