JUST DANCE | INNA

We're always thinking about the song of the summer or a series of songs that we can identify with this time of year when we look back! There's nothing like a series of songs that you can dance too, have great energy and have a number of memories that you can attach to them whether you're solo or with friends and family!

We caught up with Romanian singer/songwriter INNA who is known for this kind of music as well as creating fun videos that are filled with dancing. We wanted to know more about how she came to the entertainment industry, how she goes about creating and collaborating with her music, her latest songs, Dance Queen House and the fact that last year, she croosed over to having over 10 billion views and streams! She tells us all this and more!

ATHLEISURE MAG: What was the first song that you remember that made you fall in love with music?

INNA: Hmm, most likely Romanian songs sung by my mother, grandma, grandpa. I was born and raised in a family where music was an important part of our lives. But some of the artists who had a big impact on me when I was a child were Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.

AM: When did you realize that you wanted to be an entertainer?

I: From the very first years of my life. I was singing all the time: in the church choir, for my family and friends.

AM: How do you define your style of music?

I: Dance music, energetic, uptempo, about love, friendship, having fun, enjoying life.

AM: When you’re creating new music or a project, how do you get inspired?

I: I find that Inspiration comes from everything around me: my life, my friends lives, my memories, my experiences.

AM: How does your creative process change when you collaborate with other artists?

I: We establish sessions, we start talking about different stuff, we think of a concept, of an idea and we start developing on it.

AM: You have worked with a number of artists from Sofi Tukker, Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, Alok and more. What do you look for when it comes to those that you want to work with?

I: Sometimes a song brings artists together, sometimes the idea of “let’s collaborate, I love your music and I respect you as an artist.” It goes both ways.

AM: You’ve released a number of albums and have received a number of MTV Europe Music Awards, as well as others throughout your career. Last year, you crossed over to having over 10 billion views and streams! What did this mean to you to cross that benchmark?

I: It was and it still is surreal! It’s out of my imagination. I didn’t dare to dream it might happen to me. I am truly grateful to my fans, to people listening to my music and to my team, of course!

AM: You kicked off 2023 dropping Yummy, tell me about this song!

I: Yummy is a sexy song I teamed up with Stefflon Don and Dhurata Dora and it kind of sounded like a banger. It’s a nice collaboration, I enjoyed the female energy and the fans enjoyed it as well.

AM: Tell us about the Dance Queen House Album as this seems like an interesting concept in terms of how you go about creating albums that are released in this name.

I: Last year marked the third season of Dance Queen’s House, a session that lasted for 16 days while I was isolated in a house with producers and songwriters from Global Records, my record label. We work on new music, we have fun, we shoot the entire experience and at the end of these days, we release vlogs on my YouTube channel and of course, the album.

This is something I started doing in the pandemic, because I wanted to stay in touch with my fans and since I couldn’t tour, these vlogs and new music were the perfect way of staying close to them. After these three seasons, I managed to release 3 albums Heartbreaker from the first season, Champagne Problems in two parts and Just Dance in two parts as well.

AM: What’s it like to create your songs for albums that are part of Dance Queen House?

I: It’s very nice I get to share the entire process with my fans and also do a lot of activities.

AM: You also dropped your 9th studio album, Just Dance which was released in 2 parts, why did you release it this way and what songs are you excited about?

I: We worked on a lot of music in a very short time, just 16 days, songs that needed time to be produced to sound good. And also, there were lots of songs, so I felt we had to share them separately, so that my fans get to enjoy them.

AM: Tell me about your latest release with Gamuel Sori, Party Songs and how did this record come about?

I: My manager played me the song, I liked it and I jumped on it!

AM: Why is this song going to be on summer playlists this year?

I: Party Songs is the perfect party anthem, with summer flavour and amazing energy!

AM: Do you have any routines that you do before you hit the stage and do you have anything that you do after doing a show to relax or to come down from all the energy?

I: Before the show, I rest for a bit, because I’m usually travelling the same day. After that, I enjoy a coffee to get me energised, I start doing my make-up, my hair and I am getting ready for the show. After the show, I usually spend time with my team, we talk about the show and after that, I have to sleep a lot!

AM: Do you have any upcoming events or projects that we should keep an eye out for?

I: It will be a summer full of shows and festivals and I cannot wait! Stay tuned and check out my socials for updates!

AM: We like asking celebs about how they stay fit. As a singer and dancer, what are 3 workouts what do you do to stay in shape?

I: I’m walking 10 000 steps daily (or more when I have more free time).

I go out with my skateboard

I workout at home, with different routines, depending on the mood that day.

Or I go to the gym and I work out with my personal trainer.

AM: We’re always looking for new dishes that we can add for our meals and we hear that you cook for your friends and family and are vegan! What are 3 vegan dishes that you enjoy cooking for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?

I: Hummus, guacamole for breakfast (although, most of the times, I skip breakfast)

Melanzana (eggplant with tomatoes, basil, tofu and vegan parmigiana) for lunch

Pasta for dinner

AM: In addition to all of the amazing things that you have done musically, you are an advocate and support an array of causes from being a human rights activists, participating in campaigns against domestic violence, supporting children’s rights, supporting the LGBTQIA+ community and raising funds for Ukraine. Why is it important to you to use your platform to support these diverse causes and to make your following aware of this?

I: I believe it’s important to use my voice to do good and help people in need, support causes that need awareness. This is something I won’t stop doing for the rest of my life.

AM: What do you want your legacy to be known as?

I: An artist who brings joy in people’s lives through her music, an artist who loves people and who loves to spread good energy.

IG @inna

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | PG 78 - 79 + PG 144 9PLAYLIST INNA

Read the JUN ISSUE #90 of Athleisure Mag and see JUST DANCE | INNA in mag.

WELCOME HOME!

We love attending music festivals and here in NYC, Govenors Ball kicks off our summer season! This 3-day festival has a number of the hottest artists across 3 stages and a number of genres! Over the past few years, we've attended this event on Governors Island, Randall's Island, and Citi Field. This year, it settles into its new home in its 12th year at Flushing Meadow Corona Park in Queens from June 9th - 11th! This year's acts include Lizzo, Lil Nas X, Diplo, Kendrick Lamar, SOFI TUKKER, and Kim Petras to name a few! Over the 3 days, people can celebrate their favorite artists, have Instagram-worthy pictures, enjoy fabulous food and beverages and more!

We caught up Tom Russell, Co-Founder and Partner of Founders Entertainment who puts on Gov Ball from his vision of creating a music festival that also honors the spirit and diversity of NY! We wanted to find out how Tom got into the music festival industry, his passion for music, how Gov Ball was created, and what first-timers and veterans can expect when they come to the show this year! We delve into partnerships and the future of this festival. Make sure you read next month's JUN ISSUE #90 which will have our recap of this 3 days of music!

ATHLEISURE MAG: Before we delve into Governors Ball, how did you get into the business of music festivals?

