“I kept comparing myself to others and it just stopped being fun. I've been finding it harder to stand out”: Sophie Lloyd lifts the veil on being a successful guitarist in the era of social media

Social media has undoubtedly played a key role in Sophie Lloyd's trajectory. From her first foray into the YouTube guitar scene in 2011, to being recruited as Machine Gun Kelly's guitarist and establishing herself as a bona fide solo act over the last couple of years, Lloyd has been serving one masterclass after another on how contemporary guitarists can leverage social media to rise the echelons of the guitar world.

Yet, this doesn't come without its pressures. Both Yvette Young and Matteo Mancuso have recently commented on the pressures of delivering surgical perfection when playing live shows, as each recorded moment – and a slight mistake while playing – can come back to haunt them.

In a candid social media statement, Lloyd lays her cards on the table about operating in the social media age and the constantly demanding algorithm.

“Lately I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed with the pressures of social media,” she writes. “With so many amazing creators out there, I’ve been finding it harder and harder to stand out and keep up with the constantly changing algorithm. I kept comparing myself to others, chasing numbers, and honestly, it just stopped being fun.

“I think back to when I started posting videos when I was a young girl, I was so excited to pick up a guitar for hours every night learning my favourite songs, and sharing that with whoever would listen, not worrying about views or likes. I want to rediscover that passion and love for guitar and music.”

Her statement is accompanied by a video of Lloyd's unfiltered take on Joe Satriani’s Satch Boogie from Surfing with the Alien – a record she describes as “the first instrumental album that really got me into guitar.

“The song Satch Boogie was one I tried to learn when I was younger, and could just never get my fingers round it. So the other night, I went and sat down and started trying to work through it again. I was sat there for hours, really enjoying myself, actually playing guitar for fun like I used to. I want to bring that back into the content I make.

“So it’s time for a shift,” she asserts. “I’m going to be doing a new little series on my channel where I’ll be posting real stuff. No fancy lighting, no fake eyelashes, no overdubbed audio. Just the room sound, and what I’m actually doing and wanting to work on that day.

“I’m also going to do some more chatty, fun content as well that I would enjoy watching as a viewer. I want to be more myself, not overproduce things, and just get back to the real joy of playing guitar and making content.”

In a 2023 interview with Guitar World, Lloyd spoke about experiencing imposter syndrome when she was recruited as mgk's touring guitarist – a phase that inspired the title of her 2023 record, Imposter Syndrome.