We kicked off the month by heading uptown to a istening party for electropop Big Beat Records' artist, Soleima whose music is the perfect way to get you ready for Spring with a hip hopand world infusion. This Danish artist chatted with us prior to her party to talk about her entry into music, her love of the collaborative scene and Copenhagen and the Scandanavian festivals that she'll be at this year! ATHLEISURE MAG: How long have you been in music? SOLEIMA: I kind of just grew up with music. I had been doing it forever. We had a piano and I grew up doing it with my mom as a child, since she played as well. I also played – she always took me to these music clubs where I was taught music and I grew up in an East African music environment. AM: We’ve been listening to your music and including it in our workouts. It has this mix of hip hop and that tribal feel to it – we are definitely fans. S: Yes! That’s what I was introduced to and I never learned the theory behind music. It was an acoustic way of learning music and for me it was the best way to learn it. So somehow, it’s always been in my life – some sort of music. AM: When did you realize that this was something that you wanted to do? S: Actually, I have been doing it as a hobby for most of my life! But then last year, I got signed and I started working on this EP with friends and we thought about putting it on SoundCloud and then we thought, let’s try to get it released. We sent it to some Danish labels and one of them wanted to release it and this was nice, but I never thought of it as a direct career opportunity. But then everything went pretty fast! I guess when an opportunity like that shows itself, you just jump
on it. So I feel like it was meant to be somehow? AM: What inspires you when you’re performing, making your videos and writing your music? S: I guess I’m very inspired by many different things. I get super inspired by other musicians. I think there are so many great ones out there right now. People doing amazing stuff. Right now in Copenhagen – where I’m from in Denmark, the music scene is very interesting. We are a very small industry and somehow we are all friends and know each other! We work together. People have a lot of stuff going on that is really interesting. Right now, we’re inspiring and motivating each other. When someone does an amazing song or has a great project going on, we’re like – “Oh that’s so good – that’s amazing. Let’s do something toegther!” We just make each other better in a positive way. I’ve always heard people talk about how in this industry when someone has something good going on that there is a feeling that there isn’t room for someone else. I’ve just never realized that in our environment in Denmark, which I think is a very healthy thing. AM: So are you currently working on other music as well? S: I’m working on an EP as well right now. It’s going to come out shortly. AM: Are you doing any touring or any festival dates? S: Yes. I am writing a lot. I was in LA for a month writing recently and I do it all the time. I have quite a few festivals. I am playing in Scandanavia, in the UK. In the UK, there will be a few shows in the Spring – a number of clubs and then over the summer, a very booked festival tour. In the fall, I am doing my