TOM RUSSELL: I grew up in NYC and was obsessed with music from a young age and I was going to concerts at a young age starting in middle school. I got really into punk rock going to concerts on St. Marks Place. As I got older, I went to high school, got really into jam bands, went to New Orleans for college and got really into funk music and world music and all of that of course Hip-Hop since I was young.

I went to a festival called Bonnaroo and had the time of my life and I had the best time ever! I said to myself after that weekend, “I need to work in music festivals." This was my passion. I was living in New Orleans going to Tulane and I discovered that the company that did Bonnaroo was based in New Orleans. So, I wrote them an email, wrote them another email, and another one and they finally wrote me back.

I somehow managed to wiggle my way into there and get an internship. I did it for a semester and then they offered me another internship and then Hurricane Katrina happened and they evacuated their offices to NYC which is where I was born and raised. I was in NYC for that semester as well. They offered me a full-time job and I had to make a decision at that time. Did I want to go back to college, or did I want to take a job with the company that I wanted to do more than anything? I decided to drop out of school, drop out of college with 1 semester to go, and take a job with Superfly. I worked with them for 6 years until I hit my ceiling at Superfly, and I decided that it was time for me to leave to pursue my long life goal of bringing my hometown and beloved city a music festival that they could call its own.

At that time, you had Lollapalooza in Chicago, Austin City Limits in Austin, Outside Lands in San Francisco, but there was no cultural institution in NY and I felt that that was just wrong and it didn’t make sense to me. So I left Superfly to start Gov Ball with a couple of friends of mine. It was good timing and we really hit the nail on the head with our programming and we really tapped into this growing festival culture and this demand for really good live music in NYC. It was kind of off to the races from there!

AM: I love that and that is such a great story!

What I love about Governors Ball is that you have different types of genres that are playing in the same space across 3 different stages. You can obviously see artists that you enjoy that you're already fans of as well as other genres and artists that you weren't familiar with and you always leave adding more to your playlist after going which I think is really cool.

TR: Well that was a huge thing for us. We all looked at our Spotify, Apple playlist, iTunes what have you and we saw that we weren’t just listening to Hip-Hop, rock, or pop, we were listening to everything and it was important to us to put together lineups that had artists that we loved and that we knew were amazing live musicians, but also we had something for everybody. People just have tons of different tastes. We carry that on to this day where we’ll have an EDM headliner, a Hip-Hop headliner, and we’ll have a pop headliner, and everything in between. I think that it just speaks to the variety of tastes that not just music lovers have, but also New Yorkers because it’s such a diverse city.

AM: Absolutely.

What is your process like when you’re sketching out a year ahead or whatever in terms of the different types of artists that you’re bringing in?

TR: So we’re always looking for the biggest and the best. We certainly know what bands have new records coming out. We certainly know what bands have a desire to tour around the Gov Ball time. We know what bands we would love to have, but they’re definitely not touring and we kind of go for all of it and see what sticks. We start out with the headliners and there are artists that we have made offers to every single year in the hopes that it will pique their interests and sometimes we just throw something crazy out there and they come back to us and say yes. Other times, it goes nowhere and we just fall back on artists that really want to play the festival and are releasing a record around that time of year. But for us, it’s important to have the biggest and best things. Because one of the beautiful things about NYC is that New Yorkers have access to the best of everything. We have access to the best food, the best music, the best parks, and there’s so much to do, that it's essential for us to put together a lineup that is the best and that people just can’t say no to because there are so many other things to do in this city. We have to stand out. So, it’s always, how do we put together the biggest and best lineup that will get people to have a double take and say, fuck, there’s no way that I am missing that.

AM: Well this year, it’s going to be at Flushing Meadows, Corona Park. What is the thought process behind finding the ideal space because it is 3 massive stages, plus all of these other activations that are also on-site?

TR: I would say that for any great music festival, the venue is almost as important as the artist. It really defines the vibe of the overall event and for Gov Ball over the years, we’ve struggled to be honest. We’ve moved. We started out as a 1-day festival on Governors Island, we moved to Randall’s Island where we grew to a 3 day festival, and we moved over to Citi Field coming out of the pandemic. But we never really had a large greenspace venue that is iconic and lent itself well to live events and that led us to Flushing Meadows at Corona Park. A park that was built and designed for events many many decades ago. It’s easily accessible by subway and LIRR. It is full of iconic structures, museums, and tons of trees. It’s such a unique green space. We’re so excited for this year and for our fans to see it because the festival will take on a whole new life and a whole new vibe and one that we have really wanted to have since our start. You look at Lollapalooza, they’re in Grant Park. Austin City Limits is in Zilker Metropolitan Park. With Gov Ball, we haven’t had that yet. Flushing Meadows is truly an incredible and special place that we just can’t wait to bring it alive!

AM: I’m excited and looking forward to it!

Food is always a huge component of music festivals as well and you guys have incredible vendors such as our favorites: The Halal Guys, and Taqueria Diana as well as food partnerships by bringing in the Queens Night Market. Why was this important to have such a diverse series of foods?

TR: So for us, we wanted to have the best of everything! The best music lineup and of course, the best food. People need to be able to eat and drink and to listen to great music. With us being in Queens, we couldn’t not think of the Queens Night Market which is such an institution. It has such an amazing collection of vendors from all over the world. We reached out to John Wang, founder of Queens Night Market and he’s so brilliant and what he created there and it’s so special. So we said, “look, we’re coming to Flushing Meadows and you’ve been there for so long and we have created this amazing amazing event, we would love for you to be able to help us curate some vendors that really speak to Queens and speak to what you have built and to help us give more variety to what we are offering.” He was kind enough to make a number of introductions and help us to feature food that will really be additive to the festival and to get people super super excited to have food from around the world. From Mao's Bao to Twisted Potato, La Brasa for those folks that go to Queens Night Market like myself, it’s really going to be great. So they’re going to go from seeing one amazing act to having an amazing meal, to seeing another amazing act to having another amazing meal. What do people want in life? Good food, good music, and good drink. That’s all that you need.

AM: It’s a full experiential opportunity to have all of these things together. What are some things that are being added to this year’s event that may be different from last year? For those who go every year or may have missed a few, what can they expect?

TR: I think that the biggest thing this year is our new venue. I mean, this is going to be a Gov Ball experience that’s unlike any other because it's a brand new site which is full of lush trees and iconic elements like the Unisphere. How we’re bringing the park to life with lighting and décor and art installations. What we’re doing to enhance the trees, it’s really going to be super duper special and for those folks that have been to Gov Ball once, twice, 5 times or 10, they truly have no idea what they are in store for because this venue is a whole new ballgame and it’s so exciting. We just can’t wait for people to be able to see it and to experience what Gov Ball has wanted to be since it’s iteration.

AM: In addition to all of the things that take place on Gov Ball’s festival site, it’s great that you also have After Dark. We love the idea of people being able to continue the party and to see a number of the artists that are performing at other venues around the city and to expand your footprint. Why is this an element that you love including with Governors Ball?

