Introducing #170 - Skaly
Blending the influences of Kate Bush, Aurora and FKA Twigs - let us introduce you to London based artist Skaly - who has just released her debut track ‘Get Well Soon’. She took a moment to talk to us about her music.
Hey there Skaly, how are you? How are you dealing with this difficult time for the creative industry?
I’m good, thank you. I hope you’re well! This time is difficult because there are almost no live shows or music networking events so the face-to-face interactions barely occur and there are less chances to collaborate. With that said, it’s given me more time to create music on my own and record new tracks, as well as learning about the industry and the different promotional tools I can use to create connections and grow my fanbase, so I try to focus on the best of it and make the best out of it. I feel lucky that I can create and that endless knowledge is just there for me to explore and use to my independent new career as an artist.
Your new track ‘Get Well Soon’ is out now, can you tell us what the track is about? And how the song came about?
“Get Well Soon” had been written out of pain and hope when I was in isolation, ill with Covid19 at the same time of having OCD and panic attacks, and it's all about healing from anxiety and Covid19, so it’s truly sad but also very deeply hopeful.
Luckily I had only mild Covid19 symptoms, but I had been struggling with anxiety and staying in isolation at home for over a month. My dream at this dark time was getting to the day that I get to feel and be so much stronger and release this track to hopefully help others heal like it helped me, and it's happening now at a small but impactful scale as I hear from listeners of how it influences them.
About the creation of the track: I reached out to a sound engineer I love working with because I needed his support in recording piano at home. I insisted on the sound of my piano when it’s out of tune which is very unique and atmospheric. So I rented sound equipment, my father (who is an architect) built a structure of blankets from the ceiling down and we recorded the piano. Later, I went to a studio to record vocals. The recording session included planned vocals and some improvisations. Harel, the sound technician and mixing artist, had some beautiful creative ideas that he put into the vocals in the outro. There was even a beautiful mistake of tone delay that we kept in the track, making it the last few seconds of it. Many, many versions of mix, some done from a far when I was in Berlin. I wanted a very specific sound, keeping the vision of a natural fairy in mind and the combination of intimate with atmospheric. Then I sent it to Alex Wharton from Abby Road for mastering and I was very happy with the result which sounded pure, atmospheric and intimate.
You have been creating music since the age of nine, what is your earliest musical memory?
I started creating music at the age of four. My earliest musical memory is from when I was four years old and had been learning bellydance (which I still practice these days) and by the age of five it’s become clear that singing and composing were my main arts. I sang all of the activities that I was doing, full days non stop, it was a way to run away from drama and loneliness and connect to nature, often singing alone to trees and animals or to the sea, but I didn’t feel alone, I felt one with nature when I was singing, and I still do, even in a room or a studio.
How would you describe your music in a few words?
Pure, real, full of emotion, heartfelt, beautiful, angelic vocals, atmospheric, soulful, cinematic.
Who are you key musical influences?
My main influences are: Regina Spektor, Aurora, Billie Eilish, Fiona Apple, Lorde, Coldplay, FKA twigs, James Blake, Sufjan Stevens, Emma Louise, Kimbra, Joanna Newsom, Ólafur Arnalds and Björk.