BY HALEY WISE
Photo Courtesy of The Windish Agency
London-born, Vienna-based singer and producer SOHN has raked in 1.4 million followers on SoundCloud in the past year and a half. Needless to say, it has been quite the year for him. As a precursor to his first North American tour, the mononymous artist played three shows at SXSW 2014. Since signing to the 4AD record label late last year, he has released his first studio album, Tremors, which received a 5.0 rating on Pitchfork and has been widely praised. “I wanted Tremors to feel like fresh air,” says SOHN. “Every night I worked finished with a cold sunrise and a walk home,” he explains of a ritual that he believes found its way into the music.
The singer turned producer has definitely proven himself in the more technical world through his collaborations with vocalist Banks, including producing her new track, “Waiting Game,” in addition to his remixes of some of 2013’s most popular artists, such as Rhye, Disclosure and Lana Del Rey, to name a few.
The artist does not consider SOHN to be a side project or a pseudonym; this is what he calls himself. “I’ve changed my name quite a few times in my life already,” he told Vogue in an interview. “My birth name would sound really weird.”
His longtime relationship with filmmaker Andreas Waldschuetz has fostered the visual transformation of his new music. Waldschuetz considers himself a visual storyteller and puts a heavy emphasis on creating films that complement the music. “I wanted to capture a performance that is as intimate and delicate as the track itself,” he commented in relation to his video for an unplugged rendition of SOHN’s “Tempest,” filmed in a 19th Century ballroom. Much like the music, these videos are completely organic. “Everything you see in the video happened on set, there were no special effects added in post-production,” said Waldschuetz.
SOHN will be continuing his North American tour until the end of May. Check out tour dates on our site to make sure you don’t miss him before he heads back to Germany, and be sure to check back for our coverage of his San Francisco show at the end of the month.
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