Interview with pop music talents Cimo Fränkel and Skofee

Image Credit: Christina Bryson

In the brief yet stormy romance that is their latest collaborative effort ‘Where Do You Hide Your Love’, which they have released under Sign From The Universe / Tunecore, Pop creators Cimo Fränkel and Skofee fall in and out of love. Here we have two individual voices that compliment each other like wine and first dates. Textured tones and delicate breaks in Skofee’s pleasantly unique timbre convey heart-tugging emotion, adding sincerity to the song and enlivening its subject matter, while Cimo Fränkel decorates each lyric with a teary quiver. We wanted to know where the duo hide their secrets, so we asked them a few questions:

Stream/ Download: ‘Where Do You Hide Your Love’

Can you describe an aha moment you experienced while recreating ‘Where Do You Hide Your Love’?

Cimo Fränkel: The second part of the second verse in the song as it is now was what I started with as a chorus. I wanted to create something like Amy Macdonald’s “This Is The Life”. The aha moment was when I completely let that go and wrote the actual chorus right after that part two days later.

Skofee: Honestly, Cimo agreeing to work on his song as a duet was a big moment for me. In creating the song, it was really cool to hear the original lyrics work from a split perspective.

This track is vocally and lyrically rich. What was your focus when creating this single?

Cimo Fränkel: The focus was to create something that was simple, but hadn’t been said that way yet. Melodically the focus was: no boundaries.

Skofee: I think the focus was to highlight the vocals as a key instrument in the track, the background vocal swells are emotional and give it a lot of power. We wanted it to be different from the original as well, which I think the moodier production as a whole accomplishes.

What are some of your earliest memories of music?

Cimo Fränkel: Dancing to Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson and feeling emotions I had never felt before. I was so into it that it almost hurt, I couldn’t understand why an uptempo song like that would make me cry.

Skofee: My parents would sing a lot around the house, so it always felt fairly normal to have music around. We went to a bluegrass music festival in Winfield, Kansas starting when I was six or so—I remember being pretty taken with the live music there.

Take us through your songwriting process. Are there any particular steps you take when putting music together?

Cimo Fränkel: I usually start with chords and melody, I don’t start with lyrics until everything sounds the way it has to sound, melody is the most important step for me to get excited about finishing a song.

Skofee: It depends! Sometimes I have a lyrical idea and put it to music, others I’ll hear a track or lay down some chords and come up with a lyric concept that goes well with the music. My favorite part of the process is recording harmonies, I could do that for hours and hours at a time.

Studio work and music creation or performing and interacting with a live audience, which do you prefer?

Cimo Fränkel: I prefer studio work, there is nothing more satisfying than the process of creating a song from start to finish.

Skofee: Studio work and music creation hands down. I do love performing in a different way, but writing and creating the music is my favorite part of the process—it’s so fun to go into a session and leave with a song.

What is the most memorable response you have had to your music?

Cimo Fränkel: Somebody told me one of my songs saved their life. She had part of the lyrics tattooed on her leg.

Skofee: Any person who tells me that they listened to a song of mine and it served as a good soundtrack for a specific moment in their life—that sticks with me and it’s a really great feeling.

If you could put together a radio show, what kind of music would you play?

Cimo Fränkel: Disco and ‘80s music. Michael Jackson, A-ha, Tears For Fears, Fleetwood Mac, Crowded House, Stevie Wonder, a lot of Motown songs as well.

Skofee: Probably just what I’m listening to that week! I jump around a lot so it’s probably good that I don’t have a radio show.

Name five artists and their albums who would appear on your radio show

Cimo Fränkel:

Fleetwood Mac – Tango In The Night

Michael Jackson – Off The Wall

2pac – All Eyez On Me

Stevie Wonder – Characters

Dire Straits – Brothers in Arms

Skofee:

McCall “…to be a dream…”

Charli XCX “CRASH”

Christine and the Queens “La vita nuova”

Dijon “Absolutely”

Rosalía “MOTOMAMI”

What would you like to achieve with your music? What does success look like to you?

Cimo Fränkel: I would want people to say, ‘that is a Cimo Frankel song’. Even if someone else does it I want them to recognize it, like Pharrell.

Skofee: I’m open to success looking a lot of different ways. My goal is to play consistent shows to crowds who know my lyrics, work with new people who I’ve been inspired by creatively, and keep evolving my sound with time. I just want to keep building on my career with each release and make people feel heard with my lyrics.

One last thought to leave your fans with?

Cimo Fränkel: Doing what you love is more specific than just a path, yes making music is what I love, but true happiness comes from executing the thing you love exactly the way you want to.

Skofee: I love you! Thank you for listening, it means the world.