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Soko and Lime: The Acid-Sweet Indie Singer Talks Singing, Acting, and Kissing Asia Argento

A new indie singer is breaking onto the American scene, and she’s not from Williamsburg or Portland. She’s from Bordeaux, France, where her 2010 Cesar nomination (the Gallic Oscars) commands more attention. Stéphanie Sokolinski spent her teenage years and early 20s acting and singing in French films as the one-named Soko, and now she wants America (but only cool Americans) to know her name.

She’s settled down in Los Angeles for the past two years, but made a special trip to New York this month to celebrate the release of her album I Thought I Was An Alien, a Bright Eyes-type album reminiscent of Conor Oberst‘s style. The album has been out for two years in Europe, but it took a little longer to get it picked up stateside.

AfterEllen was in the audience for Soko’s performance at New York City’s McKittrick Hotel earlier this month, and we got to speak with her after the show about her recent trend of lesbian love affairs and her plans for conquering America musically. In our (NSFW) interview, she has some strong words for French homophobes and reveals how she got to kiss her Italian actress idol, Asia Argento.

AfterEllen.com: You play keyboard and bass as well as whale sounds. How do you do it all?

Soko: I play guitar and drums too! I haven’t tonight. OH! I forgot to play my drum song. How do I do it all? I don’t know. It’s just fun.

AE: You’re an actress as well?

Soko: Yea! I do that too, and I direct all my music videos too.

AE: Do you ever want to settle down into one of them?

Soko: No. Why? I mean, I just want to be creative and do whatever I can to be creative. Whatever inspires me, that’s what I want to do. Why put rules and boundaries when the whole world is your fucking playground? We should just explore, and be ecstatic and fun, and just do it! Do it all!

AE: So is America a new frontier for you? You said this album has been out in Europe for a year and half.

Soko: Yea, it just came out here, but I’ve been living here for a while, so I’m just stoked that it’s here now. You know? Finally!

AE: Do you find anything different about America? Do you like it better?

Soko: I mean I live here, so I must like something about it.

AE: In New York or California?

Soko: In L.A.

AE: Do you like all that Hollywood stuff?

Soko: I’m not a part of all that Hollywood stuff.

AE: [laughs]

Soko: No, I live in the east, surrounded by musicians, and fun people. I’m not a part of this materialistic, stupid, superficial world. I hope not!

AE: Well, sometimes it’s hard to get away from it…

Soko: No! It’s not… I have cool people around me. Cool in a good way, not in a cool way. Cool in an amazing, awesome, mindful caring way — that are very inspiring and that I play music with.

AE: So I write for a gay magazine –

Soko:Oh, great! Awesome! I love the gays! I love you guys! I’m one of you!

AE: Yea, so you said that a guy totally broke your heart.

Soko: No, that’s true, but that’s wrong. I’ve liked girls since I was fucking born.

AE: Did that force you into a more lesbian phase?

Soko: No, no, no, I mean I’ve always been dating girls. For the last year, I’ve been dating girls but it doesn’t mean I won’t date guys again. It just means, I like the ladies better.

AE: [Laughs]

Soko: They’re just soft. They’re fucking beautiful. Their pussies smell good, unlike dicks. I don’t know.

AE: Do dicks smell bad?

Soko: Dicks smell bad. Those dicks, not gay dicks! Gays know how to take care of themselves. They know how to take care of “down there” better.

AE: [laughs] That’s Hilarious.

Soko: Sorry, that was disgusting. Don’t put this in the interview.

AE: I have to!

Soko: C’mon.

AE: Death is a theme in a lot of your songs.

Soko: Yes, Indeed.

AE: Why is that?

Soko: Because my dad died when I was five.

AE: OK.

Soko: And then a lot of people died after that, and I was just petrified of dying too. I basically cultivated this fear of abandonment. I felt abandoned so many times in my childhood, because of all those deaths around me. I feel threatened that it could happen again. Like, as soon as I love someone, I feel like I just have to grab every minute, like every second, of every minute, of every hour, of every day with the people I love so I’m really intense in relationships, just because I’m always scared that they’re going to be taken away from me and also, I get dumped all the time.

AE: [laughs] Oh.

Soko: So I somehow reproduce that feeling of abandonment all the time. I’ve never left anyone, ever.

AE: Oh really?

