CRSSD, Nuts, and Wet Tennis: Interview with SOFI TUKKER
SOFI TUKKER has won the hearts of thousands of people across the globe. Their first EP, Soft Animals, rightfully earned a spot on Billboard’s dance/electronic albums chart and their song “Best Friend” became widely popular in the U.S. and parts of Europe. Since forming in 2015, the American music duo gained a loyal international fanbase of people who appreciate live sets and music that gets you movin’ and groovin’. It’s no wonder that CRSSD Music Festival chose them to headline this spring’s lineup. It was at CRSSD where we met with SOFI TUKKER in their trailer and talked about their upcoming album, what it’s like performing live sets, and their exciting world tour.
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EDM Maniac: Hey, guys! Thanks for taking the time out of your hectic schedule to sit and talk with me for a bit. How are you guys?
Tucker: So good!
Sophie: Really good. Really excited for this.
EDM Maniac: Yeah! I mean it’s your first time playing here at CRSSD since 2018. Are you guys ready?
Sophie: Oh, yeah. We’re really ready.
Tucker: Yeah, we were just talking about how exciting it is. It’s the first time we’re coming back to a festival and then headline when we were like a smaller artist before. It feels so f*cking good.
EDM Maniac: Heck, yeah. What can we expect from your set today?
Sophie: Well it’s going to be a really special set for us because we only have two more shows until our album comes out–
Tucker: Two more live shows.
Sophie: Oh, yeah. Sorry, two more live shows until the album comes out. So, we’re going to be debuting a lot of new songs live. We’ve never played them before and we’ve put a lot of time and energy into prepping this set. So, lots of new stuff!
Tucker: It’s going to be fun! A little fun little thing.
EDM Maniac: Ah, sweet! Good luck with your set tonight! And what’s it like playing a set live with instruments?
Sophie: It’s the best. It’s the most work, but also has the biggest payoff–
Tucker: Not monetarily *laughs*.
Sophie: No, no! I mean like energy *laughs*.
EDM Maniac: *Points to Tucker* You’re like “…Yeah we’re not making a lot…” *laughs*.
Tucker: *Laughs* Right? I’m joking *laughs*. It made me laugh. It’s true though! Like the payoff and how good we feel after it and the connection that we get to make with the crowd, is different from a DJ set.
EDM Maniac: It’s priceless.
Sophie: Yeah! We put our whole energy and ourselves into it and a show day is a serious day. We prepped the entire day today, mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually to make sure this was going to be an unforgettable night for everyone.
Tucker: The past week, really. We were rehearsing a bunch and stuff.
EDM Maniac: All that preparing will definitely pay off tonight. Your album comes out on April 29th! Can you tell us a little bit about that album and what releasing it out into the world means to you?
Sophie: Yeah, this is our second album and I think this is our best music. I think we’ve gotten a lot better at writing and we put a lot of time and intention behind this album. We really had the time in the pandemic to really think about it and reflect on it. Like what is it we’re trying to say and figure out what type of music we really want to make.
Tucker: Yeah, it wasn’t just a bunch of songs we made thrown together. It was like a thoughtful creation of a thing. Wet Tennis is an acronym for When Everyone Tries To Evolve Nothing Negative Is Safe.
EDM Maniac: …Woah. You blew my mind. You really blew my mind *laughs*! I thought it was just wet tennis and nothing more than that.
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Tucker: *Laughs* Which it can be! To some people or most people, it’s like ‘oh that’s fun’. Kind of athletic and sexy or whatever. But we actually really wanted to say something and we were inspired by– like over the pandemic, we live-streamed every day, for 300 days. Then this community built around it called the Freak Fam. And the resilience of everyone and pushing through the negative sh*t in the world, the pandemic, people losing their jobs, getting sick, and everyone chose to stay positive and work through it. We wanted something that had that essence in it. And that’s what when everyone tries to evolve nothing negative is safe came. If you keep working and evolving, you can always get through it.
EDM Maniac: That is awesome. I absolutely love the meaning behind that. It’s a lot deeper than what I originally thought it was. That’s beautiful! So, what is your favorite song off of the album and why?
Tucker: I have a song. Sophie hates choosing favorites–
Sophie: It just depends on my mood! Sometimes I’ll want a song that’s super bright and cheery. Sometimes I’ll want a sexy song or a soothing song. It depends!
Tucker: It’s true. I’ll like some for different moments, but one that you won’t hear until April 29th– but it’s probably, maybe my favorite– is called “Summer In New York”. It’s really special to us and I think it’ll be great.
EDM Maniac: Alright, I’ll remember that for later when it comes out.
Tucker: Definitely remember it. And when you hear it you’ll be like, “Ohhh. okay, okay” *laughs*.
