Grammy-nominated musical duo Sofi Tukker are having a massive weekend. They’re not only performing at Coachella for the second and final weekend, but they also have a new single titled “Jacaré.” The duo, comprised of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern, are only just getting started for the summer as they have a string of festivals lined up, including Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Gov Ball, along with their Las Vegas residency. Fans can also expect to hear a ton of new music.
Brazen and bold, the duo isn’t afraid to bring new genres and perspectives to the electronic music world. To date, they’ve amassed over a billion streams and continue to bring in new crowds to their Vegas residency, filling day clubs and nightclubs. In March, they released a track with Kx5, the duo name for Kaskade and deadmau5, titled “Sacrifice,” and they’re now gearing up to start releasing some new music of their own following their sophomore album, WET TENNIS, and their Grammy-nominated debut album, Treehouse.
In addition to music, the duo is also dipping their toes in the fashion industry. They’re both the face of G-STAR RAW’S new denim TV ad campaign and Sophie was also a part of Nike’s International Women’s Day campaign where she got to design her own sneaker. Fans were also delighted when she released the WET TENNIS pants, identical to the ones Sophie wears on stage when she performs.
We chatted with both Sophie and Tucker about their new music, performing at festivals, and what inspires them when it comes to fashion.
Tell us about your new single!
Sophie: “Jacaré” is a song that’s out today! It actually means alligators in Portuguese, but it’s also used as a derogatory word for women who like women. We wanted to flip the word on its head and sort of celebrate women and the LGBTQ+ community and it’s just a really fun and sexy song that makes us dance every time we play it. It’s always a highlight of the set.
Is this a lead-up to a new album or body of work?
Tucker: There is a new group of songs we’ve been working on that is really, really exciting to us. This feels like a fun start to that group of songs and to a new wave of music for us that we just spent a lot of time on, especially when we were spending time in Brazil.
What can fans expect from Sofi Tukker in this new era of music?
Sophie: I’d say a return to our musical roots. We’re more inspired than ever, especially by house, jazz, and by Brazil. And you’ll find all three of those elements in a lot of our upcoming music.
You mentioned that your song with Kx5 is one of your favorites and the type of song you usually wouldn’t do. Can you elaborate and tell us how that song came to be?
Tucker: We both smiled when you asked that question because we always kind of avoid the story about this because it’s so real and so personal. Without getting name specific, a few years ago, I was in a relationship and my first priority was my relationship with Sofi Tukker, with music and with trying to build this life and dream and career, and I couldn’t really put my partner first, which is you know, what needs to happen for a relationship to work. We wrote a song about it while I was still dating this person, and it was super hard because she heard it and it was not very nice, I guess. I didn’t really mean for it to be that way.
Sophie: I kind of pretended that I was Tucker because I remember being in the studio and being like, I’m not really sure what I really want to write about. And Tucker was like, just use me. So, you know, I think that distance actually also helps to write something that feels really honest or sometimes from your own perspective. I feel like I wouldn’t have written those lyrics for myself. But knowing that this isn’t about me, I can be extra harsh.
Tucker: I felt bad about it after we wrote it. It was so honest that it felt mean. And then we kind of sat on it for like three years and didn’t really show anyone because it felt too personal and like airing out my dirty laundry to the world. A bunch of relationships later, it feels fine to put out into the world.
I think it’s incredible that you two are able to be so vulnerable with each other and be there for each other in that way.
Sophie: I think we’ve had to become extremely vulnerable with each other just because we’re going through everything together. We’ve seen each other’s lowest lows and highest highs and, you know, we also live together and we’re traveling on the road together constantly. If one of us is having an off day, or not showing up for our mission and our purpose, the other one will be like, hey, like, don’t put up with that. And then you kind of have to explain and be honest and ask for help. I had a day the other day where we were in rehearsals, and I was like my head is not in it. I’m not proud of what’s going on in my head. But I gotta tell Tucker because he has to know and help me get through it so I can be super focused. It’s actually been the best gift ever to actually have somebody kind of see all your horrible ideas in the studio. He’s seen all my worst creative ideas and vice versa. And, you know, to still have love and respect and admiration after that is really powerful.
In less than a decade, you’ve reached incredible success. Having gotten to this point, what are your goals next? Where do you see yourselves going as a duo?
