- 2 days ago
CTP (S3EMarSpecial5) She (Sophia) Sings, She Sautés, She Spills The Tea
Exploring more of the fascinating intersection of Activism, Community Engagement, Faith / Religion, Human Nature, Politics, Social Issues, and beyond
We trace Sophia Dias’s journey from Goa to global stages, weaving fashion, food, and music into a clear purpose. A balcony in Istanbul led to a Kingston studio, a book called Bulletproof, and a belief that art and community help us heal.
• origin in Goa with Portuguese and Indian heritage
• global upbringing across Africa, UK, and 46+ countries
• career roots in marketing, fashion, and futuristic eyewear
• first song inspired by Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe story
• recording at Tuff Gong with Clive Hunt and Shane Brown
• Bulletproof as album and book drawn from lived events
• collaboration and community as creative backbone
• culinary training across Europe, Asia, Africa, Caribbean
• stance on cultural appreciation through food
• notes on AI music strengths and limits
• Red Friday tribute track and closing thanks
https://tinyurl.com/SubscribeToCTP
CTP Audios: https://tinyurl.com/CTPonBuzzsprout
CTP Videos: https://tinyurl.com/JLDonBITCHUTE
https://tinyurl.com/CTPgear
Exploring more of the fascinating intersection of Activism, Community Engagement, Faith / Religion, Human Nature, Politics, Social Issues, and beyond
We trace Sophia Dias’s journey from Goa to global stages, weaving fashion, food, and music into a clear purpose. A balcony in Istanbul led to a Kingston studio, a book called Bulletproof, and a belief that art and community help us heal.
• origin in Goa with Portuguese and Indian heritage
• global upbringing across Africa, UK, and 46+ countries
• career roots in marketing, fashion, and futuristic eyewear
• first song inspired by Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe story
• recording at Tuff Gong with Clive Hunt and Shane Brown
• Bulletproof as album and book drawn from lived events
• collaboration and community as creative backbone
• culinary training across Europe, Asia, Africa, Caribbean
• stance on cultural appreciation through food
• notes on AI music strengths and limits
• Red Friday tribute track and closing thanks
https://tinyurl.com/SubscribeToCTP
CTP Audios: https://tinyurl.com/CTPonBuzzsprout
CTP Videos: https://tinyurl.com/JLDonBITCHUTE
https://tinyurl.com/CTPgear
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hello, welcome to another episode of Perstitutionalist Podcast.
00:06I am your host, Joseph M. Leonard.
00:09That's L-E-N-A-R-D, it's the French, it's not, it's Leonard without an O.
00:17Thank you for tuning in, as Graham Norton used to say, on his show.
00:24Let's get on with the show!
00:26A special segment for February and March, midweek drops.
00:35Normally Saturday monologues and normally a guest appearance on a Wednesday.
00:42February and March, two a week, Tuesday and Thursdays, in order to get caught up on some interviews that have
00:50been stacking up.
00:52Enjoy.
00:52Warning, this episode contains some audio and or video glitches.
01:01It is not your equipment.
01:03Joining me today is Sophia DS, S on the end, not a Z, DS, D-I-A-S.
01:13Of course, behind the scenes video will be displayed on the bottom of the screen.
01:19And if you're seeing behind the screen, it seems the zoom in her window there.
01:26It's really small there, but you can see it.
01:30At any rate, she's a musician, author, chef.
01:37And, of course, my first question will then be, does she sing while she's cooking or only while in the
01:43shower?
01:46For the benefit of the transcript, we're both laughing.
01:49It's a joke, but welcome to the show, Sophia.
01:54Thank you so very much for having me, Joseph.
01:57This is an incredible pleasure.
02:00Yeah.
02:02Before we get into musician, author, chef, let's back up this garbage truck.
02:10Beep, beep.
02:12Right.
02:12Where were you born and raised?
02:15Where are you now?
02:16Any significant places you've been to in the meantime between?
02:22I was born in a former Portuguese enclave called Goa in India.
02:28It was a former Portuguese enclave for 450 years, a strategic place for the Portuguese for their shipping business.
