Swap out the pumpkin lattes and ensure the purple umbrella is underneath your most frequent emojis. Through collaboration, TikTok pals Manda Malina and Sophia Dashing have become what Christian Girl Autumn is to winter. Their collaborative track ‘raindrops (on your pillow)’ takes genre cues from the early 2000s while providing ambient sounds that make one feel like they’re standing in a saucy downpour.
Manda, who’s always been inspired by the mizzle, brainstormed the idea last year before Sophia hopped onto the song and wrote her verse. Now, with the both of them stealing the thick cloud’s darkness for the inky black in their corsets (a photoshoot shot by Angel Rivz), their next move is talking to us! We chatted about the said fashion, the single’s hopeful mark on Pride, and much more!
Hi Sophia and Manda! Welcome to the hive. TikTok is one of the leading creative hubs on the internet right now, and that’s viewable from the two of you meeting there. What initially drew you two to each other?
Manda: We connected on being queer female independent artists, and we supported each other from afar for a while before we started working on ‘raindrops’ together. I loved seeing Sophia’s content and how hard she’s working as an artist, so I love that we got the opportunity to work together!
Sophia: What drew me to Manda initially was seeing another independent, queer female artist who was truly putting herself and music out there really well on social media! I love seeing other artists who truly kill it with their content, so it was only a matter of time before both of our videos popped up on each other’s FYPs.
‘raindrops (on your pillow)’
Can you tell us more about the origins of ‘raindrops (on your pillow)?’ Where did the idea come from?
Manda: Last year, when we had so many rainstorms in Los Angeles, I was home a lot of writing on new music, and the idea for the hook of ‘raindrops’ came to me. When it’s raining, I just want to be home with my wife, watching movies and kissing all night, so I wanted to write a song that gives off that yearning. I had already worked with Jayce, our producer, before, so I asked if he wanted to get on board, and Sophia was down as well! We finished the song together, and it came together so nicely with everyone’s personal touches, feelings, and ideas.
Sophia: Manda pitched the song to me. I loved how Y2K, vibrant and electric the song felt. I wrote my verse in a matter of minutes. I had so much fun coming up with harmonies and adlibs throughout the song. I’m super grateful to have been a part of a song that’s so traditional bubblegum/dance-pop-oriented.
The intro could easily be described as a time warp from the early 2000s, particularly diving into its pop/RNB aesthetic, with the atmospheric sounds of the thunder in the background. How important is it for you to add these tiny details to flesh out the world-building of the song?
Manda: Me, Sophia and Jayce are all super inspired by the early 2000s pop music, so I love that we could connect on that. Being from Sweden, I grew up listening to ABBA, Robyn, Britney Spears, and Spice Girls, and a lot of those songs were written by Max Martin, who’s Swedish, so to be inspired by that era feels like it’s part of my DNA.
Sophia: Who doesn’t love Y2K music? I feel like pop was just so fun then and not taken too seriously. It was amazing to tap back and be inspired by those energies. So many of my favorite songs of all time came from the late 90s / early 2000s.
We absolutely love the lyric “sunny with the chance of hopping under covers.” Is there a particular line that you could pull out that you’d support someone sending to their crush?
Manda: I love that line!!! (I give Sophia all credit for that) My favorite is “Feel the raindrops on your pillow” because it can be interpreted in two different ways, if you know what I mean.
Sophia: Haha, thank you! 😉 I don’t even really know how/why that came to me while writing my verse. I tend to have a cheeky humor, so I guess when I was writing, my senses pulled from that! I guess I would probably send that one to my crush, lol!!
Pride
Speaking of crushes, Pride is something truly celebrated on this track with the both of you as Queer ladies coming together. Let’s go back in time for a bit. If you could brush through early 2000s LGBTQ couples in media, which one would you like the track to be used as their soundtrack?
Manda: Do I dare to say Shane and Carmen from L-Word? They are the hottest couple in queer history, and they would totally get down and dirty to this song, haha.
Sophia: Omg! I would say Brittany and Santana from Glee. I feel like they could totally get down to ‘raindrops’ 😉
While we’re on this subject, between Sophia performing at the Human Rights Campaign Gala this year in Atlanta and your music Manda resonating with your Queer fans, how do you see ‘raindrops (on your pillow)’ building onto that advocacy?
Manda: I feel like my fans love my sensual love songs because my single ‘Her Ocean,’ which I wrote about my wife’s and my sex life, is my biggest song to date, so ‘raindrops’ definitely falls into that same category. The music industry is lacking uncensored queer love songs, so our song is definitely a part of filling that gap.
