It’s been a big year for the band Sofi Tukker. Since the release of their EP Soft Animals back in July of last year, The New York-based musical duo consisting of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern have already enjoyed a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording and are riding high on the success of their single “Johny.” They’re currently on tour having just played both weekends at Coachella, and in between sets the band was kind enough to answer a few questions for us via Email. They touched upon everything from where they first met, to how they came to define their unique sound and what they most like to do most when visiting the city by the Bay.
First off, how did you guys meet and start playing music together?
Tucker: I was a house music DJ and Sophie was an acoustic bossa nova performer and we both were asked to perform at an art gallery in Providence. We both were seniors at Brown at the time. I thought she was amazing and asked to remix one of her songs. We ended up working together every day since.
Can you describe your sound?
Whatever we feel like the day we’re writing 🙂 We try to incorporate sounds and rhythms from all over the place, whatever inspires us and makes us want to dance!
Where do the Brazilian and world music influences come from?
Sophie: I loooove Portuguese and lived in Brazil and fell in love with the musical culture. I also trained in West African dance at college and listened to all sorts of music from all around the world growing up!
You guys were nominated for a Grammy this year for the “Drinkee.” What was it like attending the show?
Sooo cool. We were kinda in awe most of the time, and it seemed pretty unreal doing the red carpet and stuff. It was fun to be there and experience it all, it definitely made us feel more determined to get back.
How did the song “Drinkee” come about?
Sophie: It was the first song we wrote together, we made it on one of the last days of college.
Tucker: Soph always played the acoustic guitar and I thought it would be fun to put an electric guitar in her hands and see what came out. Drinkee happened!
You both currently reside in New York? What are your favorite things to do in the city?
Yes, in Brooklyn. We love spending time with friends and going out all night dancing. We find the city so freeing and inspiring.
You guys played the Independent in San Francisco a couple of months ago. What do you think of San Francisco audiences?
They are one of our very favorites!! They have been so supportive from the beginning and we think it may actually be the place we have played the most times other than New York.
Did you get to visit the city at all? What was your favorite thing to do?
Tucker: We never have too much time when we are on tour, but I got to see my brother, Ian, who lives there which is great! And we walked over to the Full House house 🙂
Sophie: I went on a beautiful hike in Marin but that was back before the band when I had free time hehe:)
You guys played Coachella this year. What were some of the highlights for you?
Everything. It’s such an insane sensory overload. Playing our show and having it overflow out the back of the tent is pretty crazy!
What other band performances did you check out?
the XX, Royksopp, Justice have all been amazing… we hope to get to see more!
Who were you most excited about meeting?
Everyone in the crowd!!
Photos courtesy of Coachella – Copyright Greg Noire ©Coachella 2017
