Making moves with singer SOUKOU
Ena Soukou always wanted to be a rock star. She just hadn’t realized how movement would help her get there.
Words by Robert Birnbaum. Art by Maria Camila Ruiz Lora.
It’s a festival weekend at the height of summer in Northern Germany. In a field, among the usual array of stages and drinks vendors, sweat-soaked bodies compete in a spirited game of volleyball. In a shady corner nearby, a group is mirroring the mindful moves of a yogi. A subliminal bass beat echoes between the skate park and the basketball court. Amid the frenzy, a tent offers refuge from the hustle and bustle. Inside, a warm, expressive voice captivates and soothes the audience. The voice belongs to SOUKOU.
Though at this moment she offers the crowd a moment of stillness, for Ena too, this is an interval in the action. The German singer never goes a day without some form of sport or workout, so performing at the About You Pangea Festival – which celebrates movement and music — is a natural fit. SOUKOU tells her story with simple words. Words that, upon closer inspection, reveal themselves as deeply rooted, personal messages. This is especially apparent in her new EP bloodline, in which SOUKOU opens up candidly. She’s at ease with being vulnerable and honest, as she tells me after her performance.
“I want people to truly listen to my songs,” she explains. “My music is super personal. If you listen to my music, you’ll soon know me pretty well. That’s beautiful, because why would I hide anything? I believe that songs and ideas come to you as you live. I want my music to tell stories that just happened to me. Something that touched me.”
And that has seemingly always been the case: “As a kid, I always wanted to be a rock star. My grandma kept saying, 'You have to sing, child, nothing else.' Already as a teenager, I supplemented my allowance with gigs, sang at weddings and so on. I wrote my own music relatively early – at the age of 12. I also worked with producers for the first time during those years, but never released any of it.”
Things really took off for Ena Soukou when she moved from Bochum to Berlin and performed as Ena Wild with her first band. “It was kind of an analog techno band. That was the first time I said 'This is my own stuff.'”
Today, Ena writes and performs pop music under the moniker “SOUKOU”. Her work is heavily influenced by electro, indie and afrobeats. With no publicist, no label or management behind her – securities that most successful artists rely on nowadays.
"I just said I'll do it myself. It's true that more work ends up on my plate and more mistakes can happen. But I familiarized myself with the music industry very early on. I wanted to know the business inside out."
A business degree and her early experience in the music scene affirmed for Ena that she needed to do her own thing. She saw an industry that wasn't made for musicians like her.
"The current system is not serving the interest of the artist. I know myself, I couldn't have said 'yes' to everything in the industry. First you do an album, then you promote it, then maybe a second album. If I say '[the album] is not ready yet, I want to be able to postpone it.”
SOUKOU also enjoys the flexibility of life as an independent musician. That includes ensuring a healthy dose of exercise is on the schedule – every day.
"Movement is essential for me. Essential," she emphasizes. “I think most people would feel better mentally if they moved a little every day.
I love CrossFit, but at the moment I'm mostly into running – 5K every day. I'm currently reading a book on breathing (Breath, by James Nestor) that recommends breathing more through your nose. It makes me feel so much fitter when I run.
That's where I also see the connection to music. Singing is simply controlled breathing. I totally feel the connection between music and physical fitness. When the body is activated, the head is also activated. Before every gig, I do 20 squats and 20 push-ups. After that, I'm switched on, I'm present.”
This synergy of movement and music takes us back to the opening scene. To music, culture, sports and play converging at the About You Pangea Festival in northern Germany.
“I'm used to festivals, but not festivals like this,” Ena says. “I found it very cool, but had to get used to it. Nobody smoked cigarettes. Hardly anyone drank alcohol. I was a little confused initially.”
While most festival weekends are associated with hedonism that takes a week to recover from, at the About You Pangea Festival, drinking games are traded for beach volleyball and ‘hair of the dog’ for downward dog. But the long dance nights and mosh pits are all still here.
“It’s awesome how sports meet partying - it's a really good combo, a really cool festival. My rule is that I only go to festivals if someone lends me a van. I hate camping. So if someone lends me a van, I'll definitely come back,” she admits with a grin.
When she's not on stage, in the recording studio, or out running, Ena, who is bursting with joie de vivre, is committed to bringing her community closer together.
“I care a lot about people being kind to each other. Once a month, I invite a group of cool women to my house. I cook for everyone, they bring drinks. I call it the 'Titty Talk.' We just chat and exchange ideas. It's important to me that women stick together even more. Because then beautiful, huge things happen.”
Ena is always more than interested in hearing other people’s stories – even those of complete strangers she meets on the streets of Berlin. “I make sure that I approach everybody I meet with an open heart. I love having people, especially people with good energy, around me. That’s what lifts me up.”
Yet, when immersing herself in the healing powers of running, she opts to go solo – often listening through a whole album on a long run, or putting on a podcast. “Every time my head’s just spinning, I go out to move and I find new clarity.”
