INTERVIEW: Sofi Tukker discuss their new 'Swing' music video
Sofi Tukker recently released their single ‘Swing’ which reached the #1 spot on Triple J. We had the opportunity to talk to them about the music video for it, their upcoming EP, and much more!
For ‘Swing’, you collaborated with the Brazillian poet Chacal, whom you’ve also worked with for your song ‘Drinkee’. How would you describe sharing your vision with him once again?
Sophie: We absolutely love working with Chacal. I am in touch with him all the time, and he is a good friend! We are constantly sending poems back and forth. He has become a huge part of our creative process! We did Matadora, The Dare, Energia, and Playa Grande with him too!!
Along with ‘Swing’, you’ve released the singles ‘Fantasy’ and ‘Playa Grande’ which all will be on your upcoming EP, Dancing on the People, what was the songwriting process behind it and did you have any inspiration?
We’ve been recently really inspired by our live show recently, since we do that almost every night. We wrote Fantasy because we wanted to create the kind of moment where you are in a crowd belting out emotional lyrics while dancing. There’s really nothing like that feeling. It’s influenced by the music from early 2000s Eurodance that just has that perfectly emotional cathartic feel. And since we wrote it, it’s been a highlight in our live show. We wrote Playa Grande after a really inspiring weekend in the Dominican Republic. We were feeling so inspired by nature, specifically by dancing barefoot on the beach. But the song wasn’t quite right until we sent it to Bomba Estereo, who are really one of our favourite bands and inspirations. They took it to the next level and they were the perfect people to collaborate with on this ode to nature and carefree dance. They really live that spirit and it was so meaningful to collaborate with a band who share such a similar ethos.
The music video was directed by Charles Todd, who also directed the music video for your single ‘Fantasy’. What do you enjoy about your experiences working with him and creating a visual story for your songs?
We shot the videos for Fantasy and Swing within days of each other in Mexico. We LOVE Chas and the whole Scheme Engine crew, who have become really good friends. He gets so excitable, just like us. And we all just get really into the project and we kind of all amp each other up. It’s always really excited creative energy when we are together and we feel really lucky to work with such talented humans who are as dedicated to their vision as we are.
In Australia, ‘Swing’ was the #1 song on Triple J and #12 on Shazam Australia Top 200 Chart. This past year, you played at the Groovin The Moo Festival and on tour throughout Australia. How was your time performing at Groovin The Moo and the rest of your Australian tour?
That’s crazy!!!! We are so blown away by the support from Triple J and people in Australia! Thank you! Australia is one of our favourite places. And definitely one of our favourite places to eat. The Groovin the Moo festival was especially fun because we all travelled together. We ended up making a lot of friends with other artists and crews. We actually met Haiku Hands during the festival and now they’re opening for us on our headline tour in North America this fall!!! They’re so fun.
You’ve mentioned before, “The words are about words, like a lot of the things we do with Chacal, part of the meaning of it is just how nonsensical it is.” Can you elaborate on what you mean by that and how it connects to the production of the song itself?
Some of our songs feel more like mantras than like songs. Sometimes, the lyrics are about the meaning and sometimes they are more like a rhythmic element. We like that a lot of people won’t understand the words because that’s part of what makes it feel like a mantra, where the point is just to get enveloped in the repetition of the sounds. And for the people who do understand the words, there is just a different type of meaning! The swing lyrics literally are about “the word” and how they are “delicious”
The music video involves you both battling, fighting throughout the whole video. How does the connection between the fighting and the other visuals relate to the message of the song?
The fighting and epic battle imagery comes more from the sound of the song than from the meaning of the lyrics. The strings feel really dramatic and the back and forth of the vocals makes it fuel like a duel between us! So we ran with it!!