EDM Maniac: *Laughs* I’ll look back on this moment and be like “I see what he was saying”. You guys also have a European tour soon. Or world tour, excuse me. Are you excited about that?
Sophie: Yeah, we’re doing a world tour with Wet Tennis. We’re doing North America, Australia, Europe, and some more places, but we haven’t announced those yet. We’re really going to bring the whole Wet Tennis world into the live shows. So, we’re going to have a tennis court on stage, we’re going to make it feel like a game, and bringing that image to life.
EDM Maniac: That is so cool! You can totally have a secret game with yourselves and keep track of all your matches around the world *laughs*. Speaking of which, which place are you most excited to perform at?
Tucker: I’m looking forward to the whole U.S. tour and I’m looking forward to the whole European tour.
Sophie: Yeah, and Australia.
EDM Maniac: So looking forward to the whole world tour *laughs*.
Tucker: I think I’m looking forward to Berlin and Istanbul. We haven’t been to Berlin–
Sophie: Berlin was the last show that we did in Europe. Turkey–
Tucker: Brazil, it’s not on the schedule yet, but I’m really looking forward to that.
Sophie: Mexico City–
Tucker: Ooh, Mexico. So fire.
Sophie: San Diego? We’re coming back to San Diego with the Wet Tennis tour.
EDM Maniac: Oh, sweet! A lot of really great places. What are your favorite and least favorite things about touring?
Sophie: My favorite thing about touring is the shows. And the least favorite thing about touring is the exhaustion.
TuckerR: I would say the people and friends that you get to see along the way are my favorite. The bunks in the tour bus are my least favorite.
Sophie: Tucker doesn’t fit. He’s 6’7.
EDM Maniac: Oh my gosh. I didn’t know you were that tall standing next to me. I’m 5’2. I’m like a toddler standing next to you then *laughs*.
Tucker: Yeah, I’ve got a little somethin’ somethin’ with my height *laughs*.
EDM Maniac: So, last question. What are 3 things you don’t think your fans know about you? It could be about the both of you or either of you.
Sophie: There are very few things that people don’t know about us.
Tucker: No, yeah. We’re so f*cking open about our sh*t.
Sophie: Yeah, like I’ll share about myself or Tucker will share about me.
Tucker: Yeah, I’m trying to think about what fans don’t know about me. There aren’t that many *laughs*.
Sophie: We’re an open book.
Tucker: I think that’s the answer! We’re like actually authentic on f*cking social media! If you want to know about something, you can probably find out on there.
EDM Maniac: Favorite food?
Tucker: Okay, yeah. People know it, but it’s açaí bowls.
EDM Maniac: Is there a place that is your go-to?
Tucker: I have a place called Celis in West Palm Beach. That is the spot!
EDM Maniac: What is your go-to order?
Tucker: It’s called The Tukker.
Sophie: Actually, he gets The Sofi now *laughs*.
Tucker: Oh, yeah. Hers is like the half size of The Tukker. But, it was originally The Tukker! Almond butter açaí bowl, basically.
EDM Maniac: Mm, I love almond butter.
Tucker: Cashew butter though. Underrated.
Sophie: Macadamia butter though. Even more underrated.
Tucker: Ooh. True *laughs*.
Sophie: Trader Joe’s raw almond butter though. It’s so good. I have it in my backpack.
EDM Maniac: Oh my gosh. Really? I love that stuff. I get a new jar of that like every week.
Sophie: The raw one?
Tucker: Oh, she knows.
Sophie: So good. What the f*ck is Trader Joe’s putting in that stuff? It’s so good. Do you want a tablespoon on the way out? I got you *laughs*.
EDM Maniac: I might just take you up on that! I mean I just grabbed some cashews from Tukker, so *laughs*.
Tucker: *Laughs* That’s true! We got nuts for days! Come to SOFI TUKKER and you just get nutted.
Sophie: Please don’t include that in the interview *laughs*!
EDM Maniac: “How was the interview?” Oh, I got nutted.
Sophie: *Laughs* twice.
EDM Maniac: By each of them *laughs*. Alright. Is there anything that you want to close us out with? Anything you want to say to your fans, etcetera?
Tucker: We can’t wait for everyone to come see this new Wet Tennis tour that we’ve been designing and dreaming up. We’re so excited and the album, we feel like it’s f*cking– we love it. So, we hope everyone else might like it too.
EDM Maniac: For sure. Thank you guys so much for your time and I enjoyed our conversation! Good luck with your show tonight and the tour!
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To keep up with all things SOFI TUKKER, be sure to follow them on Instagram, Twitter, Spotify, and Facebook. To learn more about their tour dates for the Wet Tennis tour, view their website here.
