SOFI TUKKER's exciting new album, 'BREAD,' is set to release this Friday. The duo discusses how embracing sexuality was the main inspiration for the album, the Brazilian influence on their latest work, their collaboration with Heidi Klum, and their upcoming tour sets with Kygo and J Balvin, and more!
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MusicTranscript
00:00We really believe that 2 plus 2 equals 6 with us.
00:03I think we both know that.
00:05There's something in my eye, I'm not crying, I swear.
00:09Hey, I'm Tucker.
00:09And I'm Sophie.
00:10And we're Sophie Tucker.
00:11And you're watching Billboard News.
00:15We are here with Sophie Tucker.
00:17Guys, welcome to the studio.
00:19Thank you for coming in.
00:21I'm really excited about your new album.
00:23I think it's fantastic.
00:24I think it's fun, and it's playful, and it's sexy,
00:26and it's sophisticated, and it's many things.
00:30And I'm wondering, when you guys knew
00:32that it was time to get back into the studio
00:34after the last one that came out in 2022?
00:36The truth is, we never stop going into the studio.
00:39So we're just always making things.
00:41Like, for instance, Woof, which is one of the songs on Bread.
00:48We made, before we even finished the last album, What Tennis?
00:53And we just couldn't figure out, couldn't figure out, couldn't figure out.
00:56It had so many different versions of the song.
00:59And then finally we got it right for this album.
01:01We're kind of always in the studio, always making things.
01:03And then once we feel like the songs are telling a story,
01:08or the songs are like, oh wait, there's something cohesive here
01:11that feels like they need to belong together,
01:13then we make the album.
01:15What story do you feel like you landed on,
01:17and what story does this album tell?
01:19I think this album tells, like, a return to who we are when we started.
01:28I had just finished playing basketball.
01:30We were in college.
01:32Sophie was a jazz musician playing mostly Brazilian music.
01:37I was into house music, playing house parties.
01:40She brought everything from her world,
01:42and I brought everything from my world.
01:44And we just kind of mashed them together.
01:47And I think we went into that harder and deeper than we've ever done before.
01:52There was a song, Perfect Someone,
01:55that basically Tucker was listening to like a 1960s jazz song.
01:59And he brought it into the studio and he was like,
02:01I think we have to make something with this.
02:03Can you write a melody kind of in this?
02:05The guitar was doing this really cool melody.
02:07Could you kind of write lyrics to match it?
02:10We ended up finishing the song and we just felt like,
02:13whoa, the album, the next album we do,
02:17this is the blueprint for it.
02:19There's something about this song that just is the album.
02:25You could see the aesthetic listening to it.
02:30You could feel it.
02:32This is what we saw.
02:34We were like, oh, suddenly it all makes sense.
02:36And then everything else that came after it
02:38kind of went around Perfect Someone.
02:40You had a vision.
02:42The other thing is that we actually spent three months in Brazil last year.
02:45And Brazil has been an inspiration since the beginning of the band.
02:48But this time actually being in Brazil,
02:50and this time Tucker really getting it
02:54and spending a lot of time there,
02:56I think it made us feel like we returned to our roots very literally.
03:00I feel like Brazil's always kind of been the third member of this group in a way.
03:04I'm wondering what you getting Brazil looked like
03:07and then how it informed what you were making down there.
03:09Tucker got really into Bailey Funk music,
03:12which was a totally new genre for me
03:14and I didn't even know very much about it.
03:16That's why you had to leave.
03:18Yeah, because I was like, I don't know.
03:20She brings me to Brazil and I fall in love with the one genre
03:24that I didn't even like.
03:26That's how we were.
03:28I've had to change it apart.
03:30When did Bread become sort of the thesis statement, if you will?
03:34Well, it started with the song Bread.
03:36We wrote the song and we were like,
03:38this is just, first of all, who doesn't love bread?
03:40You know, we were looking at the track list
03:42and we were just like, every time we saw that song title,
03:44we just were happy.
03:46And the song was actually written about a book called The Purity Myth.
03:51I don't know if you're familiar with that book.
03:53Basically, it's about how this idea of virginity and purity
03:57is so harmful to women.
03:59And the less we have experienced pleasure,
04:04actually, the more value we have.
04:06It's just not okay.
04:08Right.
04:09Anyway, so we wrote the song Bread
04:11about just owning your appetite sexually for food.
