Soko (singer)
Stéphanie Alexandra Mina Sokolinski[5] (born 26 October 1985),[6] known professionally as Soko (stylized as SoKo), is a French singer-songwriter, musician and actress.
Soko | |
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 Soko at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Stéphanie Alexandra Mina Sokolinski |
| Born | 26 October 1985[1] Bordeaux, France |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels | Because Music |
| Associated acts | Ariel Pink, The Brian Jonestown Massacre |
| Website | www |
Early life
Sokolinski was born in Bordeaux, France to a Russian-Polish Jewish father and a French-Italian Jewish mother.[7] She has used the nickname Soko as long as she can remember.[8] Soko left home at 16, quit school and moved to Paris to start acting class with Eva Saint-Paul where she studied for one year; she then resumed her education at several different schools, but quickly became tired of it and dropped out. She later appeared in several French films and began to write songs.[8]
Musical career
In 2007, Sokolinski achieved a hit single in Denmark with a personal anecdotal song, "I'll Kill Her", after the radio program The Black Boy Scouts began to promote it.[9] The song reached number one on the chart of the Danish version of the iTunes Store and was the number one song in rotation on radio.[8][9] The song is also a hit in Australia, being played on high rotation on Triple J radio;[10] it later placed number nine in the Triple J Hottest 100 2007 music poll. The song was also popular in Belgium being played by Studio Brussel, Radio 1 and Pure FM, and in The Netherlands, being picked up by 3FM radio station. In October 2007 her music was featured in Stella McCartney's fashion show in Paris.[11] She toured in the UK in late 2007 supporting M.I.A. on the KALA Tour. Since early 2008 she has also been played in Germany by 1LIVE, first only at night in 1Live Plan B but later, due to high demand, throughout the whole day.
Sokolinski has self-released one EP Not Sokute, and collaborated with The Go! Team and Cornershop, the latter on a song called "Something Makes You Feel Like". She has her own record label called Babycat Records and is signed to Because Music in France.
In 2010, her song "I'll Kill Her", was sampled by Cee Lo Green on his Stray Bullets mixtape under the track of the same name.
In 2011, she wrote a song and featured in the animated short film Mourir Auprès De Toi, which was co-written and directed by Spike Jonze.
Her debut album, I Thought I Was an Alien, was released in February 2012.
In 2014, Soko's song "We Might Be Dead by Tomorrow" was featured in Tatia Pilieva's short video "First Kiss". She was also one of the video's twenty subjects. After "First Kiss" went viral on YouTube, the song debuted at number 9 in the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on Billboard's Streaming Songs chart.[12][13]
In March 2014, Soko appeared in the music video for the song "Jealous" by Canadian electro-funk band Chromeo.[14]
In 2015 We Might Be Dead by Tomorrow was also used in an episode of the American TV series - Forever.
Her second studio album, My Dreams Dictate My Reality was released in March 2015, its first single "Who Wears the Pants??" was released on 7 January. The Sonic Seducer wrote that the album was darker than the previous releases and called it a "female version of early The Cure discs".[15]
Soko collaborated with The Brian Jonestown Massacre on a song called "Philadelphie Story" for their album Musique de Film Imaginé, released in April 2015.
In 2017, Soko collaborated with Residente on a song called Desencuentro" for his debut solo album.[16]
In July 2020, Soko released her third studio album, Feel Feelings.[17]
Live performances
Sokolinski has had sold-out concerts in Scandinavia, Britain, and Australia.[8] She performed at the Falls Festival at the end of 2008, the Southbound Festival and the Sunset Sounds Festival at the start of 2009. She has performed in the Los Angeles venues Henry Fonda, Troubadour, Bootleg Theatre, Spaceland, and Echoplex, and has played in support of Peter Doherty, Babyshambles, Kate Nash, Nouvelle Vague, Daniel Johnston, Foster The People, and Johnny Borrell. In San Francisco, she performed at Bottom of the Hill on 15 June 2012.
As a live performer, she is unpredictable and never uses a set list; her backing band consists mostly of different friend-musicians at each show. She sometimes plays up to 3 hours by herself, in intimate and quiet venues.
Musical hiatus
On 19 January 2009 Sokolinski stated on her MySpace page that she was quitting music and is 'dead', writing that she was scared of the music industry and wanted to return to acting. Despite having recorded a double album in Seattle, she is not willing to release it. In August of the same year, she declared that she was 'reborn' and writing songs such as "I'm So Ready to Be a Good Man" where she writes:
"in my battle with the demons I just had to die coz they're way too evil and I couldn't fight"
She later referred to the pressure of the music industry, before declaring that she was "having a new heart and being ready to be a new man".
