Q&A: Skateland Talks Pursuing Your Musical Dreams, the Magic of Love and New Single “Autobahn!”
ELECTRIFYING IN A SUBTLE, DREAMY WAY — Skateland pulls no punches with his newest single, “Autobahn!” Accompanied by a picture-perfect music video, there’s been no better time to dive into the Austin-based musician’s magnetizing work, if you’re not already hooked.
Skateland’s smooth yet energetic bedroom pop sound is enticing, and it’s clear he has an eye for equally lovely and lively visuals. “Autobahn!” has a lyrical message universal to the bittersweet understanding that every relationship — even the best of them — will have their own ups and downs. Skateland offers a spoonful of sugar to help that medicine go down with this outstanding new track.
Read below to hear more from Skateland himself on “Autobahn!” and its music video, his anecdotes for fighting off fear, and his impressive record of live performances
LUNA: Hello, Skateland! It’s super exciting to be talking with you after the recent release of your new single, "Autobahn!" and its incredible music video. It was so fun just to watch it. What for you is the most fun aspect of creating a visual piece to accompany your songs?
SKATELAND: Thank you so much, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Film has always been a love of mine, and I spent a lot of my teen years writing and directing really bad short films. When I started Skateland, writing, producing, performing, and booking for the music itself was so demanding that I never really had the bandwidth to put my heart and time into doing the music videos like I wanted to, but now I have a really awesome team that helps shoulder the load so I can put my everything into doing the visuals.
“Autobahn!” is monumental for me personally because it's the first time in my young career that I really got to use that part of my brain and bring a vision to life. The most fun part of creating visual pieces is finding new meaning in the songs by assigning actual tangible imagery (faces, locations, movements, etc.) to things you only previously imagined in your head. It's like watching the live movie adaption of your favorite book and going, "Oh! So that's what Ron Weasley looks like!" I love it.
LUNA: While the music video is a brightly-colored cakewalk of back and forths through a beautiful house and the song is your usual smooth, dreamy mix of bedroom pop and new wave sensibilities, your lyrics touch on a more melancholy yet definitely relatable reality of the ups and downs that inevitably ensue in relationships. What was the genesis for you artistically to use juxtaposition like this, between your look, sound, and the underlying message of the work?
SKATELAND: That's a great question. I think at the end of the day we often make a really big deal out of really silly things, and I've been guilty of that lately. I look back at things in my life that were "crises" at the time and laugh at how stupid they were and how much I overthought them, and I wanted that feeling to come across in the song/video. The lyrics are being sung from the narrator's POV, and obviously he's having a meltdown, but the music and visuals are being received from the audience's POV, so I wanted them to be comical and brighter. I like the Seinfeld, Truman Show aspect of an audience laughing during a main character's meltdown — it provides great balance and perspective for me. It's like, to you this is the worst moment of your life, but to me it's just Season 3 Episode 8, and I know you're going to be fine.
LUNA: In your process for writing songs, when do you know you have a new song? Does it start with a melody, the topic of the lyrics or some written lines, a visual inspiration for a music video, etc.?
SKATELAND: I'm a big melody guy, so I'm always singing and humming little wordless snippets into my phone in public like a crazy person. In my experience, when you have a melody you really like, the music almost falls into place sometimes. I'm also really big into experiences, so a lot of the time if I'm in the middle of a really impactful experience (be it pleasant or painful), I tend to put it away in my little memory bank and write around it later. My friends laugh because I've been known to write quick little songs on the drive home from a really fun party, in the middle of a group dinner, or on a hot girl walk to a coffee shop.
LUNA: On the topic of writing and your creative process, you’ve been a remarkable advocate with encouraging everyone to take creative chances with their passions, using what they have at hand and not waiting for the ever elusive “right moment” or “best resources,” and realizing they already have the most important thing: their passion. What advice do you have for someone to just jump in?
SKATELAND: Work with what you have and live to fight another day! Comparison is crazy because it can paralyze you from even starting something. A lot of fellow creatives I talk to will say, "This person I look up to has this piece of equipment and I don't have that, so I'm just not going to do anything until I get it,” and I feel like that's the number one way to let time pass you by. I'm all about putting your best foot forward with the things you have at your disposal, finishing and releasing the piece, and then waking up a little bit wiser and doing it again. Who knows, maybe the lack of that one thing or element ends up being why people love what you do, and completely defines your look or sound. Remember, Tony Stark built the first Iron Man suit in a cave with a box of scraps.
LUNA: A perfect showcase of how much taking that chance can pay off in the end, you’ve already played at the much sought-after SXSW and are set to play the festival again this year. What would you say is your favorite part of performing your music live and interacting with your audience in real time?
SKATELAND: I'm super excited to be playing SXSW again! It's a great festival and great for the city. As far as performing live, I think my favorite part is seeing the look of surprise on the audiences' face when we play the first song. I get labeled as "moody and introspective pop" a lot, and based on my past releases I would say that's fair, but my roots are in punk and surf rock, so my live set is very big, very fast, and very loud. You can always tell when an audience member comes to a show expecting to hear soft sounds and whispering and is shocked to see us doing our best Turnstile or DIIV impression. It makes me laugh every time!
LUNA: Back to “Autobahn!” real quick, any personal stories or experiences that you’d like to share pertaining to the creation of the song and/or music video?
SKATELAND: “Autobahn!” is 100% about my own experience with relationships; maybe not one in particular, but from a general sense. As you grow up, it hits you that a perfect person simply doesn't exist, so to hold out for one is a waste of time. Likewise, expecting myself to be a perfect person and partner is insane, so there's a lot of self-acceptance there too.
The real magic of love is in two people recognizing the flaws in one another and choosing to love in spite of them, and that's something I only very recently discovered. Sitting on the couch and eating dinner with your partner even though they hate how loudly you chew is real love, and nobody can tell me differently!
LUNA: Lastly, what do you hope listeners walk away feeling when they hear a Skateland song for the first time?
SKATELAND: It sounds very cliche, but I honestly hope they just walk away feeling better. Music is one of the purest forms of instant serotonin for me, and my goal as an artist is to provide that same jolt of joy for the listener. Whether it's a fast/loud song or a softer/sadder one, I want it to make you feel good.
