By Dalal Museitef |Staff Writer|
After running away to Paris when she was just 16 years old, 29-year-old Stephanie Sokolinski, also known as Soko, has gained popularity in movies, television, and more recently music with her first official album, “I
Thought I Was an Alien.”
She gained quite a strong following performing in Los Angeles on Nov.14 at the American Apparel store.
The French singer-songwriter and actress was fighting a cold.
She still kept her rich, sonorous voice in tune.
She held an intimate performance where fans and her close friends witnessed her talent.
Joined by her three other guitarists and drummer, Soko roamed around and consistently mingled with the audience throughout the show.
At one point, she encouraged us to stand up and dance to her more upbeat songs.
Soko may be new to some, but she has starred in dozens of French TV series, written tracks for animated films by Director Spike Lee, and recently voiced the character of Isabella in the 2013 movie “Her.”
She is also recognized for her song “We Might be Dead Tomorrow,” featured in the viral YouTube video “First Kiss.”
Although she seems to be living the life now, the performer has experienced some difficult times in the past.
During her MySpace years in 2009, she stated on her page, “Soko is dead.”
She left the music industry for about three months and her label warned, “you better catch the wave now, otherwise everything’s gonna disappear,” according to The Guardian.
A dedicated musician, Soko continued to write dozens of songs, according to the blog site Blushing Panda.
She declared that with this album, she was “reborn,” writing lyrics such as “In my battle with the demons/ I just had to die/ cause they’re way too evil and I couldn’t fight it.”
After the show, I caught up with a long-time fan, Cynthia Lujan who was ecstatic to hear Soko was back creating music.
“I found her on Spotify and that’s when I fell in love with her all over again…she’s genuine and her music is real,” said Lujan.
“You Have A Power on Me,” a video that has caught the eyes of over 190,000 viewers, features actor
Matthew Grey Gubler, from the television show “Criminal Minds.”
The ‘shipped’ couple, Gubler and Soko role play as magicians and lip-sync lyrics, “You have a power on me
that nobody else has on me/ like a bunny out of a magic hat/ you’re magical when you do that.”
Her gripping lyrics show different sides of her as a performer.
A versatile musician, Soko played guitar, piano and drums on an untitled, 30-second song and drum solo, where her band mates followed her tune by nodding their heads.
Soko has proven that, with her carefree attitude, she has no reason to shy away from her true self as a musician.
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