02:40My father's from Lisbon.
02:42My mother's from Goa.
02:43I spent very little time there.
02:46Yeah.
02:47Well, Goa, get out of here.
02:48Ba-dum-bum.
02:50Sorry.
02:51Can't pass the line puns.
02:53Hit you.
02:54My father was a civil servant, and he got placed in various places across the world.
03:01Spent a little bit of time my early years in South Africa, in Kenya.
03:06Then moved up to the UK and traveled across over 46 countries in pursuit of my culinary pursuits, which I
03:21was interested in from a very young age.
03:23So, I really didn't have much time, you know, to...
03:28Ah, yeah, okay.
03:30Can't pass the joke.
03:31Get naughty or anything.
03:32I was quite busy and focused.
03:35Yeah.
03:35Yeah.
03:36Another joke.
03:37Culinary, right?
03:38So, you're a serial killer.
03:41You serial killer, you call the herd.
03:45Ba-dum-bum.
03:46Ba-dum-bum.
03:50And there's a little bit of a delay here for everyone to understand.
03:56And there's also some, not an echo, but some chirpy digital feedback.
04:03I hope that's not coming through in the final product.
04:07But if indeed it is, apologies, I don't know what's up with Zoom.
04:13But anyway, what did you become first?
04:16The musician, the author, or the chef?
04:21Well, my background is marketing and design.
04:27I'm a fashion designer.
04:30I also design futuristic eyewear.
04:33I launched my company in Milan, Italy, in 2012.
04:38So, that is really essentially business is my background.
04:43Culinary, I've been fascinated with food and cuisine and culture
04:49from a very early age.
04:51So, that's a hobby.
04:52It's a passion.
04:54And music came just by accident.
04:57I was sitting in my hotel balcony in Istanbul, in Turkey.
05:03And I was watching the BBC news.
05:07And over there popped up a lovely lady that I'd heard and read a lot about
05:13called Nazneen Radcliffe, a dual citizen of Great Britain and Iran.
05:20And her story was out on the BBC.
05:23You know, she was being held against a will for six and a half years.
05:27I think I've heard this story.
05:29Yeah, please go on.
05:31And then, you know, I was moved to write a song for her.
05:36So, I wrote my first song during COVID called Psalm Ventoir in French,
05:42in the French language.
05:43I retained the title Psalm 23, and I changed.
05:48I wrote my own lyrics.
05:49And I rang Clive Hunt, the music producer,
05:56who produced my first single and my other two albums.
06:01And Clive was based in Jamaica, in St. Catherine.
06:05And I told him my vision.
06:07I shared with him what I'd written.
06:10And very soon, from Turkey, I arrived into Chicago, which was home then for me.
06:18And within the next week, I was on a flight to Kingston, Jamaica.
06:23And we recorded the first single at Tuff Gong International Recording Studios
06:30with a fantastic team.
06:32We hired a Grammy Award-winning music engineer, Shane Brown, to engineer the single.
06:39And then, subsequently, my other two albums.
06:44So, it was almost as though the stars aligned.
06:48And, you know, my guardian angels, you know, were there with me.
06:54And we put the whole thing together.
06:56So, yeah, you set up another pun.
07:00Can't pass, right?
07:02I've been to Jamaica, and it's like they're with me in spirit still.
07:07Their memory is always, Jamaican me crazy.
07:12Ba-dum-bum, right?
07:16Lame pun.
07:17All kinds of people tell it, of course.
07:20Not new to anybody, I'm sure.
07:22But getting that weird digital audio funky stuff going on still.
07:30Hopefully, you too.
07:33I'm hearing that on my end.
07:35And I'm wondering if it's about this.
07:39I'm going to move this.
07:42How about now?
07:44Well, so far, so good now.
07:48I'm hearing it again a little bit.
07:50But that will make do.
07:52Hopefully, it doesn't come through in the final product.
07:55And if it does, apologies.
07:57Maybe this will be one of the shows you'll want to go read the transcript at Buzzsprout instead
08:05to be able to read it rather than hear the digital interference.