TR: Well look, the festival ends at 10pm because the NYC Parks tell us we have to end at 10pm and I don’t want to go to bed at 10pm! It’s way too early, it’s summertime in the city on a Fri., Sat., and Sun. night. So we reach out to the artists that are playing the festival and we tell them that we want to work with them some more, feature them in an After Dark show, keep the party going and we know the fans will like it. So we have events with Saba, Metro Boomin’, SOFI TUKKER, and tons more. So, for us, it’s giving the people the opportunity to keep the party going. We’re predominantly a NY festival because most if the people going are from NYC and the tri-state area. But there are tons of people that come in from around the country and around the world. So we want to give people the opportunity to see the festival at the park, but also to experience these great venues in Manhattan and in Brooklyn and elsewhere.

AM: That’s smart!

TR: Yeah. We just want to be able to have something to fill out there whole weekend.

AM: For those that won’t be able to attend the festival themselves, is there a way that they would be able to listen to the lineup whether you partnered with a streaming platform or anything else like that?

TR: So we aren’t livestreaming the event this year. If you want to get a take on this year’s music, you can hop onto Spotify and look at our official playlist. But that’s what we have in store for this year and I can’t say enough about this venue and what we are doing there. For those folks that are on the fence for going this year, I can’t sell it enough. It’s going to be super special and super new and Gov Ball unlike any other.

AM: You also have an entire philanthropic component to Gov Ball that involves the community which is amazing. Can you tell us more about that and how you’re supporting these particular initiatives?

TR: Since we started the festival, we’ve always wanted to give back to the local community. When we were in Randall’s Island for years in East Harlem, it was important for us to work with local East Harlem institutions because we were impacting that community the most. The flow traffic from the festival was going right through the East Harlem neighborhood. We started to build these relationships with local non-profit partners.

When we moved over to Queens, we brought that same goal in mind. This year, working with super local organizations such as Chhaya and ECRC (Elmhurst/Corona Recovery Collective) we’re giving them the opportunity to expose their amazing causes to a brand new audience and we’re also giving our audience an opportunity to work towards tickets to the festival by volunteering at those organizations. So for a few hours of work and volunteering, you can get a Gov Ball ticket and we’re fundraising for these organizations. These are super small and local that truly need exposure. They truly need funding so for us to be able to give back to them, it’s a really important initiative of ours. Over the years, we have worked with really large organizations too such as Everytown and Planned Parenthood and we’ll continue to work with those bigger organizations, but it is always important for us to be hyperlocal and to help these smaller organizations that have these great causes who have less awareness and to give them a means to benefit.

AM: Just looking at the future, do you ever see Gov Ball to be the same as a Lollapalooza, an EDC or a Tomorrowland that pops up in other cities around the world? Do you ever think that that would be a journey that Gov Ball will take at some point?

TR: I don’t. I think that Gov Ball is NYC born and bread. I think that the ethos of the event is NYC, we feature NYC artists, it’s NYC food vendors, NYC graffiti artists, NYC contractors and vendors and non-profits. The whole vibe of the event is NYC and we don’t really have the desire to stray from that. I think that the NYC works in NYC. I don’t think that you could plop that down anywhere else and we just want to continue to be able to make Gov Ball the best that it can be and now with us at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. I think this is only the beginning and we’re just super excited to go down this path of this incredible new home and new venue that we’re bringing to life and to just continue to bring NYC the very best in lineups whether it’s food, music, or what have you that we can!

IG @govballnyc

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | PG 100 Charles Reagan | PG 102 Aaron Ricketts | PG 105 Roger Ho | PG 106 Carter Khowe | PG 109 Downs |

Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and read Welcome Home! in mag.

9LIST STORI3S | SOFI TUKKER

Read the MAY ISSUE #77 of Athleisure Mag and see 9LIST STORI3S | SOFI TUKKER in mag.

ATHLEISURE MAG | #77 MAY 2022

In this month’s issue, our cover story is with international superstar EDM DJ/Producer duo Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike. We talk about their love for music, how they got into the industry, their creative process and upcoming projects that span Dimitri appearing in Jurassic World: Dominion and the latest collab with Mike in his BLACK BANANAS X GREEN ROOM. We catch up with Emmy Award winning comedian, actor, animation voice actor and host of his podcast – May I Elaborate? JB Smoove. We talk about how he got into the industry, how he honed his craft via improv, being on SNL for 3 seasons, the upcoming 12th season of Curb Your Enthusiasm and more! Apple TV+’s Physical will drop it’s 2nd season next month. We talk to 2 of its stars, Rose Byrne and Dierdre Friel about what we can expect. STARZ’s P-Valley is also back for its 2 second season and we caught up 4 of the castmembers (Elarica Johnson, Parker Sawyers, Shannon Thornton and J. Alphonse Nicholson) to talk about how they got into the industry, catching us up on season 1, what we can expect for season 2 and additional projects coming up. Mark Indelicato is back for season 2 of HBO’s Hacks and Prime Video’s With Love. We talk about the impact of the success of his character in Ugly Betty, his process to approaching his roles, his shows and more. We also talk with swimsuit model and Netflix’s Grace and Frankie star, Brooklyn Decker. We talk about how she transitioned from modeling to acting, the final season of this iconic comedy and more.

This month’s 9PLAYLIST comes from EDM DJ/Producer Hardwell as well as Lost Frequencies. Our 9DRIP comes from our cover, Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike and Curb Your Enthusiasm’s JB Smoove. Our 63MIX ROUTIN3S comes from WTA tennis star Ajla Tomljanovic and celebrity hair stylist, Andrew Fitzsimons. Our 9LIST STORI3S comes from EDM duo SOFI TUKKER.

Our monthly feature, The Art of the Snack shares Indian restaurant, aRoqa in NYC’s Chelsea. This month’s Athleisure List comes from Pikes Hotel in Ibiza and Pause Studio in LA. As always, we have our monthly roundups of some of our favorite finds.

Read the MAY ISSUE #77 here.

FESTICAL SEASON 2021 | PINKNIC

Sept 4th and 5th brings Pinknic to Governors Island! We’re excited that our NOV ISSUE cover in 2020 was SOFI TUKKER and that they will be rocking out here! If you have yet to get your tickets, you should definitely make sure that you do as this music festival is the perfect blend to mix music, rose and more together!

GOOD VIBES ONLY WITH SOFI TUKKER

This month's cover story features 2 X GRAMMY-nominated musical duo that we have been a fan of for awhile now. SOFITUKKER's music can be heard in some of your favorite Apple commercials, TV shows and even when you're hopping on your Peleton. This group is known for their jungle pop vibes and continuing to expand their footprint in the world through their creativity. We talked with them about how they began working with one another, how they got into the industry, their body of work and what they have been doing as they have navigated this time of quarantine.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Prior to becoming the powerhouse duo that you are, when did you fall in love with just music in general?

