Sophie Allison rides forBuffy the Vampire Slayer.
Literally: a sticker of the shows logo is displayed on her pickup truck.
I’ve been [into it] since I was really young.
Everything gets more dramatic when you bring vampires in, she says.
I was having this strange fantasy of burning down my house to expel the demons, she says.
Below, Allison talks Van Halen II, Usher throwbacks, and her fear of Pharrells Happy.
On Loving Van Halen & 90s Country Music
You often talk about your love of country music.
Will we ever get a Soccer Mommy country album?
I don’t know.
Theres even a country leaning song on this record.
Who are some of your favorite country artists youre listening to now?
In high school, I shunned country music.
But then I grew to love it.
Now I love pop country, Luke Bryan and that kind of stuff.
Alan Jackson I really like.
I like a lot of the 90s country stuff.
Is there a band or musician people think is cheesy, but you absolutely love?
I do really like Van Halen.
But I love that they’re just party boys.
What Van Halen songs do you rock out to?
I don’t know why I started listening to them again.
It wasn’t something I was totally raised on.
Women In Love, just sounds so amazing and it’s so vibe-y.
Dance the Night Away is great.Van Halen IIhas a lot of really good stuff on it.
Something about it felt evil.
Does that makes sense?
Who’s your current musical idol?
I’ve been really obsessed with Emmylou Harris.
What is it about this moment thats drawing you to Emmylou?
It might just be the time of year.
Do you have any go-to summer anthems?
I’ll listen to a lot of Mariah Carey and Usher.
I start throwing it back to my youth, the super lighthearted pop in of stuff.
I think that would be really fun.
Do you see yourself ever experimenting with that sound?
I don’t think I could sing in a metal band.
My voice is so soft.
Even if it sounded good, I couldn’t be loud enough on stage.
So no, but I do think there’s nothing like a really heavy guitar part.
I like to get into it a little bit, sometimes, just for a second.
Not fully metal, but get into a little bit of that doom-y feeling.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
