Simply Six: The Shining Skulls

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there such

 a defining moment for you?

       It was the first time I heard "Appetite for Destruction" by Guns n Roses. At that time Top 40 was all derivative pop-metal and neon colored R&B. I was in 4th or 5th grade and my mom bought me the album. I put on my huge listening cans and there were the initial delayed guitar stabs of "Welcome to the Jungle", echoing in a dirty urban world I never knew. In a way the title was completely appropriate. It took me to a place in my imagination that I had never been.  I never really came back. I have wanted to play music ever since.  

Though none of their later work measured up in my ears, Appetite for Destruction stands out to me as one of the finest rock albums of the last 2 generations. If you do not own it, I suggest you get  copy. Put on some really nice head phones and turn it up.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to?  Who are some of your favorites?
I have been listening to a lot of Tom Waits lately, Nick Drake, Nick Cave, the Black Keys. Cave SIngers. I'm sort of in a phase as a listener that I want to hear incredibly screwed up characters tell vividly screwed-up stories. As I have gotten older, I don't really buy teenage angst so much. I get it, I'm just not buying anymore. I prefer an older voice...musicians that can tell stories and can funnel all that neurosis into something less self-absorbed and more entertaining.  Oh yeah, and I have been digging on Trentmoeller a lot lately as well.

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

I think finishing our album was the greatest moment for sure. We took it upon ourselves to produce the album having never really done so before. I worked on demos and our first EP, but I really had no idea how to pull off a full-scale production, especially considering the expectations we had. Instead of going into a studio, I outfitted a small but high quality recording rig and we recorded the entire thing in the basement of a house where Andrew and I lived. I was learning everything from mic placement to mixing while on the job so it took some time for me to get my confidence up. It was a massive amount if work and sometimes I just wanted to quit...b/c what I heard was not as good as I what I wanted. But we pressed on and after about 8 months of tracking, re-tracking, re-writing, second and third guessing, we finally finished the album. When I sent it off to mastering, I had the most amazing exhale of my life.

4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to?   How much can music influence current events?

Absolutely. I think art changes the world everyday. It's rarely so obvious as Jimi Hendrix playing the National Anthem at Woodstock. Most of the changes are small and passing and almost all of them occur within the brain of the person experiencing the art. The truth is that "the world" is both a universal thing and a starkly personal frame of reference...and the world is both of these things at the same time all the time. The right song or photograph at the right time of day can turn that day around. Turning a day around is the first step in turning a life around. In that way, I think all art contributes to a butterfly effect. It creates small changes in the experience of a person and the world as we know it the world of people. So yeah, I know for certain that music changes the world, but it is a subtle thing.

5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician?

Now this is a loaded question. Digital technology has turned the music world upside down. Huge studios and massive retail distribution deals have given way to DIY philosophies and the tangled data-jungle of the internet. For bands willing to learn and do the work, music can be recorded and made available to every person on the planet with little more than a computer in some cases. 

I like that I can make music and not have to shell out tens of thousands of dollars in studio costs. The internet allows us to expand our reach to an international level. A lot of artists are doing this which has created it's own downside. The downside is that the internet culture is becoming a market of entitlement and short attention spans. Everybody wants everything for free and they want it now. For artists, the internet is both a blessing and a curse. The curse is that almost any piece of art available on the internet has less perceived value to a listener. It's simple psychology. We always value more what we have to work for or pay for with our own hard earned money.  Something given away for free has less value to the person consuming it. But if you charge for it there is a good chance most will never give it a try. The blessing is that it puts the onus on the artists to make the best art possible. My philosophy is that the only way to break through the static is to create music that will stand the test of time and keep putting it in front of as many people as you can. At the end of the day it's a numbers game. You increase your odds of success if you make sure that your art pleases you first....b/c only then will you muster the energy to try to share it with the rest of us.

6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

Toe Sox I think. The Shining Skulls are Toe Sox. We have a snug little home for each of our toes....and by toes I mean fans.