Music Q&A:
Sokol

Singer and composer Sokol – meaning “falcon” in Czech – tells us about his musical project that aims to encourage listeners to disconnect, reconnect and live like an eagle hunter in the Mongolian mountains.

What informs your music and songwriting?
With this debut project Contact by Sokol I wanted to step out of my songwriting comfort zone. The process was quite conceptual rather than being inspired by a specific moment or a heartbreak. I was intrigued and still am by themes that are presently concerning our society, like how technology is developing rapidly and how virtual realities are becoming more real day by day. What happens with humanity if we go down that road? Musically I collaborated with producer Tom Fuller at Tileyard Studios. We approached the music in a very organic and analogue way, meaning also having a lot of musicians in the recording studio, yet the sounds ended up being quite electronic. So it’s a bit of both worlds – organic and electronic.

How have you evolved artistically over the years?
Sokol is my artist name and it means “falcon” in Czech. Contact is the debut project of Sokol so really this is all very fresh and just starting to kick off. But I’ve spent almost three years working on the debut album as well as the whole visual world of Sokol, which is more than just music. It combines music with films and messages of social relevance. Just like Contact with the message “disconnect to reconnect”.

What are you up to at the moment artistically?
Currently I’m in the midst of heating up the official and very first release of Sokol, on 11 November. Besides the music you can watch the Contact video which I produced in Mongolia. It’s a video showing the life of eagle hunters in the Altai Mountains. I wanted to contrast our fast-paced world in western civilisation with something truly unique and natural. This remote place and the nomadic tribe in Mongolia were the perfect setting to capture this.

What’s it like to operate in the music industry today?
It’s a complete jungle and the fight for attention is huge. The markets are very competitive. I get overwhelmed at times with all the tasks that an artist has to do these days. Eventually I focus on creating art that will hopefully find its audience because it speaks to people rather than by how it gets promoted. But without promotion, you almost don’t exist. That’s the truth.

What’s on your rider?
It really depends whether I play with band or solo.

Tell us your most embarrassing or surreal experience.
Traveling to the north of Mongolia to live with eagle hunters was a pretty surreal experience. I’m doing all of this to produce a music video? Crazy. But really I wanted to experience what it was like to disconnect to reconnect.

What’s your worst lyric?
I let the audience decide on that one.