INTERVIEW WITH SKYSAW
SKYSAW formed in 2009 under the recommendation of mutual friends, and the group members have since been writing and recording songs through a cross-country collaboration. Reina and Pirog were writing cohorts in the much-loved Fairfax, VA-based group, The Jackfields, whose Pink Floyd-meets-Beach Boys psychedelia was widely lauded. Jimmy Chamberlin is known to music fans around the world as the virtuoso behind the drum kit with such venerated acts as Smashing Pumpkins, Zwan and The Jimmy Chamberlin Complex. These three musicians of SKYSAW have now created brilliant, tuneful and whip-smart pop music that can loosely be described with words like “progressive” and “symphonic,” while at the same time deserving their own category. I had a chance to catch up with lead singer Mike Reina while taking a break from recording in his home studio:
JORDYN: I recall reading that SKYSAW wasn’t the original name of the band. What’s the meaning behind SKYSAW?
MIKE: I’m a huge Brian Eno fan and that’s the first song on the record Another Green World.
JORDYN: Very Nice!
MIKE: Yeah. Just a cool, crazy track. I just love the abstract; I love anything surreal. Just imagine anything tearing through the sky.
JORDYN: What genre would you classify your band as?
MIKE: I think we are a progressive rock band. Not in the sense, even though Anthony and Jimmy are phenomenal musicians. I am not as much a fan of the “show-boaty” progressive rock bands, but Pink Floyd is my favorite band. I would aspire to be in that kind of genre.
JORDYN: How long have you been singing?
MIKE: I’ve been singing for, probably, eight years.
JORDYN: Your personal music style has been described as a mix between Chris Cornell and Jim Morrison. That’s quite a compliment.
MIKE: Hahaha.
JORDYN: People quickly recognized your band mate, Jimmy Chamberlin, as the ex-drummer from the Smashing Pumpkins. Does it worry you that people will be too quick to compare you to such a monumental band in rock history like the Pumpkins?
MIKE: I’d be lying if I said no. They were such an enormous band. It’s a really big pair of shoes to fill. We’re doing something completely different and want to be as unique as possible. We’re trying to go for strange, different sounds- readily identifiable sounds. One of my goals is for some day, to be able to listen to 10 seconds of our music, and be able to know who it is. I don’t know if we’re achieving that, but it’s been in the back of my mind the whole time we’ve been writing the record. That sort of identifiably goes a long way. The Pumpkins certainly had that. It’s a different band, and I would hope that people will recognize that.
JORDYN: So the new album, Great Civilizations, is coming out this summer?
MIKE: Yeah, it’s due out on June 21st.
JORDYN: Who is producing the new album?
MIKE: We’ve produced it entirely ourselves and I recorded it at my studio. Everything on the record, except one drum track, was recorded at my studio. We wrote the record, you know, long distance. Not the entire time; like we definitely got together several times to write. But there were a good amount of transferring files back and forth and e-mailing. It’s a lot of crossing your fingers and hoping that everybody agrees and is on board.
JORDYN: How long did it take the band to record the album?
MIKE: Umm..it did take a while. There’s kind of a lot on the record. We wanted to go for lush, dense arrangements so it took some time. Also, because we did the whole thing in my studio, you know, we don’t have the time constraint of booking a session somewhere. It could be really good, but it could also be really bad cause you can end up laboring over something with no constraint. It did take quite some time.
JORDYN: I’ve had a chance to listen to the whole upcoming album, Great Civilizations. How do you go about writing your lyrics?
MIKE: How I write them is quite a bit of a mystery to me. I guess I just sort of keep myself… it’s like I never sit down with a pad and pencil and write…or I occasionally do but I think the better, more successful lyrics really just pop into my head. I try to make myself open and receptive to some sort of…something I’m drawing from. I’m not really sure where it’s coming from. Usually, a lot of the time, if something bad has happened to me, I’ll make myself extra aware. I think it’s those times when you’re either super happy or super upset about something that you’re really connected to parts of your mind that you ordinarily take for granted. They say we use the tiniest percentage of our mind. Obviously all that potential energy comes accessible at certain times. I think the times I’ve written a successful lyric was when I was the most emotional and I thought it was worthy of being written. Our best songs are about something that’s happened that’s been really important.
JORDYN: Which song do you find yourself most emotionally connected to?
MIKE: I think, probably, Tight Rope Situation.
JORDYN: What do you want your fans to really take away from this album?