04:16And it's also a symbol for abundance
04:20and sort of owning that as a woman as well.
04:23Get off, you get out.
04:25I eat bread.
04:27We also don't want to be preachy
04:29when we're saying things that we really want to say.
04:32We also want it to feel fun and light
04:34because that's what people often go to our music for.
04:36Yeah.
04:37But there is sort of a lot of meaning there.
04:40And we had a more serious title,
04:42working title for a long time.
04:44And it felt like we were missing...
04:46Fun.
04:47The fun in it.
04:49And for us, it's so important to,
04:51even if we elevate and want to go
04:53make a more sophisticated album,
04:55we don't want to take ourselves too seriously.
04:57And that's something we've always sort of had
05:00as an important part of, I think, our personalities
05:04and just how we work as a group.
05:07Like this, for example,
05:09we really wanted to make an incredibly beautiful piece of art.
05:13And we got to work with a photographer named Rob Woodcock
05:16who makes amazing movement photography with dancers.
05:22But we were like,
05:24how can we make that weird and fun still
05:27with elevating it and making it beautiful in fashion
05:30and elegant?
05:32And so that was where we were like,
05:34OK, well, if she's wearing a bunch of bread,
05:36it'll at first just look beautiful
05:38and then you'll be like, wait, what the hell is going on?
05:40The collaborators on this album,
05:42a small but mighty crew,
05:44MC Bola, am I getting that right?
05:46Channel Trace and Kahlo.
05:49How did you land on these three powerhouses in their own right?
05:53It really depended on the song,
05:55but we wrote the song Wolf with Kahlo
05:57like three years ago.
05:59I think it might have been five years ago.
06:01Five years ago?
06:02It was before the pandemic.
06:04The first version of that song was before the pandemic.
06:07Sorry to say.
06:08Wow.
06:09This album has been five years in the making.
06:11Wow.
06:12And then Channel Trace,
06:13we were watching his performance
06:15at what festival was it?
06:17Electric Forest.
06:19He was at Electric Forest.
06:21And we were just blown away.
06:23I mean, his performance was so great.
06:25He's the all-time coolest.
06:26There's no one cooler than that guy.
06:28The coolest dude of all time.
06:29Anyway, then he watched our show
06:31and we just hung out afterwards
06:33and we were in the green room
06:34and we were just loving each other.
06:37We were just like, your show was so great.
06:39And he was like, your show was so great.
06:40We just love each other so much.
06:42There's a lot of similarities
06:43between his show and our show
06:45because he performs dance music live.
06:48There's dancers, there's choreo.
06:50Sure.
06:51There's not that many of us.
06:52That's so true.
06:53There's a performance with it
06:54and there really aren't that many of us.
06:56And then basically, we were in Rio.
06:58I was with my Portuguese professor from college
07:01and I was lying in her lap
07:03and she was doing cafuné in my hair.
07:05And cafuné is just,
07:06it's one of those words in Portuguese
07:07that can't be translated to any other language.
07:10And it just means lovingly,
07:12putting your fingers through somebody's hair.
07:15And so I was with her doing that
07:17and I was also with this poet, Chacal,
07:19who we've been working with
07:20since we started the band.
07:22And I was like,
07:23cafuné is my favorite word
07:24in the Portuguese language.
07:25And he was like, done.
07:26We're writing a song.
07:27And so he wrote the poem
07:28and then we recorded it.
07:30It was really quick.
07:31And we were like,
07:32something is missing about this song.
07:34And so we just sent it to Channel Trace.
07:36And he sent it back almost immediately.
07:39It was just one of those things
07:40that happen really quickly.
07:41And it's perfect.
07:43Because in the song,
07:44he's just,
07:45he's asking me like,
07:46wait, how do you pronounce that again?
07:47Like, what's that word again?
07:48He's just like defining the word.
07:50The whole song.
07:51And it's one of my favorites.
07:53It's so fun.
07:54Okay, I feel like there's one more person
07:55I need to mention right now
07:56in terms of collaborators
07:57because the Heidi Klum cameo in the video
08:00is epic.
08:01And it looks like you guys
08:02were having so much fun.
08:06Yeah.
08:11How did she get in the mix?
08:13We met her at Fashion Week in Paris.
08:17And we bonded
08:18because I was born in Germany.
08:20And so we started speaking German.
08:23Turns out she'd already been
08:24to some of our shows.