TUCKER HALPERN: I have always been in love with music. I played the drums and I was in garage bands growing up. But it al-ways took a backseat to basketball. That was my whole life for such a long time until I was like 20 – 22. For me, I didn’t really fall in love until the way that I am today until I got sick in college. That’s when I started turning my attention to something else. I really just fell in love with dance music and house music and stuff.

SOPHIE HAWLEY-WELD: I can’t really point to a specific period in time where I fell in love with music. It’s always been something that I have enjoyed listening to and I have always been dancing. I would always dance and be in musical theater as a kid. I started writing as a means of music therapy actually in middle school. I would play the guitar and I would write about my feelings. I found it so therapeutic to honestly just write about my experiences as opposed to thinking about it. It was my primary way of getting through my angst.

I was really into jazz and I took jazz singing lessons. I started to realize that I liked Brazilian jazz more than any other kind of jazz. I started taking Portuguese and I said, “hey, if I love this music so much, I should probably start taking lessons in it."So I really started loving the music and moved to Brazil for a bit and I just kept it going. I think it’s a long story but music is just such an experience in the way that you fall in love with it.

AM: We’re big fans of jazz music in our team and our co-founder’s great uncle was Joe Henderson, tenor saxophonist.

SHW: Cool!

AM: We love bossa nova as a form as well, what is it about this genre of music that pulls you in?

SHW: I just find it so intimate and sexy and soothing. I think that the language is perfect for jazz and singing. I think that it’s very vowel-y. I think it’s perfect and when you’re listening to it, the singers are whispering into the microphone.

AM: Pretty much.

SHW: Yeah and I just really enjoy that whole vibe.

AM: How did you guys meet one another and was the moment when you realized that you wanted to work together and that you had those traits that would be really beneficial together?

TH: Well, I think that I had to convince Sophie to do that – that I had traits to add to her repertoire. But the story goes, I was DJing after my basketball life in college during my senior year. I was DJing tons of house parties – like college stuff, but it was cool under-ground stuff. One of my friends asked me to DJ after this art show. We went to Brown and it was at this show in Providence in downtown like at a warehouse thing. I went early to set up and Sophie was the acoustical per-former at the art show and I think that there was only 10 people there. But I was sort of setting up and watching her perform with a couple of friends that I knew from my music classes at school. She was amazing and she was only singing in Portuguese and it was really beautiful bossa nova music which I had never really heard much of before.I thought that it was really cool but it was really slow. Like REALLY slow – like 4BPMs – I swear! I was like, man this would be so much cooler if it was more upbeat and had a house beat behind it. When she sort of finished and it was supposed to be my turn to play, I actually said casually,“hey keep playing and I’m going to bringing a beat with it.” So like, looping the intro with a house music track and I put it really slow at the tempo that they were playing at and then I started speeding it up and I said, “just follow the tempo.” She start-ed singing the song at a faster beat that was behind it. So I said, “ok this is going to work.

After that, I think she stayed for my set – did she?

HW: I did.

TH: You must have – you had to. She was probably hitting on a guy that was there ha.

SHW: Of course haha.

TH: So the role reversed. I had to introduce myself to her after I played and I was like, what were you singing. She told me that they were original songs that she made. I asked her if I could do a remix of the last one that she was singing. She agreed but told me that there was no real recording of it. I said, “cool, come over to my apartment tomorrow – a dorm apartment and let’s rerecord it and I’ll make an electronic version of the song. She did come over and we did start making a different version of the song and –

SHW: We just started working every day and making new projects. It was so easy to work together. Were we even friends? We started working with each other for a long time but we weren’t hanging out socially. We just had a great work friendship.

AM: That’s mind-boggling! You’d think that the two of you started this as being best friends or at least really good acquaintances.

SHW: Yeah we didn’t even hang out with one another outside of making our music. We were just making music. Eventually, Tucker convinced me that I should come to NY. Then I thought, “wait, who is this guy?” I talked to people that I knew that we had in common and I was like, “do you vouch for him and should I move to NY with him to create a band with him?” They were like, “oh yeah, he’s a great guy – you should go with him.”

AM: What is your process like when you do sit down and create music together? Do you guys have designated roles?

SHW: Yeah. Every song is very different. But for the most part, Tucker is at the computer and I’m on the guitar and writing most of the lyrics. Now he’s singing a lot more which is cool. It’s also because as the band has evolved we have done the same as well.

AM: You guys have worked with so many artists over the past few years, what are you guys looking for when you are deciding on collaborating with people outside of yourselves?

TH: Honestly, I think that we’re just looking at people with good vibes. We love working with friends and people that we admire and look up to. That actually has a lot to do with the vibe that they are putting out into the world. We enjoy working together. One of the coolest things about collaboration is about putting out like a baby into the world that you created together and then being able to celebrate that together. Then being able to perform it together. You’re sort of bonded with that group forever. It will sort of always be a part of who you are. It’s just fun and it also gets you to have that opportunity for that music to have a little more freedom.

Because you’re able to work with another artist who has their musical sound, we don’t have to worry about whether that music has the SOFI TUKKER sound and if itis really in our world, having that aesthetic and that palette because it’s a collab-oration. So it can also live in Icona Pop’s world or someone else’s world. So it can have a little more risk and it can be a little more out there. Maybe not more out there as I think SOFI TUKKER songs are out there.

AM: Oh yes in the best possible way!

TH: Right I love out there. In a way – the collaboration has a way of being able to be out there – you know what I mean?

AM: Yeah. It’s about blending. When you have two collaborators that you know their work separately, come together it’s a hybrid that’s undefined and gives you the space to create. That’s so exciting when you see that come together.

TH: You get me.

AM: Yes! Our team has done fun projects outside of Athleisure Mag. Our Style Director had the opportunity to style Nile Rodgers a few years ago and her style has its signature and Nile is known for his. So the two coming together to create a look really took the pressure off of her as they both had a united vision without her wondering how it would go against her aesthetic. She could just sit back and enjoy the work and embrace his vibes and interests while adding in her touches.

TH: Exactly, it’s fun to have the other create fingerprints on it as well.

AM: Prior to COVID-19, you guys had a number of tours that you were on and creating a number of amazing shows. In prep for this interview, when we have told people that you guys are the cover, everyone would tell us about their show experience when jamming out with you guys and how it was the best night of their lives. So many people have painted a picture for us about your shows, but for those that have yet to go, what is it like for one of your in-person shows?

TH: I don’t remember.

AM: It feels like so long ago!

SHW: It’s like an electric orgasm!

TH: It’s all that energy coming together on one wavelength. It’s like losing your shit. You know when you’re like 13 with your friends and you’re listening to music on your boombox in your room and you’re like dancing on your bed – like losing it? I try to bring the adult back to that – to that primal nature.

AM: Do you guys have pre-show things that you do to get your mind ready for the show and then things that you do when the show is over? You guys are pushing through so much energy that it’s unimaginable how much you guys must hype yourselves up and then come down from that whole effect.

SHW: It is a p-r-o-c-e-s-s.

