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Photo: Vanessa Vlandis

In less than 10 years, Sofi Tukker have taken the world by storm with their vibrant, positive, and community-driven music. The duo, comprised of best friends Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern, started their individual journeys on opposite sides of the globe. Meeting by chance in 2014, the dynamic duo has become a supernova in the dance and electronic scene celebrated for their inclusive and global perspective on electronic music and their work's themes of liberation, unity, and self-empowerment. 

To better understand the pair's origin, we need to go back to college. The duo met at Brown University. Brookline, Massachusetts native Halpern was a basketball player with his heart set on going pro. After his sophomore season, Halpern was named Brown's captain for his upcoming junior season. Unfortunately, an illness would change the trajectory of that dream. He spent a year away from the court but found refuge in learning how to make music with the help of YouTube tutorials."...I wanted to somehow be productive or learn some skill or do something so I didn't feel like I was literally wasting so much time and everything," he shares in an interview with wbur. "So I got this FL Studio—which is, like, one of the computer softwares that you make music with... I was doing it from, like, the time I woke up to the time I went to bed." When he finally returned to Brown a year later and gave basketball one more try despite his illness, Halpern soon found his true calling and began DJing small parties on campus and around town.

Meanwhile, Sophie Hawley-Weld was born in Frankfurt, Germany but grew up in rural Canada and Atlanta before attending the United World College of the Adriatic, a UWC in Duino, Italy, where she studied conflict resolution and Brazilian Portuguese while honing her craft as an artist. "At one point, I was really into West African dance, and I was in a dance troupe," Hawley-Weld adds to wbur. "At one point, I was, like, really into sociology. At one point, I was really into the Brazilian studies and Brazilian music. I was, like, a pretty true hippy at one point." Before her senior year, the same summer that Halpern gave up basketball, she wrote a 10-song EP that was just her and her guitar. During the fall of 2014, she performed her music with two other people at an art gallery that Halpern was scheduled to DJ afterward. It was after that fateful gig, which they both described as underwhelming to wbur, that Halpern approached her, and they began writing and performing songs together. After spending the rest of the semester collaborating and working on music, the newly minted act moved to New York and hit the ground running.

In 2015, Sofi Tukker would put out their debut single "Drinkee," which they had previously been workshopping during their days in Brown. The track, adapted from a poem written by the Brazilian poet Chacal, is sung sensually amidst cowbells, bongos, electric guitars, and deep driving bass and soon caught fire and the attention of Apple, who eventually reached out and asked if they could use it in a commercial for the Apple Watch. The duo kept the party going with the release of Soft Animals on July 8, 2016. The EP, which takes its name from 1986 Mary Oliver poem Wild Geese, is an insatiable dance collection of jungle-pop songs with nods towards Brazilian instruments, poets, and the national language, Portuguese, and is home to a variety of Sofi Tukker classics, including "Drinkee," "Matadora," "Awoo," "Déjà Vu Affair," personal favorite "Moon Tattoo," and "Hey Lion." And to top off the incredible year, in December 2016, Sophie and Tucker learned that "Drinkee" was nominated for a Grammy.

2017 saw the duo celebrate their nomination and continue to put out more music leading up to their debut album. This release cycle included tracks like "Batshit," "Energia," and "Best Friend," which just so happened to feature their friends, The Knocks, Nervo, and Alisa Ueno, and was eventually picked up by Apple for another commercial. Finally, on April 13, 2018, Sofi Tukker released their long-awaited debut studio album, Treehouse. The songs on Treehouse were alternately playful and sincere, intimate and global, with songs like "Fuck They" challenging the status quo. At the same time, tracks like "Baby I'm a Queen" embraced the contradictions and ambiguities of third-wave feminism. Their hard work, attention to detail, impeccable sonic craftsmanship, and love went into the record, ultimately earning them a 'Best Dance/Electronic Album' Grammy nomination.