08:09But at any rate, my OCD brain and pure curiosity, endless, you know, curiosity of a cat,
08:20the logo on the blazer, the logo on the blazer, the logo on the blazer, the logo on the blazer.
08:27The logo on the blazer is Paula Rolf-Loran.
08:30Oh, okay.
08:34Well, you did mention fashion.
08:37And if I were any kind of fashionista, I'd have probably recognized the logo.
08:43People viewing on behind the scenes who do have fashion sense probably already knew that.
08:53Musician, author, chef.
08:55It's like, I don't know where to go next.
08:59Let's talk about the authorship, the books.
09:03What is your latest book or most recent?
09:06The most recent book that's going to be launched very shortly, I worked with a fantastic team
09:14called Steinbeck Publishing House in New York.
09:18They are launching, remarketing my book called Bulletproof.
09:24The book itself does not define me.
09:27It's just a short chapter of my life, rather unpleasant, where I was placed in a very brutally horrific position
09:36where I believe no human being should be placed by another human being.
09:42And the book is going to be launched, I believe, mid-December, translated in about nine languages.
09:48And I'll be coming to Detroit to do for my book launch.
09:52And I'd definitely like to come by and say hello to you.
09:57That would be cool.
09:59That would be cool.
10:00Yeah, maybe I could come up to your book launch, depending on where it is and when it is and
10:05whatnot.
10:06But so definitely reach out and let me know when you've got all those details.
10:11But yeah, it's important to share those sorts of things, even though we may not really want to.
10:19But it's cathartic for ourselves and it can assist others.
10:26Yes?
10:27Primarily, that is why the objective and the intention was to, you know, share a little bit of what transpired
10:36in those years in my life.
10:38And it could help somebody else in their journey.
10:43So the music aspect of things, you mentioned a couple of albums.
10:50What type of music?
10:52What are the album titles?
10:55Are they also available on Amazon and whatnot?
10:59The first album was called Bulletproof.
11:03It was a seven-track album, which I wrote.
11:07So an EP in a way, yeah.
11:09Based on real-life events, I wrote all the songs and I sang on the album.
11:18I had backup vocal support by Clive Hunt, my producer, and he did an amazing job.
11:29I felt so supported and loved and protected by the entire team.
11:35I worked with amazing, most sought-after musicians worldwide, such as Hector Roots Lewis, Michael Fletcher, Dean Frazier, Shane Brown,
11:48edited and mixed, engineered the entire album.
11:52Now you're just name-dropping.
11:57We're laughing, people.
11:59We're joking here.
12:00We're having fun.
12:01Absolutely.
12:03It's very fortunate to have had such an amazing team.
12:07It takes a village.
12:09In the biblical, proper community sense, not the Hitler-y Clinton.
12:17It takes the fascist socialist state village.
12:21No, it does not.
12:22It takes mamas and papas and brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and cousins and nephews, sometimes the next
12:30-door neighbor, to help babysit the child.
12:33It takes a community, a biblical community village for anything.
12:40It isn't always what you know.
12:42It's who you know and networking if you don't know people.
12:46Well, indeed, it's not all about us, and no one person can do everything.
12:54We need help, yes?
12:56Absolutely.
12:57Absolutely.
12:57I agree entirely.
12:59It did take a village and more.
13:07In some cases, oh, God, frog in my throat all doggone day today, but I can't pass on the pun,
13:17right?
13:17So, you know, sometimes it even takes the village idiot.
13:26We're laughing again, people.
13:28We're laughing.
13:28For those not seeing behind-the-scenes video, she's laughing.
13:32We're laughing together.
13:33That's a little bit of fun, not attempting to be purposefully insulting, just some fun.
13:40Let's go back to the chef thing.
13:43Do you dabble, right?
13:46One thing that drives me crazy here is, in America, the diversity, equity, inclusion crowd,
13:54they are really, and I've got a video special by the time this airs.
13:59Came out in November.
14:01This will be a month old now by the time this airs, but they're really about segregation and
14:08separatism, right?
