“I want to live and feel everything to the fullest and make as much art as possible, as the only true expression of my soul one could find once I’m gone.”

I first stumbled over SoKo when listening to her song “First Love Never Dies” out of her debut album “I Thought I Was An Alien” and instantly feel in love with the vintage sound full of romance and fragility. The French singer, songwriter and actress lives in a constant rush not to waste a minute, drizzling full of ideas and dreams that she converts into her music. Her current album “My Dreams Dictate My Reality” shows heavier sounds, a stronger side, just pure rock pleasure and is yet just as personal as the one before. We had a very personal and sincere chat with the stylish looking artist about how she feels about mastering emotions, forgiving herself and her radical change of looks. And a legit exclusive photo shooting with photographer Marc Schuhmann on the Berlin streets.

Hey dear SoKo, tell me the first feelings that come into your mind when you think about holding your new album “My Dreams Dictate My Reality” in your hands?

“Oh gosh, finally”.. and “I’m glad I’m not dead before I could make this” and ” fuck is this real?” and ” FUCK, my label mis-printed my booklet, I really fucking hate them for chopping my dad’s head in the booklet I hand made with so much love and fucking it up so bad”.. you know.. all of that..

You said that you wanted to do a more powerful album. Is that because you have also become a stronger person since the last album?

Hopefully yes. I feel like rather than being the victim of my emotions, I´ve worked on mastering them a little more; being even more in control and really following my intuition to the max and not putting myself in any situations unless it feels 100% right.

I need to surround myself with heavier sounds. I wrote most of the songs on bass and drum machine, I’d play very late, very loud, with a lot of chorus and delay and reverb and hear all the arrangements going on in my head non-stop. Writing from such a vital place that was so deeply emotional but then wanting the overall feel to be slightly more upbeat and light; more of a band sound and less “lonely/solo artist”. I hate being solo. It´s too many responsibilities and pressure, therefore I wanted the record to be impossible to tour solo, so I’m never asked to do so again. And I have more fun playing with my band and I needed a record that feels like California, where I recorded it. Sunny. Warm. Welcoming.

All your songs on the album are personal. Is there one song that stands out for you though, -one that is a bit more important and personal to you than the others?

The last one I wrote for the album is called Visions. It’s the only song where I don’t use the word ” I “, though it’s one of the most personal songs I ever wrote; referring to some things that happened the night that my dad passed away and how it forced me to grow up. I had to dive back into this time and face it, accept it and turn it into something brighter: A song. And every single night when I play it, it’s always the hardest. The chorus lyrics are ” forgive the ones you hate the most”. The person I “hate” the most is myself and this song is about forgive myself for the guilt I carried my whole childhood thinking that I was responsible for my dad’s death. I thought my nightmares had killed him. It was awful; so yes now I cry every single night singing it live and it feels like every night, I’m singing it for my dad.

You talk very openly about your private life, your past, about your dad passing away when you were really young. I think that is a very courageous thing to do. Have you always been that open about things to other people?

Yeah, I guess so. I don’t really think about it. The opposite would feel like being too protected and guarded and closed off. I like to call things for what they are and putting words on situations, rather than ignoring them. So I don’t want to be afraid of putting words on things, even if they’re dark and personal. I like writing about personal things because it helps me move on, grow and it feels vital and unavoidable for me anyway. My dad’s death hugely affected my life and all my sorrow and pain are getting expressed in a lighter way through my art. It feels like I’m keeping him alive and close to me by talking about him so much; like an hommage to his life.

You said that coz of your experience you have always been too aware of mortality. And that as a child you already had a list of the things that you wanted to do before you die. Is this awareness still so strong and present up to today and influences a lot the way you live?