Keeping the ball rolling, Sofi Tukker continued to make a mark for themselves throughout 2019 and early 2020, putting out remixes and collaborating with artists like Haiku Hands. They also wowed audiences again with the release of their EP Dancing on the People, which saw them delve into darker spaces and create more sonically evocative moments, especially on tracks like "Purple Hat," "Ringless," and the record's closer "Fantasy." Then lockdown happened. In the Spring of 2020, the group started live-streaming daily DJ sets from their home outside Miami to millions worldwide. They released their quarantine anthem, "House Arrest," with Gorgon City, which reached #1 on US Dance Radio. During this very somber and stressful time in the global zeitgeist, Sofi Tukker delivered a glimmer of joy to fans, keeping the party going as we all masked up, stayed indoors, and blasted dance gems like the Icona Pop-assisted "Spa" "Emergency," and "It Don't Matter."

In late 2021, the band released their first official album single since 2017, "Sun Came Up," ushering in their new album cycle. The vibey song features a sunny bass drop post-chorus, and its use of Spanish guitar adds a crisp texture to the electronic background as Sophie's smooth vocals blend in, serving as a soft dance track to ease listeners out of the summer and into their new era. Throughout 2022, the duo kept teasing the party that was to come with the release of their sophomore album, with songs like the immersive "Original Sin" and the surf-tinged "Kakee" leading the charge, showing that they've stayed true to their tropicália infused influences while experimenting with new textures and arrangements. In April of 2022, the 35-minute dance party that is WET TENNIS was finally unleashed to the masses and had us lusting for life.

WET TENNIS is the definition of a well-oiled club-ready release. Sofi Tukker’s approach to dance-pop is exhilarating, with every track bursting forward as an experimental burst of vibrancy. Each one feels distinct, existing in its own dizzying, infectious world within the sprawling club the duo has created. Mahmut Orhan's feature on "Forgive Me" hints at Latin pop, while tracks like "Larry Bird" meld together the chaotic, whistle-blowing world of house with bombastic steel drums. The duo's penchant for the experimental melding of genres is also exemplified on the title track, "Wet Tennis," which places jazz at its center, weaving together a groovy bassline, seductively smooth vocals, and a bright burst of brass, resulting in a luxuriously fun track.

2023 saw Sofi Tukker become the faces of colorful G-Star Raw and Baboon to the Moon collections and the continuation of their fashion label WET TENNIS. In the first half of the year, the duo released "Sacrifice" with Kx5 (Kaskade & Deadmau5) and contributed two songs to the debut album from LP Giobbi. Their latest singles, “TROMPA” and "Jacaré," continue to celebrate their Brazilian influences with the latter being released after their show-stealing set at Coachella and serving as an anthem in support of the LGBTQ+ community.

The sultry tune features lyrics by the Brazilian poet Chacal and a collage of sun-drenched instrumentation, intoxicating rhythms, and sensuality to listeners everywhere. “Jacaré means alligator in Portuguese, but it’s also a derogatory word for women who like women,” shares the duo. “We wanted to take the word and flip it into something positive and joyful rather than a term used as an insult or threat. This song is super fun and sexy and inspired by our time in Brazil. We wrote the lyrics together with our longtime collaborator and friend, the Brazilian poet, Chacal. It’s been a highlight in every DJ set we’ve done recently. It’s a celebration of Brazil, of women and the LGBTQ+ community.” Most recently, the pair just released a remix of the rule-breaking single, keeping the party going and continuing to show their love and support of the community through their craft.

Sofi Tukker's versatility as a live act sees them packing festival fields, selling out headline tours, and returning to Vegas for their DJ residency. With records earning Gold or Platinum status on every continent other than Antarctica, and their electric and energetic live show selling out venues and gracing major festival stages across the planet, the pair also continue to be passionate activists who have raised funds and awareness for Planned Parenthood, The Trevor Project, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the March for Our Lives. Their commitment to equality and fostering community while recombining the pillars of dance music into exciting new shapes has established them as a singular act.