14:11Black-only dorms that they peddle isn't diverse or inclusive, but America, our Latin motto,
14:22e pluribus unum, from many one, is about diversity and inclusion and about coming together in a melting pot.
14:33It isn't cultural appropriation if I cook soul food or Mexican food, so do you indeed dabble
14:43in all the various wonderful flavors of the various cultures that are out there?
14:51Well, my background, my forte in culinary is primarily European cuisine.
14:57So, I was in Sardinia in Italy, studying Italian cuisine.
15:04I studied French cuisine.
15:09I also spent some time in Switzerland, England, all across Asia, including Thailand, Hong Kong,
15:19China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and also spent some time in culinary schools in South Africa
15:29and across the Caribbean.
15:33I spent time...
15:34You mentioned Italian, so I've got to know, do you make gnocchi?
15:38I do.
15:40I love...
15:42I'm a part Italian, part German, part Polish in the heritage pile, of course, but yes, absolutely
15:49an American.
15:51But I recognize the cultures from which I came.
15:54And again, if a Mexican wants to cook Italian, that's not cultural appropriation.
16:01I don't get all upset and offended.
16:03And if I wear a sombrero to go out and celebrate Cinco de Mayo, it's not cultural appropriation.
16:10It's called appreciation.
16:14It is indeed appreciation.
16:17Yeah.
16:18So, yeah, I love gnocchi.
16:21Absolutely.
16:22I'm divorced now.
16:23I still wear the wedding ring.
16:25But at our wedding, we specifically went to the hall and said, you know, instead of mustard
16:31Charlie noodles, we want gnocchi dumplings, right?
16:36And they accommodated us because coincidentally, the same day, same period of time, the owner
16:46of the hall was getting married also.
16:50And they were having their reception in another part of the same hall.
16:55And they said, oh, that's a great idea.
16:58Yes, we'll do that because we'll do that for our reception too.
17:03So, and you know, something different than the, well, you go to a wedding or you go to
17:10a Christmas dinner, right?
17:13The same old mustard Charlie, mustard Charlie, mustard Charlie.
17:17I'm tired of the mustard Charlie.
17:20We need a break, right?
17:24Good heavens.
17:29Oh, pardon me again, that doggone throat.
17:33Frog in my throat.
17:34Well, I haven't said your name.
17:37I like repeating names.
17:39Repeat a name.
17:41Marketing.
17:42You know marketing.
17:44Seven times.
17:45You want to touch an audience seven times, seven different ways if you can.
17:50So, I try to repeat a name like yours, Sophia Diaz, seven times, and I haven't done that today.
17:58But again, behind the scenes video, it'll be on the display.
18:02Thank you, Sophia Diaz for stopping by.
18:06It was a lot of fun.
18:08Thank you so very much for having me, Joseph.
18:10I look forward to seeing you in Detroit and promoting my book.
18:17Yeah, that would be, oh, that would be great.
18:20I love the opera chant.
18:22Opera chant.
18:23Oh, it's always happened.
18:24I hit record and the mouth and the brain don't want to work, right?
18:28I created a new word.
18:30I'll have to put that in my next book.
18:32Opera chant.
18:33The opportunity to get together IRL, right?
18:38In real life.
18:40Because indeed, for those not looking behind the scenes video, my background has the city of Detroit in it.
18:46I'm in a southern suburb.
18:49Anyway, the last obvious question is, do you have a website for people to look you up and reach out
18:57to you?
18:57The website is under construction, and it should be up and going in about a few weeks' time.
19:06It'll be up by the time this airs, so do you know the URL?
19:12I do not.
19:13Oh, okay.
19:15But a lot of the music, and, you know, I'm on Spotify, I'm distributed in over 22 countries, so if
19:23people want to listen or know more about me, they can just Google Sophia Diaz.
19:28Thank you again, Sophia Diaz.
19:31I'm still behind on the number seven there, but I repeated it at least one more time.
19:37Take care.
19:38God bless.
19:39Thank you so very much, Joseph.
19:41Don't go away.
19:42Don't tune out yet.
