SOFI is locked, loaded and ready to go solo

Now that SOFI is under deadmau5’s wing her career is ready to take flight. Photo by Martin Legault-Rioux.

You can do nothing but shine when you have talent, beauty and a great personality.  SOFI has it all, so it’s no wonder she’s touring with Grammy-winning DJ and producer deadmau5.
Describing herself as just Some Other Female Interest, SOFI (real name Sofia Toufa) has been singing for as long as she can remember. Back in her native Germany, she used to mastermind shows with her sister and perform them at school. Playing more and more in public, she stepped up her game.
Her talent was recognized early. At 13, Toufa started spending time in recording studios, working with producers and playing in clubs with well-known bands in Germany, all the while keeping up with her schoolwork. Her career seemed to launch itself.
“It was never an epiphany like ‘Oh my god, this is what I want to do’ you know,” Toufa said. “I think it’s just one of those things that just chooses you.”
Since she moved to Los Angeles around five years ago, Toufa has become somewhat of an ‘entertainment trifecta,’ working as a singer, dancer, and actor. And not only is she multi-talented, she’s been involved with some big names. Toufa was singing and choreographing on Avril Lavigne’s The Best Damn Thing tour, and she was also on Britney Spears’ Circus tour as a backup vocalist.
In 2007, Toufa met deadmau5, an electronic producer from Toronto known for the gigantic mouse head he wears in shows, and they recorded a few songs together. Last February, deadmau5 launched his North American Meowingtons Hax tour and took Toufa under his wing.
After a number of sold-out shows in the United States, the tour stopped in Montreal for three straight nights of bass-pumping performances at Metropolis.
“With deadmau5, it’s almost like his fans are religiously in love with him, it’s like a cult,” Toufa said, admitting that she’s always impressed to see how the crowd responds to the music as she watches it back on video after the performance.
“This is so freaking crazy,” she exclaimed. “There’s a MOUSE performing and everyone’s freaking out!”
There are no better words to describe the atmosphere of that performance. People ages 16 to over 40 were dancing and screaming, and some people managed to bodysurf over the entire crowd without even getting injured.
The gigantic 3D cube upon which deadmau5 was performing displayed amazing visual and lighting effects, but the most impressive thing was seeing how much time deadmau5’s fans had spent building themselves gigantic mouse heads just like his. It’s a testament to the cult of people who follow his music.
When Toufa took the stage to perform her two songs, “Sofi Needs A Ladder” and “One Trick Pony” from deadmau5’s 4×4=12, alongside deadmau5, the crowd went hysterical.  Including the opening acts, the show went on for five full hours, yet the crowd kept cheering for more.
Now that she’s with deadmau5, Toufa is driving in the fast lane. Her first single “Bring out the Devil,” which was released on deadmau5’s label, “mau5trap,” featured DJ Skillrex and has made waves with online music bloggers and critics.
On Oct. 24, SOFI releases her first EP, Locked and Loaded, for which she wrote all the lyrics and composed the vocal arrangements. Toufa described the album as a “cool, heavy sounding EP with soft melodies,” and after working with big industry names like Noisia, Skillrex, Millions Like Us and Kill the Noise, she’s definitely locked, loaded and ready to go.

Related Posts