TH: We have different processes.

AM: Assumed!

TH: I’m going to let Sophie go as it’s such a process.

SHW: I’m really sensitive to stimulus as a person. I have to warm up to and then cool down from it or else I would never be able to survive. Basically, hours before the show my prep begins. 4 hours prior to the show, I will have my last meal. About an hour before the show, I start my vocal exercises. They are very physical and funny. That will go for about an hour and a half. Down to the hour, I know exactly what I am doing. After my vocal warm-up, I will do my physical warm-up. It’s about rolling out my body and it’s intricate. For the last 5 mins, we will dance around and psych each other up. You know, just jumping around with nervous energy.

After the show, then I have a vocal cooldown and then ideally, there’s a bathtub or a shower that also helps me to come down.

AM: Although that was an unexpected answer, love hearing this and knowing that there is such a thing as a vocal cool down is something new to us!

SHW: It doesn’t take that long. It’s just learning about putting the vocal in the right place in your mouth if that makes sense. That way you don’t get hoarse. When you talk right after singing, it can be really draining on the voice.

AM: Totally. Tucker?

TH: Mine is a little simpler. Before the show, we both pretty much treat it like a basketball game. It’s all about the warmup, being able to blast music – usually, dance music. It gets more intense as it goes. The first hour maybe a bit more chiller. By the end, it could be trance by the time we’re ready to go out so we're losing it. I’m really big into warming up because if we don’t do it or don’t do it long enough, my hamstrings will just bedone and then it’s all over. Right before we go out, we really hype each other up and Sophie gives me a 5-star on the back, like a really hard one. And it always hurts, but it stings and it gives me a little extra jolt which I like – but I don’t miss it that much haha!

SHW: What?

TH: I call it the 5-star. Sophie didn’t know that that’s what I call it until now! It’s a big slap on your back – it’s a 5-star. Afterwards, I ice up my knees and my feet with bags of ice or an ice bath type of situation.

AM: Um truly like a basketball player!

TH: Yeah, it’s very similar to my routine when I was a basketball player. We kind of run around and go nuts on stage. When I come off stage, my shirt is entirely dripping in sweat. It’s like a full hour and a half of going nuts. So I really have to ice but I don’t have to do the wind-down when we go back to the ho-tel after shows, I can just lie on the bed and fall asleep a minute after raving. Sophie has to do like a full 2-hour yoga wind down. When we used to share a hotel room for the first couple of years because we had smaller budgets, it was not ideal to share a room. I’d want to put the TV on so that I could watch SportsCenter and fall asleep to it and she could not have any light stimulation or noise or she would not be able to fall asleep. She has like earplugs and an eyemask. If I had the TV on even in silent, she’d be like, “nope the light flickering is fucking me up.” I was like, “this is ridiculous.

AM: You guys have had such a successful career, you have 2 GRAMMY nominations, you’ve played a number of festivals, I al-ways love hearing your music when it's an Apple (Best Friend) or Peleton (Purple Hat) commercial – we’re huge fans of HBO’s The New Pope. So when we heard, Good Time Girls the opening song –that was amazing. What does it mean to you guys to have so much of your music placed into so many pop culture areas?

SHW: I think that we feel really lucky to be able to be in that space! It’s a great way for people to be able to connect to our music and it’s just such a great opportunity.

AM: Even as we navigate COVID-19, you guys have continued to stay connected with your fans. How did your daily con-certs from home start and how impactful has it been to be able to provide this to your fans? Especially when we’re in a moment where you can’t really, travel, tour etc.?

SHW: It started very organically and by accident. Tucker was DJing and I was working out. Our friend came down and started live-streaming what was happening. People were watching and it was really fun and we said let’s do it again. I think on the 3rd day, Tucker was like, we’re going to do this every day until COVID-19 is over. Obviously, little did we know that we would still be at it. What we’re doing is different than our live shows as this is a DJ set and has been so much fun. Honestly, it’s been one of the most meaningful moments that I would say of my life. We're in this moment in time right now where people are feeling loneliness and are suffering and we are able to bring people together every single day. Everybody that is coming together are our friends and our community is now called the Freak Famand it’s grown to be this big community outside of ourselves. They have come together and they’re so inclusive and warm– it’s been great to see and gives us hope. This year, we’ve seen a lot of things about our world that hasn’t been great so to see that there are people like this has really been something that I have loved being able to be a part of.

AM: Are these shows thematic by genre, country or dedicated to specific portions of your fan base? Do you guys just freeflow every day?

TH: The Freak Fam is really so world wide that our music is really for everyone out there. It’s interesting because there are so many different time zones and languages that for those, it would feel odd to be specifically towards just one place because it's so diverse. We have done specific shows like an all Australia set for Australian radio where it live-streamed and it only featured artists from Australia. We’ve done some Mexico specific ones – we’ve done it. But for the daily streams, we just try to keep it inclusive for everyone.

AM: When you guys createdTreehouse, there are so many good songs on it. How long did it take you to make it and what was that like?

SHW: It’s so different now versus then.

When we madeTreehouse, we didnt have real time off. We basically used the time in between our tours. We would go to the studio, work on the songs, etc. Since it was done that way, it probably took a year to get that album out. There would be gaps where we couldn’t work on songs for a number of months as it would be a couple of days here and a couple of days there.

AM: Last month we interviewed you andIcona Pop about the release of SPA which we loved. We just caught the video recently as we have it on repeat. What was the thought behind having Jordan Firstman and Mia Khalifa also being included in this video and how did that come about?

SHW: I think it started out with Icona Pop as they were friends with him. We’re so lucky that we were able to have them in their as they are so iconic and I love their videos. They’re both so cool and iconic in their own way.

AM: You guys have the interactive e-con-cert coming up on Yoop on Mar 12, 2021 at- live from their eSPACE in Nashville. How did this come together and how are you working in terms of being prepared for that one?

TH: We’re so excited about this one. We’ve been waiting for the right kind of virtual experience that would fit what we would want that would be really unique and would be different from going and watching one of our live shows from YouTube or something. We were looking for a platform that had a real two-way traction. One of the main parts about our show is the connection between us and the fans and the real give and take and not just for our enjoyment although we definitely do have that. But the shows have a real live effect as it gets everyone on the same wavelength which is an important part about our show. To try to do that in a virtual world through technology, we thought that this platform would be a great way to do that. It has no lag between communication. People can clap at the end of shows or scream and we can hear that. There are these 3 big movie like screens in front of us where the crowd would normally be and there’s the ability to scroll through thousands of people who are listening in from their house. We can even pick them out and hear them with no lag time.

It’s the first thing that we have seen that is close to a real show and being able to get that real energy. We watched a couple of them as they were getting their plat-form going and just watching the kinds of interaction between the artist and their fans, talking through the songs and see-ing everyone interacts – it was such a cool experience. It made me really thing that you were there in that experience altogether. You know it’s live. I’ve seen some live streams and it looks like it was just pre-recorded shows that you’re watching. That’s cool, but for us we want to try to really have that live feel.

