‘The Eighth Note’ is 8 quick Questions with Wellington Musicians.
A chance for us to catch up with people & see what they’re up to, or introduce you to a new musician/band and their music.
Today’s guest is electronic bedroom producer, Skymning.
Who are you? Tell us a bit about your music.
I record under the name ‘Skymning’.
What have you been working on lately? Any new tracks or albums on the way?
I was studying music this year, which forced me to switch from recording in Audacity (which was used for everything I’ve released until my last single) to using Logic. This gives me far more control over every aspect of the mixing stage which is really nice. I’ve been working on new music with my hardware too, and piecing everything together in Logic. The last EP I put out in April hoping that we’d be getting into Autumn but we had a full month of sun, so I’ll try sort out my next release in time for New Zealand Winter.
Where is the best place people can follow you & find your music?
All of my music is released as a pay-what-you-want download via Bandcamp, which is a pretty awesome platform for releasing albums (and album sales through Bandcamp are now being taken into account for NZ Music charts which is great for independent artists). I have Facebook and Twitter accounts but often forget they’re there so post fairly intermittently.
What were the 3 most influential albums to you growing up?
This is a tough one. First I’d have to say Souvlaki by Slowdive. This to me is almost the perfect guitar album, and was pretty innovative and influential with heavy guitar layering and drenching everything in reverb. Brian Eno worked on the album a bit and I’m pretty sure the whole band were under 20 when they put it out. It also came out the year I was born. I probably got into this just before I got into recording music, and while I’ve moved to a far more electronic focused sound it kinda formed the mood and impact I wanted my music to have.
Next I’d say Strawberry Jam by Animal Collective. The textures on that album are absolutely insane! Panda Bear from Animal Collective used SP-303 samplers for a lot of this album and his solo album from the same year and this was what really introduced me to the concept of sampling and some ideas around what electronic equipment I wanted to get my hands on. It also pushed me not to use a laptop during a live electronic performance. I still use my 303 to this day.
Last up I’d probably say Parking Lot Music by e*vax, a solo project from Evan Mast who went on to play/produce in Ratatat. I got introduced to the album just as I was beginning to record music and loved the repetitive, melancholic keyboard patterns and off kilter drum samples, which were all recorded by himself. This really encouraged me to use original percussion sounds when I began introducing them into my own music.
Which other Wellington musician (s) would you most like to work with?
I’ve been wanting to pitch a track to prizegiving for a while, but I need to have the perfect canvas before I approach them. I feel the same about getting Sheep,Dog&Wolf to do saxophone on a track, which I’d love to hear. In the past I’ve collaborated with Womb and Lontalius who are both musical heroes to me so that’s awesome. I think it’s hard because I don’t really write ‘songs’ I struggle knowing how to leave enough space in a track for vocalists.
What’s your favourite Wellington venue to play in?
I don’t really know at this point. I started out playing at Fred’s (which is shut down) and then a lot more at Puppies (which is also shut down). I played some fun shows with high school heroes at Bodega, but that’s also shutting down at the end of the year. So we’ll have to see what happens. I’ve had a lot of fun playing at non-musical venues like The Wellington Chocolate Factory.
In your songwriting or composing (or the band’s songwriting) how do the compositions and songs take shape?
Another hard one, this varies every time. Sometimes I’ll be messing around on keyboards or guitar and find a melody or chord I like and go from there. Other times it starts with percussion, and others it’ll just be hearing a sample or something that’s made me want to work with that sound. I really depends on what I’m making.
Where/when is your next gig?
The next show I’m playing is at Now, a little festival out of Gladstone which I went to last new years. This year I’m playing and it’s the weekend after new years. I’m planning to move away from Wellington for a bit in February so may organise a farewell show before that, we’ll see.