It influences EVERYTHING I DO. I wake up each day thanking god for being alive and trying to make each and every day the best it could ever be. I always want to go on adventures, I work my ass off, I constantly try to accomplish things, start new projects, finish them up. I get such a kick out of having an idea and then seeing it progress until it’s done; it’s so gratifying. I live in a constant rush not one minute to waste. I think it’s a bit intense for people around me coz i’m way too hyperactive and workaholic and i think it’s motsly because i have the urgency to because i’m always scared that tonight, when I go to bed, i might never wake up. And I don’t want to live a life full of regrets. I want to live and feel everything to the fullest and make as much art as possible, as the only true expression of my soul one could find once I’m gone. I don’t think I’d have the courage or the urge or the crazy rush to do that amount things if I wasn’t scared of dying everyday.

And did you keep this list? And what are the things that are important to be achieved and experienced in your life?

The list is ongoing. I still have ” do voice overs from disney movies” that’s been on the list since I’m about 7.. and I still haven’t crossed this one off. And also, “Meeting Robin Williams” was on it because he looks like my dad and I wanted to tell him how much I feel like he raised me through movies. And then he died and that was like losing my dad all over again; tragic.

But the list is ongoing to me, now the most important is to somehow experience true love. But i’m terrified of it, and scare people away and can never get in a relationship. But I long for it; I’m an hopeless romantic and I want to have a family, and a place I can call home, and cats and continue doing music non stop, and make videos, films, art in whatever shape and form; collbarate with people, learn from them and spend time with my family. And always be ready to go on adventures and throw myself into challenging situations to grow from them.

Not just your music has developed a lot; but you also completely changed your personal style as well. And you look gorgeous really! Did this radical change of looks also change the way you feel and act? I remember when I was 19 I dyed my hair pink and I suddenly felt so much more confident…

I definitely feel more confident since I’ve chopped my long dar locks and stopped hiding behind them. I did a very intense movie called ” Augustine” and I was playing the role of a hysterical patient in 1880, and I had a really hard time shaking the character off of me. It was very violent, dark, intense and at the same time so rewarding and amazing and one of the best experiences I’ve had in my whole life. But I went in it so full on and unguarded. After it I just needed to complete change of the way I look to kill this character out of me and learn how to be myself all over again.

How important is fashion for you?

I love clothes and I mostly only buy vintage stuff, collection vintage band’s tshirts from the 80’s and i have a crazy shoes collection too. Mostly old Dr. Martens, Creepers, and platform shoes from Mishka ( my favorite shoe company out of Buenos Aires ). I also have a good collection of mickey mouse stuff, and of mom jeans! laughs. It’s all over the place!

You describe yourself as a workaholic. Besides being creative and music that you need to survive, what makes you happy and recharges your batteries; what makes you feel at peace with yourself and the world when you are not working?

When i’m NOT WORKING ??? What do you mean ???? I’m seriously ALWAYS working. As soon as I don’t work, I get sick; like physically sick, so I need to contantly keep the pace up and keep going no matter what. I live for this sort of rush and stamina. Every now and then, I’ll have a movie night with friends, but even then, these days I’d feel too guilty to do that and not be working instead. I’m terrible. The only times I see my friends is when I trick them into doing art projects with me and we spend days non stop together working on stuff. That’s my favorite thing ever really.

Your Instagram account is called sokothecat. So apparently you are a big cat fan?

Well DUH.. favorite animal EVER.. I just melt in front of cats, and start meowing and doing all sorts of weird noises and wanna just pet them forever. Same with kids; if there’s kids in a room, I´d much rather hang out with kids than with adults!

Favorite city?

LOS ANGELES.. the place I call home. ( Even though, my only actual address is my storage unit! )

Sunrise or Sunset?

Sunset. Especially the ones in Venice Beach when the sky turns pink and yellow and orange over the sea. aww, I miss it.

Any question that you really wished I would have asked you?

Yeah.. like what time is it right now and where are you ?

The answer: It’s 5am. I’m still working and I need to wake up in 3 hours, and I´m in Hamburg and just had an amazing sold out show and I’m EXHAUSTED but, hey, I’m just skaving it way past the sane hours to make sure you get your interview in time.. SEE, always working!