In August 2011, Soko announced the release of her first album I Thought I Was an Alien on 6 February 2012, on her website www.s-o-k-o.com and a 17 August 2012 show at the Bootleg Theatre in Los Angeles, CA on Facebook. She released her first single on YouTube 1 August 2011 entitled "No More Home, No More Love". Two other singles were released "I Thought I Was An Alien" and "First Love Never Die".
Acting career
In February 2010, Soko was nominated for a César Award for Most Promising Actress for her role in À l'origine (English title In the Beginning), directed by Xavier Giannoli.
Personal life
Soko is a vegan. This may be connected with the fact that she became straight edge when she was 18.[18] Soko also refers to herself as a "white goth".[4]
Soko has been identified as bisexual[19] (in 2012). In a March 2016 interview with W Magazine, she stated, "I’ve always been open with my sexuality, meaning I don’t really care about gender."[20] She also confirmed her relationship with American actress Kristen Stewart in the same article. On 5 May 2016, US Weekly confirmed that Stewart and Soko had split after a few months of dating.[21]
She confirmed in a Facebook post on 30 July 2018, that she was 25 weeks pregnant.[22]
In November, 2018, she gave birth to son Indigo Blue Honey Sokolinski (named after a song by The Clean).[23]
Discography
Albums
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR [24] |
BEL (Vl) [25] |
BEL (Wa) [26] |
SWI [27] |
SWI Rom. [28] |
US Heat [29] | ||
| I Thought I Was an Alien |
|
53 | 76 | 35 | 74 | 39 | 15 |
| My Dreams Dictate My Reality |
|
75 | — | 68 | — | — | — |
| Feel Feelings |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — |
EPs
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Not Sokute |
|
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [24] |
AUT [30] |
BEL (Vl) [25] |
BEL (Wa) [26] |
CAN Dig [29] |
DEN [31] |
SWI [27] |
UK [32] |
US [29] |
US Rock [29] | |||
| "I'll Kill Her" | 2007 | — | — | 3 | 54 | — | 2 | — | — | — | — | Not Sokute |
| "I Thought I Was an Alien" | 2011 | 173 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | I Thought I Was an Alien |
| "First Love Never Die" | 2012 | 130 | — | — | 66 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "We Might Be Dead by Tomorrow" | 61 | 51 | — | 39 | 66 | — | 60 | 145 | 9 | 3 | ||
| "Love Letter" | 2014 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "Who Wears the Pants??" | 2015 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | My Dreams Dictate My Reality |
| "Ocean of Tears" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Sweet Sound of Ignorance" | 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "Diabolo Menthe" | 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Génération(s) Eperdue(s) |
| "Being Sad Is Not a Crime" | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Feel Feelings |
| "Are You a Magician?" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Blasphémie" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Oh, To Be a Rainbow!" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Looking For Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
Guest performances
| Title | Year | Album | Other artist(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Gunhild" | 2010 | Who Killed Harry Houdini? | I'm from Barcelona |
| "Why" | 2016 | Washed Away | Rooney |
| "Desencuentro"[33] | 2017 | Residente | Residente |
| "Keep You Close" | 2018 | Pink Cloud | Launder |
| "Diabolo Menthe" | Génération(s) Eperdue(s) | N/A | |
| "Obsession" | non-album single | Sam Spiegel | |
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | L'escalier | Béa | Frédéric Mermoud | Short |
| P.J. | Anouchka | Gérard Vergez | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| Action Justice | Léa Franqui | Alain Nahum | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| 2004 | Au secours, j'ai 30 ans ! | Chloé | Marie-Anne Chazel | |
| Ben et Thomas | The girl | Jon Carnoy | Short | |
| Clara cet été là | Zoé | Patrick Grandperret | TV Movie | |
| 2005 | Palais royal ! | The hairdresser | Valérie Lemercier | |
| On s'appelle | Various | Francis Coté, Fabrice Michelin, ... | TV Series (4 Episodes) | |
| 2005-08 | Commissaire Valence | Camille Valence | Franck Apprederis, Patrick Grandperret (2), ... | TV Series (3 Episodes) |
| 2006 | Girlfriends | Manon | Sylvie Ayme | |
| Madame Irma | The high school girl | Didier Bourdon & Yves Fajnberg | ||
| Les irréductibles | Lucie | Renaud Bertrand | ||
| Oh ! Ma femme | Clémentine | Olivier Dujols | Short | |