AM: In these times that we’re living in right now, how are you spending your time in quarantine when you’re not doing your daily shows? Are you working on your next album or finding new hobbies that you didn’t know that you had?

SHW: We’ve never had this much time be-fore ever! It’s really interesting. We have been working on a lot of new music. I'm not going to announce anything specific.

AM: Thought so.

SHW: But, there is a body of work!

AM: Nice.

SHW: But we have never had this amount of time where we could work on songs like this. So we’re really excited about that process. I mean, we try to get outside a lot. I’ve been DJing every day. I wasn’t really DJing before this time. So I spend a lot of time practicing DJing now and I spend a lot of time doing tutorials. I take guitar lessons as well to take the time to work on my craft. I love being able to do that and I also play things in our DJ set of things that our Freak Fam is doing. It could be poetry or things that they are doing and so I will work on that. There’s a ton to do!

AM: How do you guys stay inspired?

SHW: I’d say that the DJ sets that we're doing right now are really inspired. It’s energizing and it’s fun to try out a set or song and see how it works. Then we can go back and work on it more and then try it out on a set again. It’s really cool to be able to have that feedback when we're working on something. We can go directly from studio to set to play it.

AM: A lot of people are thinking about what next year will look like in terms of returning to IRL events and things of that nature. Have you guys begun to sketch out what plans to doing something like that will look like? Or are you looking at circling that date in hopes that you can actually do that show or particular event?

SHW: I would say that we’re trying not to get our hopes up!

AM: Same!

SHW: I think that we actually haven’t even gone there. Like obviously our team is there creating plans, but in our hearts, we just believe that today is what today is and tomorrow is what tomorrow is. But it’s really hard mentally to go past anything like a month. I mean how the world is right now and what it will be, we know it’s really unpredictable right now and that’s all we can predict!

AM: We’ve literally had the same conversations on this end. When can we do IRL shoots, attend events etc. To be able to think about that and to think about the safety around those elements is just a lot to take in because the plans become so fluid and it’s definitely hard to predict. It’s too soon!

SHW: Yeah.

AM: What do you guys think about the fact that because you have had so much virtual/digital engagement and even hearing about this new platform that your show on the 4th will be on, everyone regardless of their vertical has embraced these concepts. When things at some point in life do get back to being in person, will you guys maintain some of these virtual nuggets that you have been playing around with and that people have enjoyed even when they can move around more freely?

TH: For sure! I think that he whole world has definitely embraced the virtual element in all industries. I’m sure a lot of companies are saying, “you know, we don’t really need that office space. We can do it from home and save all of this money.” I think that it will be the same in the music industry. We can’t get everywhere and there are still places that we have never been able to go. We have played in a lot of places but there are so many places that we haven’t been able to play for many reasons. Sometimes it’s just as simple as the currency of that country as doing it would mean that we would financially lose money and people can’t afford the show. I think there is such a good use of virtual shows and our DJ sets whether it’s geotargeted or geo-locked and can only be seen in certain places, I think it’s going to be really useful.

You can have people watching you from all over the world and be united and that doesn’t have when we have our in person shows. Only people in that space/that town get to be in that moment. It can accomplish something sometimes bigger and sometimes more broad. Because it’s free (not the Yoop show,) but what we have been doing is, hopefully, it’s just a 1-click for free mouse move as the barrier into entry. Those who may not have known us well enough to pay for a ticket or two to make a plan in their week to see us can do it now because of this platform when they wouldn’t have prior to. So there is always a good use for something like this and I think it will get creative when the world is back to the new normal or whatever it is.

AM: What do you guys see as being next in terms of the SOFI TUKKER brand? Launching a fashion line, getting into acting – are there other areas that you want to be able to embrace in addition to your successful music career?

SHW: Tucker is a thespian!

TH: No not really! Haha

SHW: Haha I don’t think my sarcasm translates well to print haha!

AM: Haha we caught it!

SHW: So we have our body of work that we are working on right now and I don’t think that we have ever been so proud of the music that we are making. We definitely are interested in launching projects of course.

TH: If you have anything in mind, we’re around!

AM: Of course!

SHW: We don’t have any booking plans right now to get in the way of that.

TH: We want to be able to continue to do what we’re doing and to grow the FreakFam as well! When live shows return, we want to be able to do it in a hopefully big-ger and more exciting place than where we left off. It’s exciting and we’ve loved being able to find ways to keep growing and to work with so many great people.

SHW: It’s been a really tough time as I’m really far away from my family. So that’s tough so to have the work that we do –our music and our purpose and to have a community that is so vibrant it really helps. It takes a time that is really tough and difficult and helps me and others get through it. It makes it a lot easier to focus on things and to be able to be excited about them.

AM: Clearly you guys inspire people with everything that you do. So we always like asking people who are 3 people that you know or admire from afar that have in-spired who you are today?

TH: There are so many people and I think when you think about the people that we have learned from – when we started the group or band or duo – still don’t know what to call it 5 years later ha! We start-ed, we were really uncomfortable taking photos, being on social media and we wouldn’t take selfies because we thought it was lame. Then something as simple as seeing other friends of ours do what they did and were amazing at social media, that was inspiring to us.

For me in short, it would be Larry Bird.

AM: Yes! Our Co-Founder loves Larry Bird!

TH: Is she from French Lick?

AM: No, Indianapolis but she’s all about him and you can never say anything wrong about him – his work ethic and focus is amazing.

TH: Exactly. I’m from Boston and as a sports guy, I grew up idolizing his work ethic, how hard he played and how hard he practiced. When I watched him play, that was always instilled in me and I learned it from sports. I knew that if you’re not working, someone else is getting better. It’s not like everything is a competition but it is competitive and that is motivating for me.

AM: In our Style Director’s home state, they believe in Life is Sports and Sports is life. How you are in sports is how you're going to go about life. So it is a competition and in many ways, that competition will be with yourself. And the reality is that someone else is also doing what you are doing so you need to be ready to perform. It’s a great point!

TH: A lot of what I learned there, we have brought into our world here. Being a captain on a college basketball team and working together – a lot of those skills are also applicable in what we do now and it was great to bring it in here.

SH: I’m going to give you an emotional answer because my grandfather passed away recently. I would say that he is one of the reasons why I am who I am today and he inspired me. A – he always treated me like I was the most special person in the world. The thing about him is that I think he actually treated a lot of people that way so it wasn’t just about me. That’s how he was with people and when he interacted with them, he made them feel that way. Feeling seen and having that kind of love in my life made me believe in myself and made me want to give that back to other people so that others could be seen and feel special. The other thing is that he was always jolly and I never heard him complain and I think that that value is something that we have also brought into the community and the band.

IG @SOFITUKKER

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS

Athleisure Mag's virtual cover shoot was shot by Co-Founder + Celebrity Photographer Paul Farkas. Throughout this shoot, Paul used an iPhone 11 Pro, iPad Air 2, Facetime and Clos.