Sophia: I think as two Queer artists who are honest with our songwriting and experiences truly show a lot of authenticity in the song itself. My biggest takeaway to inspiring others is just being yourself and embracing your sexuality. To dance, let loose, and have fun at the club. To feel great in your own skin!
Jayce Cantor, who produced the track, talks about one of his primary goals: to portray the authentic spark between you two. And it’s again felt through the little details, from the laughter at the end to the spotlight on your high notes harmonization. What are some of the things you do to ensure that you both feel safe and comfortable flourishing in this sort of creative atmosphere?
Manda: I’ve truly loved our communication and how Sophia and I are working together, from the creative process, such as planning the album cover, to making sure we both feel comfortable in the way we are promoting the song. It’s been a long time coming because we’ve been working on this song for over a year, and there’s been moments where we’ve been frustrated because we love it so much and just want it to be out already, but we’ve always worked as a team because the song is so special and we just wanted it to be perfect.
Sophia: Communication was key during the process! Jayce and Manda were on the West Coast while I was still living on the East Coast. The way we all communicated was so important and much needed to get an end product we were all happy with. 🙂 We had a group chat during the creation process and we’re always busy texting in it with ideas and updates! That helps so much.
Fashion
The shoot alone gives a lot of theatrics from the curtains billowing in the background with the storm brewing, almost this seasonal theme pushing the visual concepts. Have you considered what the graphics might look like upon performing it live? Manda, in particular, with your burlesque residency background (which is so cool, by the way!), what skills did you pick from there that you now find beneficial to your own stage presence in your music career?
Manda: Thank you! I’ve always loved burlesque, so adding it to my resume has been a dream. I’ve always been very confident with my body and sensuality, but I’ve definitely learned to embrace that even more after these past few months, and that has been truly uplifting and a boost to my self-esteem for sure, which shows in my creativity and artistry while performing. I would love to continue on the theme as we have with the cover when we perform ‘raindrops’ live together; I can see the stage design being super moody, dramatic, and sexy!
Sophia: I was able to perform ‘raindrops’ as a teaser song when I did the Human Rights Gala in May. My sound engineer added tons of thunder sound effects, and we made it really exciting to tap into that energy that the song gives. I see a lot of blue hues of different lights and maybe some smoke as well 🙂 .. Of course, I can’t forget about doing some fun choreography that will tie everything together!
Fashion is an essential element. We’re particularly loving the seethrough raincoat on Sophia. Can you walk us through collaborating with Angel Rivz? And if your pursuit and interest in fashion design aided your choices, Sophia?
Manda: Angel Rivera is a good friend of mine and is my favorite photographer to work with. He’s truly a genius, and his editing and Photoshop skills are out of this world, so I’m so happy Sophia loved his work, too, and was on board with having him shoot our cover. He did an incredible job! The see-through coat was totally Sophia’s idea, and I’m obsessed with it! I love how it’s a cute little peek-a-boo-moment.
Sophia: Thank you! I’m a super visual person, and I absolutely adore fashion. I love putting looks together for all my shoots and music videos. I saw the clear raincoat and patent corset instantly while writing my verse. those kinda things come so quickly to me. It was just a matter of finding the right one to match my vision 😉 I love how everything turned out. Angel did an amazing job and was a pleasure to work with!
Finally, as spoken, the Y2K vibes are a considerable element of the track. But it’s also of the marketing with various shots of early 2000s girlies displayed on your TikToks with the sound supporting. Girls wearing chunky Hello Kitty rings, and Destiny’s Child splayed out in the era’s infamous pink. Is there an iconic outfit from that period that screams ‘raindrops (on your pillow)’ when you look at it?
Manda: For me, it’s the X-tina look in ‘Dirrty,’ the sexy top and pants and her black smokey eye makeup. It’s a perfect blend of the girly 2000s sound in ‘raindrops’ and the moody, darker aesthetic of the cover!
Sophia: I would have to say some of Britney’s iconic streetwear looks are girly and feminine but still have a borderline-sexy feel. ‘raindrops’ feels like that to me. It almost has an innocent undertaking, but it is such a sexy, fun song!
There’s no need for Mean Girl’s Karen Smith to arrive on rain-spotting duty, as we know a downpour has started with this single. So we’re directing one of our questions to Sophia and Manda to you! What lyric from ‘raindrops (on your pillow)’ will you send to your crush? Have a listen, and then try not to get pulled in by the loop button to refrain from messaging us on our social media, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with your reply!
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SOPHIA DASHING:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | WEBSITE | TIKTOK | TWITTER | YOUTUBE
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MANDA MALINA:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | TWITTER | YOUTUBE
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