08:25She started just taking videos
08:28of herself dancing to our music
08:30and tagging us.
08:31And we were like,
08:32wow, Heidi is the nicest person ever.
08:34This is crazy.
08:35She's just contagious.
08:37She's so fun.
08:38We were like,
08:39that would be the best video ever.
08:40Why isn't that our music video?
08:41So we were like,
08:42hey, would you do a music video with us
08:44where you just dance around
08:45because we just want to watch this?
08:46Sure.
08:47And she was like,
08:48yeah, but only if you're in it too.
08:49And so we were like,
08:50okay, let's do it.
08:51But also I think,
08:52you know,
08:53there's just not that many examples
08:54of older women
08:55who are totally owning their sexuality.
08:58Sure.
08:59And I think for me,
09:00just being around that,
09:01I'm just like,
09:02this is really heartwarming
09:03and awesome
09:04because I don't want to,
09:05you know,
09:06feel like my sexuality will decline
09:08when I'm getting older.
09:09Absolutely.
09:10And she proves that
09:11that doesn't have to happen.
09:12So the Hey Homie video.
09:19The song is so sweet,
09:20but I feel like the video
09:21really brought the whole thing
09:22to another level
09:23because it's really about
09:24your long-term relationship
09:26as friends
09:27and it seems like
09:28a tremendous amount
09:29of affection for each other.
09:30You guys have been doing this
09:31for 10 years now.
09:33The song's not written
09:34about our relationship.
09:35Yeah.
09:36It was written about
09:37like separate
09:38personal relationships
09:39we both had
09:40at the same time
09:41of making the song
09:42that we were kind of
09:43pulling from.
09:44And we kept looking
09:45at the footage
09:46and just being like,
09:47I wonder if we should
09:48just make this about us.
09:49And then we'd be like,
09:50no,
09:51people are going to
09:52misinterpret that
09:53and take it the wrong way.
09:54And we're like,
09:55but who cares,
09:56you know?
09:57Sure.
09:58And when we made it
09:59about our relationship
10:00and, you know,
10:01we brought and found footage
10:02over the last 10 years
10:03into the video,
10:04it just felt so right.
10:05What do you admire
10:06most about each other?
10:11I'm going to make
10:12Chakra go first.
10:14I love that we say
10:15all these nice things
10:16about each other
10:17and then get so
10:18hiccuped on this question.
10:20I know.
10:21It looks so bad.
10:23I would say probably
10:25his sense of
10:27community.
10:28Like, he's really good
10:29at bringing everybody
10:31together and just
10:32making sure
10:33that everyone feels
10:34invited
10:35and that there's
10:37a crew and a vibe.
10:39I love being around people.
10:41It's so fun.
10:42It energizes us.
10:43It inspires us.
10:44We're lucky
10:45we have amazing
10:46crew around us.
10:48And it's ever-growing.
10:49Sure.
10:50So what do you admire
10:51about me?
10:52Exactly!
10:53I was changing,
10:54I was like,
10:55maybe they'll forget
10:56the question,
10:57maybe they'll forget
10:58the question.
10:59Okay.
11:00I admire many
11:01things about Sophie.
11:03She just does everything
11:04she possibly can
11:05to be her best self.
11:07Like, physically,
11:08she's waking up
11:09to get a workout in.
11:11She's sober.
11:13She's, you know,
11:14making sure she's
11:15taking care of her
11:16mental health.
11:17Like, she's doing
11:18everything she can
11:19to be
11:20the peak,
11:21you know,
11:22execution.
11:23Sure.
11:24And I think,
11:25one, being in a group
11:26with someone like that
11:27is
11:28is best case scenario.
11:30Not only because
11:31it rubs off on me,
11:32but also because
11:34it's a good person
11:35you can trust.
11:36They're gonna,
11:37you know,
11:38be there and
11:39show up and
11:40yeah,
11:41I think that's a good one.
11:42I think that's a really nice one.
11:43Great one.
11:44How do you feel?
11:45I feel great.
11:46Great answer.
11:49I'm curious about
11:50how you see
11:51this continuing to evolve.
11:53We have goals
11:54and we had goals
11:55and then we surpassed
11:56some of those
11:57and then we,
11:58you just keep making
11:59new ones and I think
12:00we're the type of people
12:01that
12:02we're kind of
12:03workaholics
12:04and we'll keep
12:05making new goals
12:06so that it's
12:07always kind of feeling
12:08like we're
12:09going somewhere.
