Recently someone asked me for up and coming bands to keep your eye on. This band, right here, would be my number one answer. From New York city, I’m proud to introduce SKIVER. It’s a rarity to find bands like not only look good, but sound good. And finding humble bands? You’re more likely to see a unicorn. Skiver, however, encompasses the trinity of success for a band. These young guns are writing badass tracks, sweet as honey, and hot as Hell. If you don’t believe me, listen for yourself. Click HERE to listen to their debut single “Slur”. Read on for an interview with these fire starters!
LJ DeWitt: Being a newer band comes with both a blessing and a curse; You haven't built a reputation yet. As you grow as a band, what is one thing you DO want to become a part of your rep, and one thing you DON'T want to be known for? Skiver: I want people to know us by our actions and the reputation we build for ourselves. I never want to be “those unapproachable jerks”, you know? BK: Personally, I want our music to be known to transcend beyond rock listeners and to be known and appreciated by fans of all different genres (like hip hop fans, EDM fans etc.), not just rock. One thing I don't want as part of our rep is coming off as awful people. Artie: Part of our rep should always be pushing boundaries. As an artist, I’d never want to be tied down in one genre forever. It gets boring. I’d rather grow on our style while keeping our roots firmly in place. LJ: Good or bad, all the older rock bands have some extreme story to tell. (Biting the head off a bat, for example.) By the time you die, what's one thing you hope happens to that nature? Skiver: If I hope for it or try to plan it, that’ll just make it less fun! It’s gotta be in the moment. Artie: Blow up a toilet. Keith Moon style. LJ: What song(s) do you want played at your funeral? BK: Woah, I don't want to think that far in my life just yet! (laughs) Artie: Space Jam. Skiver: Funeral? What funeral? Vampires live forever. Next question!
LJ: Speaking of songs, you just released your debut single "SLUR". How long did production take and what was your process of recording? BK: "SLUR" was written in a relatively quick time. All 3 of us collaborated on it, and it all just came together perfectly. Recording was a breeze, too.
Artie: When we got together, we just wrote until we had a product we were all happy with. On the day of recording, we were in pre-production and the four of us just kind of fixed and added some last-minute touches and that’s about it. LJ: "SLUR" had amazing reception from your fans. When can they expect to hear more tracks from you guys? Skiver: I can’t say too much, but I can say we’ll definitely have new songs out within the first half of 2016. However, if the fans dig around on the internet I’m sure they can find some teasers of songs that we’ve posted in the past! LJ: In your writing process, has there ever been a song that became too personal for you to bring to the studio? If so, mind sharing what it was about? BK: Not really. I think anything is game for us right now. We have written songs that are centered around or inspired by personal events, but nothing is too personal for us to show each other. Skiver: A lot of the songs I write never see the light of day, but BK is right. Nothing is off limits for us. Making songs personal just makes them that much more real. LJ: On a happier note, which song that you've written are you most looking forward to releasing? Which are you looking forward to getting to play live? Skiver: We have plenty of songs that we’re excited to release and play. Personally, my favorites are the ones that get the crowds jumping. BK: We have a lot of songs written that we want to release, but I feel that that's more of a group decision based on how we feel about a song. Although we have a party song that I REALLY want to play live. It's very hard rock, and has my favorite guitar solo in it. Artie: One of the first songs we wrote is called “Amestris” and I’m SO stoked to record/play it. It’s pretty heavy, less trance-y than “Slur”.
LJ: Outside of your own music, what's a song that's meant more to you than words could describe and why? Skiver: “All My Reasons” by FAKE?. FAKE? has been a huge inspiration to me, and the lyrics of this song really stuck with me ever since I first listened to it. Look it up and you’ll see what I mean. Artie: “Last Ride of the Day” by Nightwish is definitely a song that broke my shit upon my first listen. It’s so packed with passion and a fantastic delivery of a message that a lot of people need to hear. LJ: With the holidays coming up, do you have any rockstar plans for the season? BK: Catch up on sleep and to be in awe of all the holiday decorations and festivities. Artie: Go out and die slowly amidst the angry crowds of people that procrastinated their gift shopping like me. Skiver: Wait, those don’t sound like rockstar plans! (laughs)
LJ: What's your favorite horror Christmas movie? (Ex: Gremlins, Santa's Slay, Gingerdead Man, ect.) BK: I think Artie can answer this one better than any of us. Skiver: Take it away Artie. Artie: My favorite movie of all time is Gremlins, it holds a very special place in my heart. I watch it every Christmas. Movies like Santa’s Slay, Gingerdead Man, and Silent Night Deadly Night 2 are a lot of fun (if not some of the stupidest, campiest B-movies I’ve ever seen). I’ve also just recently seen Krampus and it’s definitely on my top five movies of 2015. I actually went out of my way and bought the score, so I’ve been blasting it for days. I can’t wait for it to become a tradition for me to pop it in every season. LJ: Of all the classic horror movie villains (Jason, Freddy, Myers, etc.) which do you identify with the most and why? BK: I don't know if he counts as a classic, but I identify the most with John Kramer aka Jigsaw from the SAW franchise. I like him in particular because his backstory is really tragic, and that there's just a lot of human aspects and realism in his character development. Artie: Creature from the Black Lagoon. Mean, green and handsome with a hot piece of redhead ass. LJ: Any musical New Year's resolutions? BK: Keep writing and to kick some ass. Skiver: 2016 will be a year where we’ll be releasing new music, new videos, and all sorts of cool things for people to enjoy. As far as I’m concerned, it’s only the beginning for us!
e. Rachel Rosell