MIKE: I would love for them to think. My goal, one of my biggest aspirations, is to make something thought provoking. The best art always is. I don’t presume to believe that, you know, anything I do is thought provoking, but it is a goal of mine. If anyone is to walk away thinking of an experience they had that was similar – that would be great. Some of the common themes people experience are some of the things I focus on – I try to steer lyrically towards those things. I ultimately want to make a connection with somebody else and get them thinking about what’s going on around them. People walk around and take things for granted, so that’s a big goal of mine.
JORDYN: How did you meet Minus The Bear to be invited on their upcoming tour?
MIKE: Our manager at Dangerbird, Jeff Castelaz, thought it would be a great idea. Minus was into it, so we were thrilled. I think they are a great band, they have a great draw, so it’s a great opportunity for us as a young band. We can’t wait to share in that experience.
JORDYN: Can you tell me a little bit about how you got the deal with Dangerbird Records?
MIKE: One of Jimmy’s friends in Chicago, a show promoter, had worked quite a bit with Dangerbird - mostly with their bands coming through Chicago. Jimmy mentioned to them that we had a record done and we were looking for a deal. He put the word out to Dangerbird, and that was pretty much it. Dangerbird loved the record and wanted to be involved so we moved out to L.A. and met with them, checked out their office and man, they are great people. It just felt very good and very natural. We didn’t even shop elsewhere. We were so happy with them and we’re moving forward.
JORDYN: That’s pretty incredible. What do you do when you’re not touring the country?
MIKE: I pretty much live in my studio. If we’re not playing, then I am constantly writing or working on gear, unfortunately. There are definitely things that have to be done to keep everything in order and keep everything working. We haven’t had a lot of down time since we finished the record. We’ve been getting ready for this tour. Once the tour is over, I’m going to get right back to work in the studio.
JORDYN: Are you playing any festivals this summer?
MIKE: I would love to. There has been talk about it. I’m not exactly sure yet which ones but there has definitely been talk about. We’d love to hop on a few.
JORDYN: What has been your favorite venue you have played thus far?
MIKE: Well we’ve only played one show.
JORDYN: What!
MIKE: We’ve played one show out in Los Angeles. It was kind of just a show case, it wasn’t even a proper show… so we’re super pumped for the tour with Minus The Bear.
JORDYN: So I’m catching you guys playing your first few shows next week?!
MIKE: Yeah. Florida will be like the second or third show. It’s going to be awesome.
JORDYN: I’m really looking forward to it. What music inspired the album?
MIKE: I’m a big progressive rock band. I’m into Pink Floyd, they’re my favorite band. As far as new bands, I love Secret Machines. I’ve been getting into Animal Collective too a lot lately. My Morning Jacket, yeah I love My Morning Jacket. As far as what influenced this record, it’s funny cause this record definitely feels like three people, you know, getting to know each other musically. It’s more of what feels right. I’m never super aware of where any of it comes from, unfortunately. I remember seeing an interview with Bob Dylan, and he kind of felt the same way. He’s incredible. He was just sort of like, “I have no idea where these songs came from”.
JORDYN: How do you feel about the current state of the music industry?
MIKE: I personally love playing music live, so to me..I’m not as concerned about the industry or the state of record sales and things like that. I love playing live and I want to be in a touring band. With that said, I think the industry is just going to have to come to grips- with stating the obvious –the fact that the old model just isn’t working and it’s never going to work again. I think iTunes needs to come down on their prices. People don’t want to spend 10 dollars on a record anymore, or at least not as many people want to. I think if the record labels just accept that and move forward and be like okay, new time, new era of music distribution, then I think everybody, including the labels, would stop falling one by one. Artists would get paid for their work. I think it’s probably right around the corner, I cant imagine that anybody is going to go on fooling themselves for much longer. I would like to see that happen. As far as trading websites like Grooveshark, it’s great to get music out there. I think the current industry should just give artists more motivation to make your live show as undeniable as it can be. We just got to get people out to the shows. I’m excited to see where we’ll be a year from now.
JORDYN: Fifty years from now, when this is all said and done, what do you want fans to look back and say about your band?
MIKE: That’s a good question. I would love for the music to be around in fifty years. Personally, I wasn’t interested in a straight shot to the top. I am more a fan of the slower ascent, and something that would ensure some longevity. In fifty years, I would love for some of the things I talk about to still be relevant. I try to stay away from time specific topics for that reason. I want to leave something behind, that’s what I care about more than anything. More than selling records or anything like that.
Follow SKYSAW on Twitter: @skysawmusic
Add SKYSAW on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skysawmusic
Catch them on tour with Minus The Bear!
