Stéphanie Sokolinski better known by her stage name Soko (sometimes stylized as SoKo) is a French singer and actress.
Early life edit:
Sokolinski was born in Bordeaux, France. She has used the nickname Soko as long as she can remember. Sokolinski left home at 16, quit school and moved to Paris to start acting class with Eva St 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.
Musical career edit:
In 2007, Sokolinski achieved a hit single in Denmark with her song "I'll Kill Her" after the radio program The Black Boy Scouts began to promote it. 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. The song is also a hit in Australia, being played on high rotation on Triple J radio; 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. 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 Auprés De Toi, which was co-written and directed by Spike Jonze.
Her début album- entitled I Thought I Was An Alien was released in February 2012 following the singles "I Thought I Was An Alien" and "First Love Never Die".
Live performances edit:
Sokolinski has had sold-out concerts in Scandinavia, Britain, and Australia. 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 Pete Doherty, Babyshambles, Kate Nash, Nouvelle Vague, Daniel Johnston, 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 edit:
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 edit:
In February 2010, Soko was nominated for a César Award for Most Promising Actress for her role in À l'origine, directed by Xavier Giannoli.
Filmography edit:
2002 in French TV: Clara, cet été là by Patrick Grandperret: Zoé,
2003 in French film: L'escalier by Frédéric Mermoud,
2006 in French TV: Louis Page (season 8): Lydia,
2006 in French TV: Commissaire Valence (season 4): Camille Valence,
2006 in French film: Les Irréductibles by Renaud Bertrand: Lucie,
2006 in French film: Mes copines by Sylvie Aymé: Manon,
2006 in French film: Madame Irma by Didier Bourdon: la jeune lycéenne,
2007 in French film: Ma place au soleil by Éric de Montalier: Sabine,
2007 in French film: Dans les cordes by Magaly Richard-Serrano: Sandra,
2007 in French film: Ma vie n'est pas une comédie romantique by Marc Gibaja: Lisa,
2007 in French TV: Les Diablesses by Harry Cleven: Éliane/Denise,
2009 in French film: In the Beginning ( French: À l'origine) by Xavier Giannoli,
2012 in French film: Augustine by Alice Winocour: Augustine,
Personal life edit:
Soko is a vegan.
French chanteuse SoKo, who last graced our pages with a touching video she co-directed (with Spike Jonze) for an affectingly charming song of hers, is...
26-year-old Stéphanie Sokolinski is SoKo is a French artist with already substantial global popularity -- she's the sort to put up YouTube numbers in ...
The French singer SoKo has already made utterly charming videos for "I Thought I Was An Alien" and "First Love Never Die," two songs from her album I ...
The French singer Soko has been responsible for some remarkable music videos in the last year, and her latest self-directed effort, for "Destruction O...
