Name: Ena Soukou
Nationality: German  
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current release: Soukou's Bloodline EP is out via Lauter Lauter.
Recommendations: James Nestor – Breathe; Kazuo Ishiguro - Klara and the sun

If you enjoyed this Soukou interview and would like to keep up to date with her music, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram, Facebook, and Soundcloud.  



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I usually listen to music with open eyes and squint or close them when a song really hits me. I'm a pretty active person so even when the song makes me cry, sitting still is not an option.

I hear music in colors. So every song looks differently and I sometimes even arrange my playlists by colors. Same thing applies for writing songs. While being in the studio with my producer I always told him how the song I wrote looks like. The colors, the scenery and how the production is suppose to make me feel.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist?

As a kid I always wanted to be a rockstar or a lawyer. I always sang and being vocal was and probably will always be a big part of my personality.

I played the classical flute for quite some time and started writing my own songs and lyrics at a pretty young age.

I believe you can learn everything you want in live, but the spark or the aura is something no-one can teach you.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

As a teenager music was my personal escape room. Growing up with 3 younger siblings listening to loud music in my room was my quiet place.

Back then I listened to a lot of Oldschool Hip Hop like NWA and Gangstarr. R’n’B and Gospel was a big thing for me and I started to really find my voice. I sang the hooks for rappers in my environment and was the lead vocal in a Gospel choir.

By the age of 16 playing shows and singing in sessions was my side job while still going to school. So yeah, that was a pretty intense time.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

I personally feel like creating is something I can’t live or exist without. There was a time in my life when I didn’t want to do music and I quit. But that didn’t last very long, cause I was just didn’t feel whole. Making music and writing is my outlet to let go. Its such a healing process to vocalize your deepest thoughts.

At some point I learned that even though life sometimes feels lonely you are never alone with what you feel. Someone went though the same thing or experienced it in a similar way. And my gift is to write it down - to let someone else know that they are not alone.

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

Oh I would add something to that and say that I just gave the idea enough room to grow.

Songs come to you when they are ready. Sometimes it takes years to finish a line I wrote down in my notebook or head and then its just there. Then you just sit down and the melody, the lyrics pop up like they’ve been the ripening mango on you your countertop that is ready to eat one day!

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

I totally agree with him. I listen to my own songs like if they give me the right feeling. Of course Im always super critical with my vocals, but the overall feel is the most important thing for me.

My personal sound is the mix of all the music I like to listen to by myself and my voice is the glue that keeps it together.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

I had a tinnitus since I was like 16 years old and the only time I can’t “hear” it is when I am at the ocean or when I sing. So that’s why listening to the waves is probably my most moving sound experience in nature.

Oh and I totally love the sound of crickets. You never see them, but they make the craziest noise. It always feels like I'm listening to an invisible orchestra by night.

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

Something I really enjoy is singing with other people. When everyone holds a long note together and its not about music anymore, but about the energies we exchange doing it.

Yeah, I just love choirs. I love to hear people making music with nothing but their voices.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

That's a pretty hard question, because we all want our art to be unique, but are so similar in creating it.

There was a time where I always wrote songs while the TV was running in the living room, the radio in the bathroom - so a lot of noise from every corner of my apartment. And that’s when I sat at the piano to write a song. Sometimes a lot of noise helps me clear my string of thought.

But writing my EP bloodline was more intimate. I needed to hear myself more to really write what I was supposed to. I also wrote most of the songs in the morning right after waking up still in my pjs. I honestly don’t feel like that’s a unique approach, but that’s how I did it ;-)

Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

Oh I can become pretty nerdy when it comes to scientific stuff. But I never wanted music to be science for me personally.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

I sometimes wish that people would listen more carefully to music, cause it tells us so much. We can learn so much from the songs and experiences someone is telling us about, but in the mist of being alive music became such a byproduct of doing things.

I try to live my life with an open heart - to appreciate everyone I meet, to really listen to the people I talk to and to be honest about how I feel and what my mind and body need.

And I believe you can hear that in my songs. They are uplifting, but with a touch of honest darkness. And that pretty much sums me up.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

It's easier to make someone feel loved with a song than with a nice meal even though you put the same amount of love in it. The process itself is not that different, but we kind of unlearned to keep an eye on the love languages of the people around us.

And performing or writing music is much more universal. You are gifting your song to someone you might never meet and they can create their own story with your art. Thats pretty beautiful I think.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

No, I don’t have that.

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

I’d love to see more artist in the spotlight for their art and not their TikTok stats. I’d love to have longer songs again. And I’d love music to not be so competitive anymore.