Meet Sofi Tukker, a gringo electronics duo that makes Brazilian poetry in different rhythms [ENTREVISTA]

Sofi Tucker is one of the most interesting names in electronics today. In addition to scoring several hits and making a unique sound, with a mixture of different musical genres, the American Tucker Halpern and german Sophie Hawley-Weld make songs in Brazilian Portuguese. And the tracks in our language manage to be successful around the world: “drinkee” counts with more than 100 million reproductions in the Spotify.

Each of the duo walked different paths until they met in 2014, during a college presentation. Halpern had left the basketball courts due to an immune system disease, while Hawley-Weldwho lived in Rio de Janeiro for six months, he invested in his passion for music and studied in higher education.

In an interview with Rolling Stone Brazil, Sofi Tucker told about the beginning of his career, reason for singing in Portuguese and the album Wet Tennis, released on April 29, 2022. The passion for Brazil, Sophie said, came from childhood, when she listened to country music – and fell in love more and more. The duo’s favorite Brazilian artists range from new names such as Vintage Cultureto the veterans Joao Gilberto, Caetano Veloso, Vanessa da Mata, Maria Bethania and Elis Regina.

“Afterwards, I went to international schools, I continued to get along very well with Brazilians and they showed me more songs,” said the singer. “So, I sang in Portuguese, but I had no idea what I was saying. I thought: ‘Okay, I should learn Portuguese.’ At least I know what I sing all the time. I studied Brazilian music in college. It is the most perfect language for music.”

In 2018, they released their first studio album, entitled treehouse, and represented a great start for the duo. In 2020, they started working on the success, but the pandemic came and delayed the plans. thus was born Wet Tenniswhich brings a tropical theme to escape the grim reality that the coronavirus pandemic has brought.

The idea for the album came naturally, he explained. Tucker Halpern, because the two made music not just to play live, but to “enjoy indoors.” Something that helped was the fact that the two have a great relationship and live in the same house, in Florida, United States.

See the full interview below. Rolling Stone Brazil with Sofi Tucker:

Rolling Stone Brasil: Your music is very different, with different influences. I would like to know if this was your proposal from the beginning. And also talk a little about the origin of the duo.
Tucker Halpern: In fact, that was actually the original idea. We are so different: sophie played acoustic bossa nova and jazz music. I was a house music DJ. Because our influences are so different and what we were doing was so different, the coming together of different genres and languages ​​was really the origin of the whole idea.
So I feel very proud of how this is still the Sophie Tucker you know, because we always cling to it.

Rolling Stone Brasil: How does your creative process work? Especially in the songs in Portuguese.
Sophie Hawley-Weld: With [músicas] in Portuguese, it is usually a collaboration with the Brazilian poet jackal, a good friend and longtime collaborator. Generally, as in Wet Tennisfor example, there is a song called “kakee.” I texted him like, “We really need to write a song about persimmons. It’s my favorite fruit. He said, ‘Fine, you can leave it.
Sometimes it’s like that, sometimes I use a poem he’s already written. At other times it’s even more collaborative, and I really love the sound of Portuguese. It really is my favorite language. And it’s so fun to be able to continue my relationship with Brazil and the language, mainly through Sofi Tucker.

Rolling Stone Brasil: How do your fans outside of Brazil react to the songs in Portuguese?
Tucker Halpern: It’s one of the coolest things. In the first countries, we had a lot of success with our first song”drinkee,” all in Portuguese. [Os principais] were Italy and Turkey, two places where the main language is not Brazilian Portuguese. It was always something that was really cool to see how language doesn’t necessarily matter. It’s such a beautiful language. That sounds so good in the song.

Rolling Stone Brazil: Sophie, what made you want to sing songs in Portuguese, since neither of you are from Brazil?
Sophie Hawley-Weld: For me, I really fell in love with Brazilian music as a child, and all my life I listened to Brazilian music. Then I went to international schools and I continued to get along very well with the Brazilians and they showed me more music. I sang in Portuguese, but I had no idea what I was saying. I thought: ‘Okay, I should learn Portuguese.’ At least I know what I sing all the time.
After learning Portuguese, I fell more and more in love. There I lived in Brazilat the River, and I fell in love even more. I studied Brazilian music in college. It is the most perfect language for music.
And I’m so passionate about the culture. I feel so aligned and connected with resilience and with Brazil in general that it felt very natural. As if I had a Brazilian soul.

Rolling Stone Brasil: How was making the album? Since the process went through the moments before and after social isolation.
Sophie Hawley-Weld: Despite the regrets, it was great. It was everything, there were so many different things. We were in such different moods and places while the world was far away throughout the whole experience. The really cool thing about it is how a lot of the songs we wrote just manifested.
We hadn’t seen people in hundreds of days and we were just dreaming of a world we weren’t necessarily living in. I wanted to be in New York. In one of the songs Wet Tenniswe talked about a summer in New York that we would have [mas foi cancelado pela pandemia]. Now we can really have a summer in New Yorkas well as these things we were dreaming about and writing about.

Our official Summer In New York DJ mix is ​​out today on @Spotify!! ☀️☀️with some of our favorite summer heaters: https://t.co/Y6hLOw1nlmpic.twitter.com/7XKVFQ6Opx

— SOFI TUKKER (@sofitukker) June 1, 2022

Rolling Stone Brasil: What were the impacts brought by the pandemic? How did you get around this problem?
Tucker Halpern: One thing that changed in the music was how we weren’t just making music for tour. We didn’t know if we could do shows again. So we just made music for the purpose of enjoying and listening at home. Maybe something doesn’t need to be as energetic, it might be a little more vibrant or something.
Our relationship has always evolved and we are lucky to live together. So we were able to create, grow and evolve in different ways throughout the entire pandemic together, as a band and friends. As we play songs everyday on live stream on Twitch and Instagram, we create an amazing community around us. We were surprised.

Rolling Stone Brasil: Tell us a little more about the concept behind Wet Tennis, what are its meanings?
Sophie Hawley-Weld: Wet Tennis is the acronym for “when everyone tries to evolve, nothing negative is safe” (“when everyone tries to evolve, nothing negative is safe,” in free translation). This is really inspired by our loyal fans and this community that really chose to stay positive during this time.
We wanted the album to say that, but we also didn’t want to be preachers about it. We also wanted to have this fun light layer.

Rolling Stone Brasil: Now with the vaccines, how is your return to the shows?
Tucker Halpern: Well, it’s pretty crazy. We are about to go on tour since the beginning of the pandemic. It’s exciting but different. You know, we need to be really careful because if any of us catch Covid-19many shows are canceled – plus many consequences.

Rolling Stone Brasil: What are your plans for the future? What can we expect from Sofi Tukker?
Sophie Hawley-Weld: For now, we are still in the world of Wet Tennis. We’ve just released it and we’re about to do the world tour. We’re always making music, but we’re really focused on this world that’s just been born. So we’re really excited to tour the world right now.