19:45Since Sophia was a musician, I'm going to have a show about AI music creation coming up in the future.
19:57And I say in it, spoiler alert, sneak peek, AI music in some genres isn't quite there.
20:11I don't say that specifically.
20:13I'm kind of backpedaling in advance.
20:17But indeed, in some genres, AI music just isn't there.
20:22It lacks a lot of the human depth, the human quality, the human ability for vocal flex and fluctuation, and
20:34to bring out that inner heartfelt, like, especially like country-western kind of style music.
20:41But I'm throwing this in here because I'm going to tack on a Suno AI music piece that I created.
20:53It seems to me like hard rock or heavy metal type genre music is pretty good coming out of AI.
21:03So, I want to share with you a piece that I wrote, created through Suno.
21:11Suno.com slash at JLeonardDetroit.
21:17You can find it.
21:18That and many other things I've created there.
21:22Suno.com at JLeonardDetroit.
21:25Again, it's not French, it's not Lenard, it's Leonard without an O, J for Joseph, L-E-N-A-R
21:32-D, Detroit.
21:34And without further ado, my Red Friday tune, a tribute to our troops.
22:05The Sunrise plays, the barracks great.
22:08Another dawn, another day, boots on ground, miles away.
22:14We just hope and we just pray.
22:18Let her say to not receive, hearts on sleeves, truly believe.
22:24Wearing red so they're not alone, till every hero's coming home.
22:30Red Friday, every week.
22:33Red Friday, silent speak.
22:36Red Friday, for the brave.
22:39Red Friday, souls that say, remember everyone devoid.
22:45In every heart, in every voice.
22:48Remember everyone devoid.
22:51Standing strong, we make this choice.
23:00Put on this red shirt
23:03Same one as last week
23:06Coffee in a thermos
23:09The names on my sleeve
23:12Yellow little photo
23:15Tucked into my phone
23:18They're waking up in deserts
23:22I'm driving alone
23:24It's Red Friday
23:26I remember everyone deployed
23:28A heartbeat filling up a silent void
23:31From the cul-de-sac to the convoy
23:34From this small town to the sand
23:37Red Friday
23:39I wear you on my hands
23:49Flag on the storefront
23:52Tape to the glass
23:55Teachers in the hallway
23:58Letting the kids ask
24:01Mama at the mailbox
24:04Praying for good news
24:07Steam on the kitchen window
24:11Her eyes shining through
24:14It's Red Friday
24:15I remember everyone deployed
24:18A heartbeat filling up a silent void
24:21From the cul-de-sac to the convoy
24:23From this small town to the sand
24:26Red Friday
24:28I wear you on my hands
24:51I can't lift your rucksack
24:54But I can lift your name
24:57I can't walk your footsteps
25:00But I can share the way
25:03So I'll stand here in skylit
25:06Till you all come home
25:09You are not forgotten
25:12You're never alone
25:15It's Red Friday
25:17I remember everyone deployed
25:19A heartbeat filling up a silent void
25:22From the cul-de-sac to the convoy
25:25From this small town to the sand
25:28Red Friday
25:29I wear you on my hands
25:33Cause I wear red
25:36Till you're back on this land
25:39Red Friday
25:47I remember where you stand
26:07Your letters mean everything out here
26:09We wear red every Friday for you
26:11Red Friday
26:13It keeps us strong
26:15We remember everyone
26:17I chose a letter
26:21Stand up for a water's light
26:24Cause God shares his message
26:28Every day and night
26:31Believes in freedom
26:33And making his voice heard
26:35Shed his message over all the earth
26:37God loves the children
26:39For all the children
26:42Stand strong and God
26:46Less you
26:51Like and subscribe to
26:54The Christitutionalist Politics Podcast
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27:01Thank you for having tuned into
27:04Another Christitutionalist Podcast Show
27:07I really appreciate that you stopped by
27:12Again, please like, share, subscribe
27:15We need you to help spread
27:18The Christitutionalist Movement
27:21Thank you again
27:22Take care
27:23God bless
27:25Love you all
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