STYLE CREDITS

Athleisure Mag's Celeb Fashion Stylist, Co-Founder, Creative + Style Director Kimmie Smith shares what she used to create the cover editorial with SOFI TUK-KER for a number of fun vibrant looks.

LOOK I | LOUNGE STYLE

FRONT COVER, PG 16 + 19 | SOPHIE: DIPPIN' DAISY'S Show Off Bralette + Friday Night Pant | MAISON MIRU Halo Oval Hoop Earrings in Sterling | EXPERIMENTAL JEWELLERY CLUB Gold Pyramid Stud Bracelet | NIKE Sneakers | TUCKER: RUSSELL ATHLETIC Tie Dye French Terry Hoodie + Short | PUMA RS-2K Messaging Sneakers | SOFI TUKKER Yellow Choker Chain |

LOOK II | SPORTY STYLE

BACK COVER + PG 20 - 25 | SOPHIE: L'OEUFPOCHE Cloud 9 Crop Pullover | L'ETOILE SPORT A-Line Skort | MAISON MIRU Halo Oval Hoop Earrings in Sterling | Nike Sneakers | BABOLAT Pure Aero Tennis Racket | TUCKER: ALO YOGA Idol Hooded Runner + Chill Short | MATADOR MEGGINGS Cubed Meggings | PUMA RS-2K Messaging Sneakers | SOFI TUKKER Yellow Choker Chain |

LOOK III | WEEKEND STYLE

PG 27 - 32 | SOPHIE: BALANCE ATHLETICA Tie Dye Hoodie | PANGAIA Lightweight Recycled Cotton Track Pants | MAISON MIRU Halo Oval Hoop Earrings in Sterling | PUMA RS-Fast Sneaker |TUCKER: MUNICIPAL Standard Issue 300 Hoodie | PUMA X KIDSUPER STUDIOS Track Pants | Nike Sneakers | SOFI TUKKER Yellow Choker Chain |

LOOK IV | STUDIO STYLE

PG 35 - 39 | MUNICIPAL Sport Utility Hoodie + Jogger |

LOOK V | CASUAL STYLE

PG 40 + 41 | KALORE Ivory Satin Top + Stretch Pants | MAISON MIRU Halo Oval Hoop Earrings in Sterling | STELLA MCCARTNEY Holographic Sneakers |

LOOK VI | CHILL STYLE

PG 42 + 43 | BALANCE ATHLETICA Tie Dye Hoodie | MUNICIPAL Crossover Short |

IG @PVFarkas

@Shes.Kimmie

Hear EDM musical duo SOFI TUKKER on our show, #TRIBEGOALS - which is a part of Athleisure Studio, our multimedia companion podcast network! Subscribe to be notified when the episode drops. Listen on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.

Read the Nov Issue #59 of Athleisure Mag and see SOFI TUKKER in mag as well as their 9PLAYLIST 9MIX.

9PLAYLIST | SOFI TUKKER

Read the Nov Issue #59 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | SOFI TUKKER in mag.

9PLAYLIST 9MIX | SOFI TUKKER

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag #59 and see 9PLAYLIST 9MIX in mag as well as see them on our YouTube channel.

ATHLEISURE MAG | #59 NOV 2020

ATHLEISURE MAG | NOV ISSUE #59

In this month’s issue as we continue into the fall, our Nov Issue #59 is covered by one of Athleisure Mag’s favorite EDM artists, SOFI TUKKER. Our virtual cover shoot showcases fun vibrant fashion worn by the duo ranging from varying forms of lounge and WFH looks. We talk to them about their musical background, how they came to working with one another, a number of their achievements and how they have navigated these past few months by continuing to stay connected with their fans and their upcoming econcert that takes place on Dec 4th! This month we interviewed Miss USA 2019 Cheslie Kryst who is also a full time correspondent for EXTRA. We talked about her competing in the pageant system, recently crowning Miss USA 2020 at Graceland earlier this month. In addition we talk about her work in law, her focus on social justice and the importance for empowering women. We’re fans of BRAVO’s Million Dollar Listing franchise and this month, we interviewed Million Dollar Listing LA’s Tracy Tutor to talk about her work in the residential luxury market, being a broker in a competitive industry, how she balances her life as a mom, her focus on fitness and how she empowers women. Just in time for Thanksgiving and the upcoming holidays, we talked with Chef David Rose, Food Network Personality and Executive Chef of Omaha Steaks. He talks about how we can still celebrate even thought our holidays will look a little different. He provides tips and his go to meals that he enjoys smoking and grilling. We also talk with Chef Ruben Rodriguez in this month’s The Art of the Snack about his latest restaurant, Amigo Nia. He shares his culinary influence, what you can expect when enjoying pickup and delivery as well as his plans as he heads into 2021.

This month, our cover SOFI TUKKER shares their 9PLAYLIST as well as providing a fun video of their 9MIX. Normani shares her favorites and why in our 9LIST STORI3S.

Read the Nov Issue #59 of Athleisure Mag here.

WE'RE @ THE SPA WITH ICONA POP + SOFI TUKKER

Over the past few months, we have navigated a number of life changes that have given new meaning to the term and ever evolving, "new normal." In the midst of these crazy times, we have also embraced things that we have always enjoyed - even if it is in a new way! Once again, music comes to the rescue as it makes our activities enhanced on all levels. When we first heard of Icona Pop and SOFI TUKKER's song Spa, we loved the fact that it had fun lyrics, a catchy tune and embraces something that we have been enjoying from home.

We had to catch up with both groups to find out how this song came together, how they have been working in these times and what they have coming up!

ATHLEISURE MAG: We have been fans of Icona Pop and SOFI TUKKER for a number of years – from pre partying, at the club, fun dinners, at PROPEL CO:LABS Fitness Festival in NY, Ultra Music’s Party here in NY during NYFW and when we’re cycling in studio. We also love hearing your music in commercials, shows etc. So it’s no surprise that when your team sent us the link to Spa, we’ve been jamming to it for the past few days and feel that it definitely needs to be in the mix of Athleisure songs for sure. Before we get into the song, how have you been spending these past crazy months?

ICONA POP: Wow thank you for all the love and support, that means a lot!

In the beginning, we felt very lost. Everything got canceled and life was just weird.

We decided first to take the time to reflect and breathe for a second. But after that we got so inspired so we locked ourselves in the studio and been super creative from there.

It started with us djing online and then we started our ”rave spa”. We´ve been connecting with all our fans around the world. And the best part is that we’ve had the time to sit down and write a lot of new music.

We’ve come to really appreciate the things you can do from your studio and laptop.

SOFI TUKKER: We started livestreaming on basically the first day of lockdown. At first, it was really random. Soph was working out and Tuck was Djing and our photographer started livestreaming the whole thing. We did it again the next day with Soph also DJing and it was so fun to connect with people so we committed to doing it every single day. We have been doing daily live dj sets every day now for 122 days. It's turned out to be such a meaningful time, being able to connect with people daily and find joy and positivity, even in pretty dire times. The community that's built around the sets calls themselves the Freak Fam and it keeps growing!

