Sofi Tukker

Who is Sofi Tukker?

Sofi Tukker is a music duo from New York City, consisting of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern. They became famous with songs such as “Drinkee”, “Best Friend” and “Purple Hat”. “Best Friend” in particular attracted attention when the song was featured in an Apple commercial for the launch of the iPhone X. Their track “Drinkee” also earned them a Grammy nomination in the “Best Dance Recording” category in 2017. In December 2018, their album Treehouse was nominated for a Grammy in the “Best Dance/Electronic Album” category.

Sofi Tukker consists of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern. Sophie was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, but grew up in rural Canada and Atlanta. She attended the United World College of the Adriatic in Duino, Italy, where she developed a passion for Brazilian culture and the Portuguese language, which later inspired her to spend an extended period of time in Brazil studying the language and collaborating with local artists and poets.

Tucker Halpern, from Brookline, Massachusetts, was a promising basketball player who was recruited by major Division I basketball teams. He played three years at Brown University and was team captain for one year. However, due to an illness, he had to end his basketball career and began to pursue music and DJing. He occasionally collaborated with the musician Nicolas Jaar.

Sophie and Tucker met at Brown University in 2014 when Sophie was performing at an art gallery. After her performance, Tucker approached her and soon they began writing songs and performing together. Eventually, they both moved to New York City to pursue their artistic projects. After an accident that confined Sophie to a wheelchair for four months, they stayed in touch via Skype, which gave Sophie the opportunity to learn the music program Ableton.

Sofi Tukker released her first EP Soft Animals on July 8, 2016. The tracks on the EP are “Drinkee”, “Matadora”, “Awoo”, “Déjà Vu Affair”, “Moon Tattoo” and “Hey Lion”. The title of the EP is taken from a line in Mary Oliver’s poem “Wild Geese”, which says: “You just have to let the soft animal in your body love what it loves”.

The song “Drinkee”, which is based on a poem by the Brazilian poet Chacal, was nominated for a Grammy in the “Best Dance Recording” category in 2017. The song is a sensual interpretation of the poem and combines sounds such as cowbells, bongos, electric guitars and a deep bass. “Drinkee” was also used in the movie “The Incredible Jessica James”.

In June 2019, the song “Feeling Good” was featured in the trailer for the series Dead to Me and was also part of the soundtrack for the 2020 film Birds of Prey. On April 24, 2020, Australian radio station Triple J presented a new song by the duo, “When the Rona’s Over”, which was created as part of a musical challenge during the COVID-19 quarantine called “Quarantune”.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sofi Tukker began regularly DJing sets from home, reaching the 400 gigs mark on April 19, 2021. These gigs were later extended to platforms such as Twitch, Facebook and Instagram Live. Her fan base, who call themselves “Freak Fam”, organized their own channels and virtual dance parties via Zoom during the livestreams.

In February 2022, Sofi Tukker released the single “Original Sin” as a precursor to her second album “Wet Tennis”, which was released on April 29, 2022. In April 2023, Sofi Tukker performed at the 22nd Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and wowed the audience with her energetic performance.

Studio albums by Sofi Trukker

• 2018 Treehouse
• 2022 Wet Tennis
• 2024 Bread