Skandra – Rivers

By starrymag | January 12, 2021

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

A) I’d say Skandra is a mix of bedroom music and synth-pop. I always start by writing things very minimally and then producing from there. I think this may be exactly why anyone would resonate with it. It starts in my heart.

 

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

A) I get inspired by certain aspects of songs. So, there’s never just one artist that influences my writing. I love the sound of the piano on all The Walkmen albums, the pads Radiohead creates and the quality of Angel Olsen’s voice. I’ve always been a sucker for great lyricists such as Bob Dylan, Conor Oberst, Bjork and there’s nothing like finding jewels as Molly Drake.

 

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Rivers.”

A) “Rivers” began as an acoustic song I wrote on a rainy day. It was slow and almost waltz-like. It’s about the admission that though something may feel like true love, it’s obviously destined to end. It sorts through thought processes I had throughout that prior relationship. It’s about finding strength in this admission and being okay with it. My friend Aaron from the band Twin Oaks added some electronic elements to it. Sean from Dead Sara turned it into what many have called a “sad banger” and Travis Warner produced it into its final form. The song has been through quite a lot, the poor thing.

 

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

A) The dynamics of the song, mostly. I’ve been told I sing in cursive, so it’s hard to decipher exactly what I’m saying. That’s okay with me because it forces someone who likes to know the lyrics to look for them. I’ve been told that they depict a feeling, exactly, for fans. I strive to be that mirror, so I’m happy to hear it.

 

Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?

A) The music video demonstrates a dream-like version of reality. Though it’s filled with beauty and the quick character arc from depression to playfulness, the purple scenes (when I’m alone) all show self-reflection and my deterioration. I guess that’s a perfect metaphor for a toxic relationship.

 

Q) What is your songwriting process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

A) I usually have a feeling I want to emote, pick up an instrument and sing random sentences that are replaying in my head over a couple of chords until it makes sense and sounds good. The meticulous rearranging of these things comes afterward.

 

Q) How much of hand do you have in the production of your music?

A) Quite a lot. I’m not the best engineer and I’m horrible at mixing, but when it comes to the vision, I’m extremely involved. I spend hours on five seconds of a song because it just doesn’t feel right, and I love experimenting with new instruments.

 

Q) What are some themes you will be exploring on your upcoming album?

A) This will be all about conquering fears while sifting through repressed feelings that I didn’t know existed until I dug deep. I want these songs to help break me through to the other side.

 

Q) What did it mean to you to have so many people contribute to helping make your new music a hit?

A) When you’ve been trying at something for so long and you’ve given so much of yourself to others, there’s a piling weight of small failures that build up. Watching hundreds of thousands of people rally behind a cause to help me succeed was a release of all this weight. With every comment, every compliment and every new fan, another layer of insecurity dissipated into the air. I feel a renewed love for humanity because what a beautiful thing to do for someone.

 

Q) For those starting to explore TikTok, what are some tips you can offer?

A) For one, don’t sign up, open the app and think that the first videos shown to you are what you’re going to experience forever. The app learns your tastes the more you interact with content. I didn’t like TikTok until I learned this. So, something to realize is that the key to marketing is reaching your demographic. If people have feeds filled with things they love and you create content that caters to that, that’s all you have to do. Do it consistently and you’ll see how magical this platform can be.

 

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?

A) My favorite places to perform are those that are the most intimate and warm. I love feeling like the performance is happening in secret and that the audience is extremely connected to it.

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

A) I’d be excited to collab with my friend, Sonny Moore (Skrillex) one day. I say this because as long as we’ve been friends, we only collaborated on one small piece together and that was on GarageBand when we were teenagers. I think it’d be an interesting mix of genres.

 

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them?

A) I’m really loving the new Fiona Apple record this week. She makes me uncomfortable in the best way possible.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

A) Right now, it’s more important than ever. The entire industry has shifted into a virtual one. Without social media, we’d have a hard time staying connected at this level.

I founded and run an organization in Los Angeles called Treehouse. It’s an art community that has popped-up monthly for over five years. We expose underexposed artists. When the pandemic hit we canceled all our live events planned for the year. I launched the Quarantine Concert on Instagram. We had over fifty thousand musicians partake including Walk The Moon, The Griswolds and Meg Meyers.

As for Skandra, I’d planned to release the songs in March. When the pandemic hit the U.S., I postponed this. I worked on other projects for a few months and, eventually, I decided it was time to start releasing them as singles a few weeks apart. After having put so much work into this project and so many years of not having released anything, I was feeling a bit hopeless. The state of the world, the industry and all else were really weighing on me. I told Ylane I felt like I needed a sign from the universe to keep going and as the wonderful husband that he is, he said, “Why don’t we tell the TikTok world your story?” I laughed at the simplicity and quietly wondered, “Who in the world even cares?” Within a week, “Rivers” reached 1,000,000 streams.

A single video on social media changed my life. Skandra has received over two million streams across streaming platforms in the first couple of weeks, the music video views keep going up and almost every major label on earth contacted me within forty-eight hours. I don’t know what any of this means quite yet, but I’m beyond happy and excited to have a wonderful fanbase to release my upcoming music.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) I love you and if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be able to do what I love most. So, I hope to create what you love most.

 

 

 

 

Watch The Video For “Rivers”

 

Music & Social Media:

Socials: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | TikTok

Music: Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

Website: www.skandra.net