12:10And I like
12:11living that way,
12:12personally.
12:13Yeah, I kind of hate
12:14the word workaholic
12:15just because it has
12:16such a negative
12:17connotation,
12:18but the truth is,
12:19like, we just love
12:20what we do so much.
12:21And I would say
12:22the most important goal
12:23to me is
12:24the, you know,
12:25loving the process.
12:26I'm so excited
12:27to do what we do.
12:28Now that the album
12:29is done,
12:30what does it look like?
12:31What kind of show
12:32are you putting together?
12:33And yeah,
12:34how will it be
12:35different from
12:36the last one?
12:37We haven't done
12:38our live show
12:39in about two years.
12:41So we're
12:42really excited
12:43to bring that back.
12:44We've been doing
12:45mostly DJ sets
12:46and like
12:47festival show,
12:48DJ shows
12:49in our residency
12:50in Las Vegas.
12:51So when we made
12:52our last album,
12:53Wet Tennis,
12:54it was during COVID
12:55and we made a lot
12:56of the songs
12:57without performing in mind
12:58because we didn't even know
12:59if we'd be able
13:00to perform them
13:01when we were making them.
13:02And this one
13:03we made while
13:04we were touring again.
13:05So it was more
13:06like
13:07songs we'd get
13:08really excited
13:09to be playing
13:10every night
13:11and like
13:12songs that we feel like
13:13will unify
13:14the crowd
13:15and the vibe
13:16and like
13:17pick people's energy up.
13:18And we built
13:19an entire bread world
13:20and we have
13:21Bob's Dance Shop
13:22who are these amazing dancers
13:23who come on tour
13:24Can you give us
13:25some sneak peeks
13:26of what bread world
13:27looks like?
13:28It's sort of
13:29like this
13:30very
13:31abundant
13:32fun
13:35ridiculous
13:36over the top
13:37sexy
13:38playful
13:39world.
13:40Opulence.
13:41Yeah.
13:42And I understand
13:43that you're also
13:44touring with Kygo.
13:45What does that look like?
13:46Is it the same show?
13:47That's going to be
13:48a similar show
13:51that's in Europe
13:52after the North American tour.
13:53And before that
13:54we're actually doing
13:55also with J Balvin
13:56in a few weeks
13:57in Australia
13:58and New Zealand.
13:59Okay.
14:00So yeah,
14:01it's just live shows
14:02for us
14:03through the rest of the year
14:04besides a few
14:05residency dates
14:06in Las Vegas.
14:07Okay.
14:08You walk into a bakery
14:09every type of bread
14:10is available.
14:11What type of bread
14:12do you choose?
14:13Can I tell you
14:14the most ironic thing?
14:15Are you allergic
14:16to gluten?
14:17We're both gluten free.
14:21However
14:23A.
14:24We're connoisseurs
14:25of gluten free bread.
14:26True.
14:27And
14:28in Europe
14:29none of the rules count.
14:31Yeah.
14:32Gluten doesn't
14:33we're not celiac.
14:34We're just like
14:35gluten free.
14:36So you could eat
14:37European bread?
14:38Yes.
14:39It doesn't bother me
14:40at all.
14:41So you're in Paris
14:42you walk into a
14:43Parisian bakery.
14:44What do you grab first?
14:45Croissant.
14:46Croissant for sure.
14:47People gather
14:48all the time
14:49around bread
14:50to break bread together.
14:51Different points of view
14:52people from different
14:53backgrounds and cultures
14:54and like
14:55these are all
14:56things we want
14:57our music
14:58to do.
14:59Bring people together
15:00we're bringing
15:01cultures together
15:02with the music
15:03like
15:04And bread gives you
15:05pure energy.
15:06And bread gives you
15:07energy.
15:08And that's what we want
15:09our music to do for people.
15:10So we made an acronym
15:11out of bread also
15:12which is be really
15:13energetic and dance.
15:14Which is simple
15:15to the point
15:16just like bread.
15:17If you want to go deeper
15:18there's many
15:19there's many things
15:20as we've talked about
15:21but if you don't
15:22and you just
15:23think it's kind of fun
15:24and it's called bread
15:25and you
15:26want to dance
15:27and have fun
15:28and not think too hard
15:29we're here for you too.
15:31Thank you guys.
15:32It was great.