Interview: Jasmine Sokko

It's been whirlwind for the hushed electro-pop crooner. Since the release of her first infectious single, ‘1057’, Jasmine Sokko has risen to be one of the most-streamed local artistes on Spotify, played at the 2017 ULTRA Music Festival stage, and has even earned a collaboration spot with five-time DJ Awards winner, Lucian. And now, she’s ready to add another milestone to her long list of achievements: her upcoming record, Nº. The 21-year-old tells us more as she readies for her fearless debut.

How did you get started with your own music?

I had reached a point of time at which I realised the music out there wasn’t something that I could relate to. A lot of the music I listened to had always been about sex or drugs, and growing up in a conservative environment made it hard to connect with those songs. I had to figure out how to make my own music, so I sat in front of YouTube for hours and then finally one day it just all came together.

Tell us more about your debut EP, Nº. Is it pronounced as 'no' or 'number'?

There’s no right or wrong. It can be 'no' because the EP’s a collection of my feelings towards resisting society. But it can also be seen as 'number', as most of the songs are titled numerically. For example, 1057 means lost.

You have a very distinct futuristic concept in your music and style. What inspires you?

I like dystopian films and thriller novels. But essentially, they're more of an 'aesthetic' thing. I couldn't relate with anything that has to do with colour, so the whole dystopian concept stuck with me. I have a thing for dark things.

I can tell. You're only wearing dark colours today, too.

This is one of those rare days! I’m actually wearing a navy tee shirt. I've recently cleared my wardrobe and took out three boxes of coloured clothing.

Is it intentional that your music is upbeat yet it has sad lyrics?

I personally just enjoy dance music. Plus, who says you can't dance when you're sad?

There's an air of mystery around you as you tend to hide your face in most of your photos. Was that a creative decision?

Truthfully, the whole image was supposed to link to my first music video, for 1057, in which a masked girl goes around finding a mysterious figure. At the end of the clip, it's revealed that the person she was searching for was actually herself. Unfortunately, we took that part out.

Well, you're a super private person in real life, anyway.

I am. I'm not into the whole social media thing. In fact, I'm really bad at it. I don't even have a private Instagram account!

Lately there’s been a rise of local female music acts. What are your thoughts on it?

I love it. We're all so different from one another, and we produce various types of music.

Will there be a day when we’ll see Jasmine Sokko in colour?

That'll be so interesting! I mean I'll never know, but I'm pretty certain I'll still be dark.

Nº is out on Spotify and iTunes. Catch Jasmine Sokko at Local Motion Music Festival on Sep 22.