AM: In terms of staying fit, what are your workouts like and have you embraced new modalities especially during these crazy times?

IP: Its been very cool to join live stream work outs and also a lot of Swedish gyms have been having outdoor activities.

We try to move everyday before going to the studio. Doesn’t matter if its gym, walking running or whatever. But that really gives you endorphins and makes you stay focused the rest of the day.

It’s also different depending on how stressful it is, how much time and also how you´re feeling in your body that day.

Usually when its stressful or you have a lot in your head and you still need to release some steam, its amazing to lift weights, but also to do things that make you calm down like yoga or pilates.

ST: I've found working out to help so much during these times. I don't feel as stir crazy cuz I really am using all my energy in a day! I go on really long bike rides, I do HIIT training in the backyard, I practice yoga, I use the Peloton, I go rollerblading, I go on runs, I workout on the beach... pretty much anything, I try to switch it up all the time and keep my body guessing!

AM: How has creating music been for you during this time?

IP: It's been both good and bad.

We get a lot of our inspiration from traveling and now we’ve been in the same place for months. But somehow it's like life catches up with you and you can tap in to emotions that you haven't had the time to explore before.

Also the pressure to release music has been very low. But somehow we’ve released more music then in years this year. Feels like people really need it right now.

ST: We've been able to get so much done, since we aren't traveling!! We've created a ton of new music, and we usually test it out during the livestream and then workshop it and bring it back into the studio to tweak. It's a really fun way to make music and really cool to involve everybody throughout the whole process more than ever.

AM: How do you stay inspired as there is more time being at home versus traveling and having in person events?

IP: We absolutely love hugging and kissing our fans, so we really miss that. Even though we love seeing the world, the traveling part can put a lot of pressure on your body. So we guess its been good to stay at one place and slow down for a minute. And also, it's been very interesting for us with all the new ”normal” routines.

ST: The daily DJ sets really inspire us. We are constantly listening to music and testing it out and seeing how people react. And we've started doing a couple days a week of guest dj sets, so we are really active in the livestreaming world and constantly feeling inspired by not just the music we're playing but also the music other people are playing in their sets.

AM: Both of you have found great ways to stay connected with your fans, do you have any virtual events that we should know about and have you started working on IRL events?

IP: We live for our "Rave spa” that we have on our instagram live.

We try to do it once a week and then people can ask us whatever they want while we dj and are having a spa. We also do QandAs with our fans and try to involve them a lot in our everyday life. We also been playing live at empty clubs or arenas and streaming it to different places. We have an amazing live show prepared so as soon as the world opens up for touring, we will be there. We can’t wait!

ST: Yessss! Aside from our daily dj sets which you can find @sofitukkeroffical on twitch and @sofitukker on facebook and IG live, we are doing our first ever eConcert!!!! It's on December 4th and it's really excited because with this technology, the community will actually be present with us during the live show. We will be able to really see and hear everybody who is with us, with big screens in front of us while we are performing live. We can't wait. We haven't done our live show since the pandemic started and this will be truly next level technology we can't wait to all be together! You can find tickets on our website sofitukker.com.

AM: How do you define the Icona Pop sound?

IP: Electronic pop, driving drums, chanting choirs and a punk attitude.

AM: How do you define the SOFI TUKKER sound?

ST: We try not to define it so that we can always stay open to whatever inspires us in the studio. But it's always made to dance to, and we try to keep things joyful. Even in more emotional lyrics, we are a big fan of the cry-dance track.

AM: How did Spa come about and what was the intent behind creating it?

IP: We´ve been big Sofi Tukker fans for years. We bumped into each other in a elevator in New York and fell in love with them and decided to write together. A couple of weeks later we sat in the studio together and we started to talk about how much we love going to the spa. And realized That, that is the best way of ending every evening. After a show, a stressful day, if your being at a club, imagine to end that party night in a spa :) What a dream!

ST: We had wanted to get into the studio together for a while so we were soooo giddy when we finally were in there together. We vibed so well together and had big friend crushes!! So we were just goofing off and having fun and I think spa just came up in conversation and naturally made its way into a song. we were both vibing on acid house and techno and at first thought it didn't even need lyrics, but then we had so much fun with them.

AM: What was the thought behind both groups coming together?

IP: It felt so right from the instant second we met. Its all about the energy, and we really felt how we were vibing the second we met. Like we’ve known them for years.

ST: We have been Icona Pop fans for a while and then we randomly met each other in an elevator in New York and became instant friends. We knew we had to get into the studio together cuz we had such a good vibe among us.

AM: What are you doing in terms of promoting this song?

IP: We've done a lot of online interviews, zoom chats with our fans, playing the song in our dj sets and the response have been great so far. We love our fans, they are so creative. We get so happy when they put up videos of themselves in robes, cucumbers on their eyes, having a sparty in their living room.

ST: Rebranding cucumbers as "cukes" from now on.

AM: Will you guys collab again on another song together?

IP: Absolutely, we've already talked to Sophie and Tucker that we have to write more music asap and go on spa tour together.

ST: We'd love to!

AM: When you’re spa’ing from home, what are 3 things that you have to have to get into that mood?

IP: A robe

A good facial (Zo skin care - sulfur mask) And to lite some candles (its all about the mood).

And some great music off course. Our absolute favourite thing is the sauna. Its the best way to relax :).

ST: A candle

A robe

A bathtub

IG @ICONAPOP

@SOFITUKKER

PHOTO CREDITS | PG 44 Icona Pop's Yoye Lapogian | PG 47 + 48 SOFI TUKKER Squid | PG 42 + 43 Composite Pictures Yoye Lapogian/Squid |

Read the Oct Issue #58 of Athleisure Mag and see We’re @ The Spa with Icona Pop + SOFI TUKKER in mag.

ATHLEISURE MAG | #58 OCT 2020

In this month’s issue as we continue into the fall, our Oct Issue #58 is covered by DJ/Producer/Music Exec and Entrepreneur, Steve Aoki. Our virtual cover shoot showcases fall style within Fitness, WFH and Out + About. We talk about Steve’s impressive career in music, building his label DIM MAK, being an entertainer, the process of creating music and collaborating, Neon Future series, being a Tech Future Optimist and more. Music has definitely gotten us through these times and we took some time to talk with Ultra Record’s Icona Pop and SOFI TUKKER to talk about their newest single Spa, how they have been spending the past few months and how they connected to create this song.

This month, 4 X NBA Champion LeBron James shares 9 songs that we should listen to in this month’s 9PLAYLIST which inspired him as he focused on #RevengeSznCompleted. 30 Olympic + World Champion Medalist Simone Biles of Team USA Gymnastics shares her favorites and why in our 9LIST STORI3S.

Read the Oct Issue #58 of Athleisure Mag here.