How Sombr’s bedroom recordings became his biggest hits

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sombr went from crafting raw, reverb soaked songs alone in his Lower East Side bedroom to finding his life shifting in ways he never could have predicted across 2024 and 2025. His biggest tracks kept their imperfections even as world class players at Sound City added new layers, and a disco groove he began as a late night joke transformed into a breakout moment that changed his career’s trajectory. He explains how he writes, why distortion carries emotional weight for him, how he navigates the pull between bedroom recordings and studio polish, and what it felt like to watch childhood dreams come true on national stages. The result is a portrait of an artist whose rise has been so quick and so unlikely that even Sombr is still piecing together how it all happened. Watch the interview on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Switched-On-Pop Songs Discussed Sombr “12 to 12” Sombr “Back to Friends” Sombr “Undressed” Lizzo “About Damn Time” Chic “Good Times” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for Switched on Pop comes from Sonos.
0:02.8	Nothing quite makes a holiday gathering like turning on the music, and if you're looking to set the mood, you should check out Sonos.
0:09.0	With Sonos, movie nights feel bigger and more cinematic.
0:12.0	While holiday parties come alive with music that flows from room to room, it's the kind of sound that makes a house feel warm and connected during the season.
0:20.0	Want studio quality
0:21.6	sound at home. Explore Sonos speakers, soundbars, and more at Sonos.com and discover how easy
0:27.5	it is to build your own whole room audio system. Discover how easy it is to bring every room to life
0:33.1	with incredible sound. Explore Sonos speakers, soundbars, and more at Sonos.com.
0:39.3	Okay, just before we start, if you think you have a winning bingo card from the beginning
0:44.1	of this year about our predictions for 2025, send it to us at submissions at switchedonpop.com,
0:52.0	and you'll get to hear next week whether or not you're the winner. Again, send us your bingo card, submissions at switchedonpop.com, and you'll get to hear next week whether or not you're the winner.
0:54.8	Again, send us your bingo card, submissions at switchedonpop.com.
0:58.2	All right, here's our show.
1:01.8	Switched-on-Up.
1:06.6	Welcome to Switched-on-pop.
1:07.9	I'm songwriter Charlie Harding.
1:09.3	And I'm musicologist Nate Sloan.
1:11.5	Nate, what were your biggest dreams as a New York City kid playing music when you were in high school?
1:16.7	I mean, you know, Carnegie Hall, that was a big one. That was on my list. I'd love to see my name on the Radio City Music Hall Marquis, maybe stand in the middle of a Rockette's
1:30.4	chorus line, doing some high kicks with them, you know, the usual stuff. Yeah, I too had
1:36.4	delusions of grandeur. I wanted to be a rock guitar god shredding at the biggest venues in New York City.
1:42.1	It turns out there is a musician living our wildest dreams, one who you've not been paying
	...

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