Emerging from Copenhagen, sister duo Simako craft their music with a unique blend of soul, indie, and alternative dance. Consisting of Katinka and Sigrid, the sisters began their musical journey together in 2020. At the time, Katinka had completed two years of a bachelor’s degree but felt unfulfilled and sought a more passionate path. Sigrid, on a gap year with travel plans halted by the pandemic, found the timing opportune. Their decision to pursue music professionally was fueled by a shared history of performing together since childhood and a desire to seize the moment.
For this New Music Friday, the duo unveils their new single, “Who You Are,” which delves into themes of division and shared humanity, carrying a message of unity and peace. “It’s a reminder that, above all, we need each other,” they say, “and that recognizing our shared humanity matters more than what sets us apart.” The song reflects on the pain of growing distant from someone once close—a sentiment intensified by global events like the war in Ukraine. Having attended international schools—and growing up between Denmark, Bangladesh, the USA, Italy, and Hungary—the sisters witnessed firsthand how cultural and political differences can strain relationships.
“Who You Are” also serves as the lead single from Simako’s upcoming debut EP, set to arrive later this year. The project continues their exploration of connection and disconnection, delving into the emotional labor of caring and the complexities of evolving relationships.
As the featured stars of our playlist spotlighting rising talent, Simako spoke with InMusic about their upbringing, how they collaborate as sisters, their new single, and their highly anticipated debut EP.
Where are you from?
We’re from Denmark by nationality. We were both born here, but moved abroad quite early on to follow our parents’ job, so in terms of “what feels like home” it’s slightly harder to determine. We’ve lived in Bangladesh, USA, Italy and Hungary, and each place has had it’s own unique contribution to our upbringing. We’ve been back in Copenhagen, Denmark for almost 10 years now, so it’s starting to feel like home as well, but it took a while.
How would you describe your music?
We grew up listening to a lot of Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin, and that soul-R&B groove definitely shines though in a lot of what we write. At the same time we sang a lot of Swedish folk-choir growing up, and are also incredibly drawn to more experimental soundscapes and textures and the raw, nordic-inspired harmonies, which is definitely something we’ve been excited to experiment more with, and which definitely comes more to light in this new single.
When did you decide it was the right time to start a music career together?
Katinka: I think it was right around 2020. Sigrid had just finished high school and was starting her gap year. I had just completed 2 years of a bachelor’s degree that I didn’t hate, but definitely also wasn’t passionate about. It felt wrong spending all my time on something I felt lukewarm about at best, instead of something I loved and was good at. Sigrid and I had sung and performed together since we were 4 and 6, and always toyed with the idea of going for it professionally. I remember thinking “I have my entire life to get a degree and an office job, but this experience is limited, so if not now, then when?”. Sigrid’s travel plans had been canceled anyway due to the pandemic. We both knew we would regret it if we reached 40, and hadn’t at least given it a shot. Timing wise it was ridiculous, since COVID had just shut the whole industry down, but it also gave us time to write songs, and work on our craft.
How would you describe your creative process as sisters?
It’s a lot of fun working together. We’ve each developed our own roles in the process, and it’s been cool to see that unfold. Sigrid is naturally quite energetic and positive. A lot of her ideas come from jamming by the piano and coming up with cool chord progressions. She’s definitely better at living in the moment, and just getting ideas off her chest when she feels them. Katinka is more of a visionary, and takes care of most of the strategic aspects. Her creative inspiration comes more in bursts. She won’t write anything for weeks, but then wakes up at 3 am one nightwith an idea, and show up to band practice the next day with an entire song that she desperately tries to explain with wild arm gestures and poor beat-boxing. Incidentally that’s also how “Who You Are” was created. We’re good at bouncing off of each other’s ideas, and keeping each other grounded throughout the process.
You’ve lived in many countries — how has that international experience influenced your music?
As mentioned earlier, it’s definitely caused us to grow up around a plethora of musical cultures and genres, which have all had their impact on our sound, and perhaps made us more free or experimental in our songwriting. More importantly, though, our world view, and how we see cultural and political differences specifically because of our upbringing, has informed so much of the messaging behind our music, and why we make music at all. International schools are a weird sort of melting pot of all sorts of different cultures and opinions, and when you grow up seeing so many vastly different people getting along, it becomes difficult to understand some of the issues that divide society today. Moving around also quickly makes you debunk the idea of anything being “just the way things are”, because you’ve just come from another place where they were completely different, and still worked fine.
Can you tell us about your new single, “Who You Are”?
“Who You Are” is about growing distant from someone with whom you were once close, but now hardly recognize. The song reflects on the current culture of division that increasingly shapes both our political and personal relationships. It’s a reminder that, above all, we need each other—and that recognizing our shared humanity matters more than what sets us apart.
The ongoing war in Ukraine was a key inspiration for this song. What emotions were you experiencing when you wrote it?
When the war in Ukraine broke out, we were heartbroken—not just by the scale of it, but by the real people and families we knew it would affect. It felt surreal. I had been to Kyiv for a soccer tournament during school in Budapest; just a decade earlier, we were trading jerseys, not watching cities fall apart. At international schools, kids from neighboring countries often gravitate toward each other, becoming like distant relatives. Shared culture, history, and an unspoken understanding of each others background create a feeling of closeness, despite the fact that they are only neighbors. But country borders are often recent, and the people on either side (like Ukrainians and Russians) are more alike than different. The same goes for political divides in places like the U.S. It made us reflect on how quickly division can take hold, and how easily lines drawn by others can fracture friendships, communities, even entire countries. It’s devastating to watch people dehumanize each other over differences that, in the big picture, are so small.
Your previous single carried a feminist message. How important is it for you to use your platform to address social or political issues?
We didn’t set out to write songs about social or political issues, it just naturally became what moved us most. Activism and social justice have always been part of our lives, and over time, that’s shaped our music more intentionally. With the challenges of making a living through music today, we believe the driving force for all new artists has to come from something deeper. In our case, we hope to help people feel seen in their struggles and joys, and to inspire more empathy. We believe in trying to leave the world better than we found it, and if we weren’t doing that through music, it would be through something else.
“Who You Are” is the first single from your upcoming EP. Could you give us a preview of what listeners can expect from the full project?
This EP is a deeply human exploration of connection and disconnection – the push and pull of relationships as they evolve, strain, or slip away. At its core, the through-line is about the emotional labor of caring—what it means to show up for others, to wish healing for them, to fight for honesty, and to grieve the loss of closeness when shared values or effort fade. Each song approaches this from a different angle: loss, encouragement, joy, and frustration, but together they paint a portrait of someone trying to hold space for real connection in a world where it’s often easier to drift apart. It’s tender, confrontational, hopeful, and raw, all tied together by the quiet question: what do we owe each other when we love each other?
As artists responding to a complicated world, what gives you hope right now?
It seems that people are realizing that isolationism doesn’t work, and are moving more towards community building. We think this is a really positive development, and are impressed with all the creative ways people are trying to solve the loneliness epidemic.
What message do you hope to convey through your music, and why?
Compassion, community, and critical thinking. We want our music to shed light on the ways in which we can improve as a society, but also remain positive and inspiring.
Is there anything else you’d like people to know?
We both have ADHD so even just overcoming the logistics of creating an EP as an independent artist has felt like a massive achievement, and we’re really proud haha.
Listen to Simako’s “Who You Are” on our Spotify playlist:
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