| Poésie del amor | Margot | Olivier Vidal | Short | |
| Louis Page | Lydia | Jean-Louis Bertucelli | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| 2007 | Dans les cordes | Sandra | Magaly Richard-Serrano | |
| Ma place au soleil | Sabine | Eric de Montalier | ||
| Ma vie n'est pas une comédie romantique | Lisa | Marc Gibaja | ||
| Les diablesses | Denise | Harry Cleven | TV Movie | |
| 2008 | Adrien | Sandra | Pascale Bailly | TV Movie |
| 2009 | In the Beginning | Monika | Xavier Giannoli | Nominated - César Award for Most Promising Actress |
| 2011 | Mourir auprès de toi | Mina | Spike Jonze & Simon Cahn | Short |
| 2012 | Augustine | Augustine | Alice Winocour | Mar del Plata International Film Festival - Best Actress Women Film Critics Circle - Courage in Acting Award Nominated - Lumières Award for Most Promising Actress Nominated - Prix Romy Schneider |
| Bye Bye Blondie | Young Gloria | Virginie Despentes | ||
| Fat Bottomed Girls Rule the World | Joséphine | Flora Desprats | Short | |
| 2013 | Friends from France | Carole | Philippe Kotlarski & Anne Weil | |
| Her | Voice of Isabella | Spike Jonze (2) | ||
| 2014 | First Kiss | Marianna Palka's Kisser | Tatia Pilieva | Short |
| Artbound | Bruce Dickson | TV Series (1 Episode) | ||
| 2015 | Always Worthy | Alvin | Marianna Palka | |
| Hi How Are You Daniel Johnston | Dream Laurie | Gabriel Sunday | Short | |
| I Still Chose to Stay | Woman | Natalie Neal | Short | |
| 2016 | The Dancer | Loie Fuller | Stéphanie Di Giusto | Nominated - César Award for Best Actress Nominated - Lumières Award for Best Actress |
| The Stopover | Marine | Delphine and Muriel Coulin | ||
| 2020 | A Good Man | Aude | Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar | |
| 2021 | Little Fish | Chad Hartigan | Post-production | |
| The Blazing World | Margot | Carlson Young | Post-production | |
| TBA | Mayday | Gert | Karen Cinorre | Post-production |
References
- "Rookie". Rookie.
- O'Brien, Jon. "Soko". Allmusic. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- Roberts, Randall (28 February 2015). "Soko mines '80s new wave on 'My Dreams Dictate My Reality'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- Soko and Lime the acid sweet indie singer talks singing acting and kissing Asia Argento, Afterellen
- "Soko". rockhal.lu. 16 March 2012.
- "SOKO - Musician - Angelique Max". Angelique Max.
- "Les démons de Soko". Les Inrockuptibles (in French). 13 March 2012.
- Nir, Sarah Maslin (5 July 2007). "Soko: sweet tunes with dangerous lyrics". The Times. UK. Retrieved 14 October 2007.
- Meesenburg, Thomas (2 May 2007). "Soko kommer til Danmark" (in Danish). Soundvenue. Archived from the original on 15 January 2008. Retrieved 14 October 2007.
- Mathewson, Catriona (5 September 2007). "Down Under MySpace hit for French singer". The Courier Mail.
- Trebay, Guy (5 October 2007). "Why It All Looks So Easy, and Why It Isn't". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 December 2007.
- Video, Youtube
- Viral first kiss video, Billboard
- Jealous, Huhmagazine
- Pilgrim, Thomas (2015). "SoKo: My Dreams Dictate My Reality". Sonic Seducer (in German). No. 3. pp. 101–2.
- Residente feat. Soko, Desencuentro, retrieved 4 April 2017
- "Soko: Feel Feelings - Album Review". Vinyl Chapters. 12 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
- "Mar Ejada". Facebook.com.
- "Bye Bye Blondie", bonjour Despentes , Libération, 19 March 2012
- Petrarca, Emilia. "Soko on Modern Love and What Goes Down in the DM". W Magazine. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- "Kristen Stewart Splits With Girlfriend Soko".
- "SoKo Official". M.facebook.com.
- "SOKO 🎤👻🇫🇷🐱♏️🌈🤱🏻📹 ⚢ on Instagram: "Indigo Blue Honey Sokolinski .. My Heart .. 💙💫👣👼🏼💞 ( Cue « Indigo Blue » by The Clean , the song bb was named after )"". Instagram.com. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- Hung, Steffen. "lescharts.com - Discographie Soko".
- Hung, Steffen. "ultratop.be - Discografie Soko".
- Hung, Steffen. "ultratop.be - Discographie Soko".
- Hung, Steffen. "hitparade.ch - Discographie Soko".
- Hung, Steffen. "lescharts.ch - Discographie Soko".
- "Soko Chart History". Billboard.
- Hung, Steffen. "austriancharts.at - Discographie Soko".
- "Hitlisten.NU". Hitlisten.NU.
- "CHART: CLUK Update 22.03.2014 (wk11)". zobbel.de.
- Pareles, Jon (20 January 2017). "Residente Chases His Muse, at the Genetic Level". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Soko. |
- Official website
- Soko at IMDb
- Stéphanie Sokolinski: Filmographie on allocine.fr