Soko: No, I’m like a loyal little puppy. All I want is to love someone and be loved in return, like who doesn’t? That’s all I want in my life, everyday…is to have love…nonstop, always. More than anything in the world.

AE: That’s great. One Song is about being in love with a drug addict. What was that like?

Soko: That was terrible! How do you think it is?

AE: Did you ever have issues with drinking or drugs?

Soko: I’ve never done drugs! I’m straight edge.

AE: That’s great! That’s really great. They can put a lot of clouds in your life, I guess.

Soko: Yea. I tried weed, for the first time like six months ago, and I smoked for like four months, and then I was over it, but I tried weed for the first time at 27! Not bad.

AE: Wow, that’s good.

Soko: I never tried cigarettes.

AE: Oh wow, and you’re French? And you’ve never had a cigarette?

Soko: No.

AE: That’s interesting. Do you like wine?

Soko: No.

AE: Ok, and you do whisper spoken world, do you know Conor Oberst?

Soko: I love Conor.

AE: Is he an inspiration to you?

Soko: Oh yea, definitely. I love him.

AE: Who else?

Soko: Um, Morrissey, because he’s vegan and gay, and talks with his heart and soul, and everything, so I feel like him a lot.

AE: How did you become vegan?

Soko: I’ve been vegetarian since I was five, because I lost my dad and I realized what flesh and a dead body was, and I would have felt horrible if anyone ate my dad, so I didn’t want to eat anyone’s mom or dad or any living creatures, so I stopped eating meat.

AE: I guess if you get put in the ground, the decomposers come after you, biologically speaking.

Soko: I know.

AE: Do you want to do American movies now?

Soko: I mean, I want to do movies if they’re good. I don’t care if they’re American, or French or Italian, or Korean. I’m open to everything as long as it’s good.

AE: As long as it’s not porn?

Soko: I would love to do porn, are you kidding me? Don’t put that in!

AE: [laughs] Are you joking or would you really?

Soko: I WOULD NOT DO PORN!

AE: [Laughs] OK.

Soko: I mean, I’d watch them, happily.

AE: Do you like lesbian porn better or straight porn?

Soko: Oh, totally lesbian porn.

AE: But isn’t it fake and made for straight guys?

Soko: It’s totally disgusting and fake, so sometimes I watch straight porn.

AE: And you just look at the girl more?

Soko: No, they’re disgusting and fake.

AE: Yea.

Soko: I just try to look at organs, more than I look at faces.

AE: [laughs] So no faces?

Soko: No, just organs. Just pubes.

AE: [laughs] Do you have a girlfriend right now?

Soko: I just got dumped.

AE: You just got dumped? Like today?

Soko: Two-three weeks ago.

AE: OK.

Soko: I have a girl crush! Asia Argento.

AE: Is she a singer?

Soko: No – well she is, actually, but she’s mostly an actress and a director. She is Italian. She is the most gorgeous girl I have ever met.

AE:So, you’re courting her now?

Soko: No, I mean yeah, I mean, we are courting each other! And, and, she was my dream girl since I was 15, and then I met her in Cannes, and I went to her and told her I was in love with her, and she asked me if I was trouble and I said, “Yes, of course.” And then she kissed me.

AE: Wow, and since then have you seen her?

Soko: No, because I live in L.A., and she lives in Rome, but we talk all the time.

AE: You were at the film festival?

Soko: Yea.

AE: Oh, that’s super cool.

Soko: Yea, I was playing shows.

AE: And France passed gay marriage.

Soko: Yes.

AE: Were you happy to see that?

Soko: FUCKING AWESOME! So stoked. Progressive country. YES!

AE: But a lot of people showed up for the protests.

Soko: Oh yea, it was disgusting. What a bunch of fucking cunts. I mean seriously, can’t you allow people to be free and love each other? What the fuck is your problem? You’re like miserable in a fifty five year old marriage and haven’t had sex in 35 years, and you like, don’t accept people to be in love and you stay in your marriage because God told you to? Fuck you.

AE: And did you see the protestors at the French Open?

Soko: At the what?

AE: The French Open. The guys jumped onto the court and were half naked.

Soko: No.

AE: Yea. [laughs] I was like, you’re protesting gay marriage but you’re half naked?

Soko: [laughs] No fucking way!

AE: I think that’s all I have.

Soko: Cool. I love pussies. Bye.

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