US dance music duo keeps party going with virtual DJ sets

MANILA, Philippines — American dance music duo Sofi Tukker, composed of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern, has found a way to keep the party going amid the pandemic restrictions. They have been livestreaming DJ sets every day, since the onset of the pandemic, to connect and reassure their fans around the globe in these troubling times.

“We started live streaming every day at the beginning of the pandemic. We DJ-ed, live streamed daily for (more than) 300 days, something crazy like that,” said Tucker in an exclusive Zoom interview with The STAR.

The insanely admirable effort from the music pair paid off as its number of followers has grown over time, subsequently forming an online community of fans called Freak Fam.

“The people that really watched and started following us became very intense. We grew a lot in that time. The live streams, DJ sets really made a lot of people (become) aware of us. We thought it was helping us get through (as music artists) and we also ended up helping a lot of people get through a lonely time,” furthered Tucker.

Sophie concurred, “In a way it just brought our world together because in the past, we were able to tour about going to one city at a time. But (in) this way, we were able to play to everybody around the world at the same time. And so, what happened was, everybody became friends with each other and it really created this feeling of community, instead of just (partying) in separate cities.”

The two talked more about how the pandemic redefined their music career, a brief throwback on how their music chemistry began, their Grammy-nominated single Drinkee and latest track Sun Came Up with John Summit.

Back in college, at the Brown University in Rhode Island, basketball player Tucker went ill and had to stop school for a year. While in bed for seven months, he got interested in music and wanted to be “productive somehow.” Tucker would watch YouTube to self-learn on how to make music.

Sofi Tukker with John Summit.

After taking that break, he went back to school to “DJ” a lot. That was the time when he actually saw Sophie stage a bossa nova and he was enamored of her performance. “I heard her and she was amazing. I thought it would be really cool if she could make dance music. I approached her after her performance. And I said, ‘I can make a remix of your music.’ It’s so great. We started working together ever since.”

With years of making beautiful music collectively, Sophie shared that the secret to their chemistry is being “different.” “We still bring a lot of different things on the table. We still have different interests. I think that helped us not get sick of each other (laughs).”

While both admire Belgian rapper Stromae as their favorite artist, Sophie’s attachment to bossa nova started since her early days. “(I love it,) especially the way how the bossa nova is played and sung. It’s very whispery, like almost the microphone is right there (near the mouth) and kind of like quiet. I really like to sing that way. That’s always been inspiring to me. Just feels very intimate.”

Sofi Tukker also “felt great” that the single Sun Came Up has reached No. 1 on US Dance Radio last month. “You make a song, you have no idea how it’s gonna be received. So, when people like it and when people support it, it feels amazing. We’re really grateful,” enthused Tucker.

Sun Came Up, “a rapturous house track with intricate Spanish guitar work,” was made while Sofi Tukker was in quarantine. It is about looking forward to that day when we can all “dance with our friends until the sun comes out,” once the pandemic crisis is over.

“We were dreaming about dancing with people again. It’s about being together, in darkness and in sunshine. And about being able to recall that experience over and over again in our imagination and memory. It’s both nostalgic and hopeful. Looking back and looking forward to that one perfect vignette of togetherness,” the duo said.

While doing the music video for the song, in which Sophie, Tucker, John and their group of friends were partying on the beach and yacht, Tucker shared a behind-the-scene blooper. One of his friends, who was with them in the video, got stuck in the bathroom while they were on top of the boat filming.

The girl went downstairs to take a call, she took it in the bathroom and got locked up. For 30 minutes, while the drone was going around and the crew was filming the whole music video, his friend was “underneath trying to scream for help out the window.”

They eventually found her when they took a break. “I was like, ‘Where did she go?’ We went down and she was like banging on the door. It was crazy,” narrated Tucker.

Besides Sun Came Up, Sofi Tukker’s most beloved hits Drinkee, Purple Hat and Best Friend (which was featured on Apple commercial) have gained over 100 million streams on Spotify. They are also frequently tapped for remixes by major artists, namely, Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry.

Some of their advocacies, on the other hand, include Planned Parenthood, The Trevor Project, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Natural Resources Defense Council and the March for Our Lives.

Through its music, the genre-defying duo assured fans to “keep working really hard and try to do things that make positive impact on the world.” “As long as we keep loving what we are doing and being excited about it, which we are, I think that’s contagious… I think that also we can inspire others to do the same, (to spread that) contagious feeling,” said Tucker.

Sophie agreed, “We just continue to enjoy the process in making music and loving what we make,” and cited Freak Fam as “a beautiful culture and community. I hope that it grows so that more people get to experience (our music).”

Sophie’s sister-in-law is a Filipino and she wishes to visit the country very soon.