Sonia Kreitzer, the visionary multidisciplinary artist known to the world as Doe Paoro, is fundamentally guided by a profound belief: that music is a "wisdom technology." This philosophy, rooted in her study of Lhamo, Tibetan Opera singing, defines a career that spans five full-length records, collaborations with artists like Justin Vernon, and a mastery of ritual facilitation and sound healing.
In an era where many artists struggle for control, Doe Paoro is a model for sustainable artistry, having achieved critical recognition from NPR to Pitchfork and prioritizing her creative autonomy. The true masterclass for fellow musicians lies in how she's structured her business: by fiercely maintaining creative control and owning her masters after navigating the major-label system.
Her highly anticipated new album, Living Through Collapse, arrives after a seven-year gap as a profound work of reckoning. Bolstering this release is the single, ‘Teach Us of Endings’, a track that channels a sublime energy, backed by a cinematic video directed by AnAkA (FKA Twigs, Janelle Monae) and filmed in Costa Rica.
Your new album Living Through Collapse is your first full-length release in seven years. What story were you hoping to tell with it?
This is a record about tending to the sacred calling of grief and sitting with the question of what it means to become a conscious ancestor. The embryo of this album is miscarriage. When I miscarried two years ago, the most shocking part was having an experience of feeling life and death simultaneously pulse, within the framework of my body.
It was such a profound deepening in expanding my own capacity to hold multiple truths at the same time, which has been serious medicine, given the polarity of the times we are living through. These songs are my learning from this time. They’re an invitation to honor the complexity of our era: holding grief for all the suffering in one hand and a radical commitment to creating a more life-affirming world in the other.
At its heart, the album tells the story of my body over these past years, navigating illness, loss, and identity dissolution, a journey that mirrors what I see unfolding collectively, as we reckon with unprecedented climate consequence as the result of an extractive mindset that has objectified both the Earth and each other. Things are composting structurally and existentially on a massive scale right now. My hope is that this music helps us turn toward that awareness, to be with the unraveling, and to listen for how each of us might be of service to the calling and the crisis of this moment.
You’ve previously released music through major and independent channels. What have you learned about navigating release strategies and maintaining creative control?
Maintaining creative control and owning my masters is how I have been able to have a sustainable career. My time at a label showed me how doable it was to be independent - it broke down the fantasy that being on a label was going to do anything for me that I couldn’t do for myself, which was extremely useful. On a practical side, I have learned the importance of having a plan and releasing singles and finding ecosystems for each song to seed and grow in.
What advice would you give to independent artists trying to build sustainable careers while staying true to their creative vision?
Trust that each artist’s path is uniquely their own, full of strange miracles and timing that is completely unpredictable, so there is no use in comparing your path to anyone else’s because it could never be the same.
Continue to make good art that you respect and own your masters. Making money from ways other than music is nothing to be ashamed of - in fact, this can take a lot of heat off the idea that your music has to be a success financially, which can corrupt the purity of what you’re making.
I worked so many jobs before I got to the point where my music could sustain itself and creating a big body of work in that time while I was working other jobs is what allows me to be full time with my art now.
As someone who’s worked across both artistic and wellness spaces, what have you learned about the business side of building a community around your work?
The people who are going to resonate with your music are likely in the same spaces that you already enjoying spending time in; that’s how resonance works. For me, it was such a massive gift to realise how appreciated my music was in various healing and ceremonial spaces because this is where I loved being and had devoted so much time apprenticing in, outside of my career as an artist. When I share my music in these contexts, they become embedded in a community and the music becomes part of a context, a family, and a memory.
Find the groups you are naturally gathering with and share your music with them. I had a big unlock during the pandemic when I shared a video on TikTok that went viral, and at the end of it I had mentioned I was holding a free virtual healing circle online. About 2,500 signed up to join that Zoom though an Eventbrite link I had put in my bio; I had to upgrade my Zoom subscription!
Suddenly, I had a whole new email list. Because Eventbrite shares all the emails of folks who sign up for any event with the organiser, I find it a great platform for building out community. Consider offering some free events to build your mailing list that way and share your music locally.
How do you approach networking in a way that feels genuine and long-lasting?
I’ve never really resonated with the idea of networking, it feels transactional and disconnected from the heart of why I make music; I have really done my best to opt out of that way of relating. I’m lucky to have an incredible community of friends and collaborators, many of whom I’ve worked with for years. For me, relationships grow out of shared values, curiosity, and devotion to the work itself.
When I need to connect with someone new, like recently when I was looking for a graphic designer and a new lawyer for my record, I tend to trust the mycelial nature of my community. I’ll reach out to my close circle, and somehow the right person always seems to be within a couple of phone calls.
What do you think artists often overlook when it comes to the business side of their careers?
The music industry is very confusing, by design. The truth is, the friends I have seen rise to stardom were always very savvy business-wise, from their early days - it was not coincidence or sheer talent that those folks made quantum jumps in their career; they made a series of informed, well-measured and strategic business decisions that scaffolded a path to success.
It can be very empowering to learn the business side of music and also extremely boring so if you don’t have the motivation to do that, make sure you partner with a great lawyer or manager whose guidance you can trust. It’s so important to have mentors too. Also, this is such a simple thing but share your chords! Make it easy for folks to play and cover your music.
You recently wrote about navigating endometriosis while releasing your record. How did that experience shape your relationship with your work and your pace as an artist?
Thank you so much for this question. 5 days after I released Living Through Collapse, I went in for surgery to remove endometriosis on 5 of my organs. It has honestly been very sad….this was a time that I thought I would be celebrating and touring my record, but instead it has been a period of grief, reflection and healing. And at the same time, I wrote a record called Living Through Collapse, and I accept that there is some poetic architecture to this period of collapse being how the release went; I really do trust the workings of the great mystery.
My illness has forced me to finally learn how to put my health first after years of bypassing my body to meet the demands of my work, touring and teaching all over the world and ignoring my own exhaustion, etc. Surgery is so violating; the body doesn’t necessarily understand that it has consented to the process, and I think a lot came up that I wasn’t expecting. It has really slowed me down, but I think that has been corrective. The world is speeding up, and I am finding a quiet recalibration in this sacred pause.
Your upcoming retreat Activating the Voice blends music, embodiment, and community. What inspired this idea, and what do you hope people take away from it?
The gathering is based on my insights from my years as a singer and as a mentor and coach of the voice to others and the recognition that much of what creates disempowerment in the voice is the unacknowledged personal, cultural, political and ancestral landscape, as well as the stories that have been cast as spells over a lifetime (stories like “you’re not a good singer” or “children should be seen, not heard.”) I love this work and helping others tap into the joy and power of their voice; it lights me up.
My wish is that the folks who are joining will leave feeling more liberated and brave in their self-expression, and more in touch with their own inner-song, because we all have so much music inside of us and sharing that music is a gift to both your ancestors and to the world.
What are three values that guide your life and creative work?
Seek truth, be of service, be compassionate.