Tucker: I appreciate that. I think it is really cool to look at how far we’ve come but I really think we both don’t feel like we’ve reached incredible success. I think we feel like we’re really lucky to get to do what we love to do, but there’s so much more we want to do. And so many new heights we want to reach and better music we want to make and more connections with more people in more places around the world, and hopefully impact the world more and more in better ways. It’s always flattering, but it doesn’t feel real. Part of what Sophie was saying before with this constant kind of support is we also have each other to always push each other. And I think it’s a really cool balance. I feel like we are grateful to be doing what we’re doing and we love doing it. And we want to just keep doing it on a bigger scale and make better music and make more people feel good.
What do you look forward to most when performing at festivals like Coachella, Bonnaroo, Gov Ball, and more?
Tucker: I have to say I’m most excited about our new show at Coachella because we’re going to be debuting a brand new show. We’d been dreaming up this whole new concept in production. And we finally feel like we’ve reached a level where we can do all the things we’ve always wanted to do at this stage. And I couldn’t be more excited for this round. of festivals because we get to show that.
Are there any songs that you feel fans love the most live and that you also love performing?
Sophie: I have to shout out our new music because we’ve added a couple of unreleased tracks and then we’ve also added “Jacaré”. I just feel like we’ve locked into something that just feels really good. So I personally am most excited about the brand new songs and I think that even though people won’t know them, there’s just like ecstatic goodness in them that I think people will really like. There’s one in particular that we play now in the live set that is going to be released in another month. It’s like ass-shaking heaven. It’s so much fun.
Do you hope to expand your residency to other cities outside of Las Vegas?
Tucker: Las Vegas is kind of a different type of industry. It’s different people every time because it’s people from all over the world that are constantly flying into Las Vegas. So it’s sort of its own unique industry, especially with dance music, and it’s an honor to have a residency with the Tao Group. That’s just like so much fun. We have the best time. We get to test out new music, play for people from all over the world, and we get to do that consistently throughout the year. I think most weekends in May this year, we’re going to be there. There’s going to be a lot of fun in Vegas for sure.
When you put on a show, in what ways do you bring wellness into it?
Sophie: It ultimately stems from the fact that we really want to put on a show that makes people feel good and that makes people feel positive. We want people to leave and be like that was the best night of my life, and we really can only do that if we’re living from a full tank ourselves. We do everything that we possibly can do to keep a full tank and you know, touring as a musician is extremely difficult. Every documentary about music will show that there are so many pitfalls to the lifestyle of constantly being jet lagged and constantly staying up late. We are very passionate about counteracting that and doing it in a different way, which for us has to do with touring like athletes. So you know, we’re constantly warming up and cooling down and stretching and foam rolling and meditating and keeping up with our therapy and keeping contact with our friends and ice bathing and kind of just doing all the things that we possibly can do. We don’t want it to deplete us. All of this is going to make us kind of feel even more whole.
Congratulations on being the face of G-STAR RAW’s new denim TV ad campaign. Were you fans of the brand before this collaboration?
Tucker: Yeah, I’ve always been a fan of G-STAR. They make the best raw denim and it’s the most sustainable, which I think is super cool.
Sophie: They were doing it far before it was trendy to be sustainable. Like they were just doing it because that’s the right way to do it.
Tucker: I remember seeing the Pharrell collab they did years ago. I was walking on Lafayette and I remember the G-STAR store was right there. And I saw that Pharrell collab and I was just like, that’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. So yeah, always, always been a fan.
Sophie: Yeah, it was very cool to be tapped for their colorful denim campaign. Everything we do, we really are inspired by color. We’re constantly kind of building our world in as many vibrant colors as possible. So it was really a natural fit.
Fashion is something you both are tapping into more with Sophie doing the Nike campaign as well. Do you have plans to expand your own fashion line? If yes, where do you draw inspiration for the clothes you design?
Sophie: We just dropped the Wet Tennis stage pants and I’m so excited about it because the number of people who have asked me where to get the pants I wear every day is staggering. And now I can finally be like here. They are the perfect pants with a cool color gradient and silkiness. I really wanted to make sure that I could wear it and now everyone else can wear it. I wear them on stage. I wear them all the time. But the challenging thing is doing it right. It took us about a year to really get the pants right so that we could actually reproduce them in a way that I was really proud of. We wanted it to be really high quality and stay together and kind of be the right silkiness and the right fit. We’re really interested in expanding and making more. It just means that we’re also going to be taking our time to do it right. Tucker also has been designing a lot more recently, which has been really cool.
Tucker: I just love fashion. I love designing. It’s just so fun. I’ve always been interested in it. And recently I feel like I’ve had more confidence to sort of step out and trust myself on stuff and it’s been really fun.