We were lucky enough to catch up with London-based artist Skar de Line following the release of the brilliant single ‘Satisfied’ in November 2020. Read now!
Hi Skar de Line, what is your earliest music memory?
Oh, I can’t pick one. Music is in my blood; I don’t have an early memory that isn’t connected to music. I got videos of playing the piano and singing with my mum as a two-year-old or doing concerts in kindergarten as a young child.
What I can tell you though is my most important music memory, which is when I went up on stage to perform my own tracks, for a real audience for the first time. There was a point where the stage went dark, the audience screamed, and I felt I had the room at my fingertips, and that changed me.
To see them react and listen to my ideas was a turning point where I went from just enjoying music to dedicating my life to it. That’s over a decade ago, and I haven’t looked back for one day since.
Who influenced your latest release ‘Satisfied’?
On a lyrical level, one very toxic individual I shared a house with during a year really influenced Satisfied. I’ve described that as fascinating that some people could dedicate their life for months on end trying to prove that I was wrong.
I found it fascinating that; playing with the idea that maybe I was that bad person they painted me up to be all along, but not letting that bother me the least; would ultimately frustrate them even more. To see someone lose their direction as they had accomplished what they set out to do but without any consequence, as I was still going on as if nothing happened.
On a musical level, Kanye West’s album Yeezus as well as the music from Denis Villeneuve movie Sicario really influenced this one.
‘Satisfied’ is electronic-pop at its finest, what draws you to the genre?
Thank you! Funny enough, I never went in with the intention to do specifically an electronic-pop song. I wanted to create an intense high-energy track with a slamming chorus. With that said, what I’m about to say maybe a cliché, but a true one, but being held back by strict genre definitions will only hold back artists.
If you know what your core values, what you stand for, that will shine through whatever you do as an artist, that will be the connecting tissue that holds your releases together. I like songs that challenge the lister, dare to ask questions, all built on strong hooks that both emotionally and intellectually connect with my audience!
We see there is a cinematic video which accompanies the release, how did the video come about?
I can’t work on a track without getting visuals in my head, which means I’ve had ideas for this video for over a year, and the ideas for the video were built side by side with the track itself.
The mood of the music made me think of the cinematic lost-in-the-night escapism that became the setting for the video. The atmosphere was inspired by the vibe of thrillers such as Collateral and Night Crawler, combined with the neon light of John Wick, and the non-linear, circular storytelling of Christopher Nolan. Just as the lyrics, I knew the video should be deeply personal, really follow, and explore that inner duality that is the main point of the video.
Shooting the final scene at the Millennium Bridge in the middle of the night was probably the highpoint, as well as literally flying on wires in front of the green screen later on.
Is ‘Satisfied’ a continuation from your previous release, ‘In Charge’?
While the two very different releases, ‘Satisfied’ is definitely a spiritual successor to ‘In Charge’. Thematically, ‘In Charge’ deals with ideas of controlling your environment, and by extension, cutting yourself off and isolating yourself from your surroundings.
On that topic, ‘Satisfied’ takes that idea and runs with it. What’s the next step after isolating and cutting off from the world? Isolating and cutting off from yourself of course. That created that inner conflict and duality that you also see in the video.
With that’s said I really wanted to go somewhere different as well. ‘In Charge’ was more orchestral, more traditional in terms of chord progressions, building from a few different hooks and motives, and more organic sounding overall. ‘Satisfied’ was all based on mood. I wanted to really dive into the feeling, the vibe. All the individual parts are simpler, but they come together to a really impactful full track in the end.
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
Working on a really cinematic track with Hans Zimmer and an orchestra would be very cool.
Other than music, what are you passionate about?
I’m very interested in the human psyche, the power of the human mind. The limits, the possibilities. Not in a scientific way, but more in a philosophical sense.
I think being a lyric writer, that really helps, turning your own thoughts and ideas inside out, trying to understand connections between everything that’s going on. Being your own therapist and client at the same time.
Simultaneously trying to come up with the strangest ideas and cathartic experiences, go places no one would expect, and at the same time trying to understand and translate what’s going on to paper, and translate in an emotionally powerful and relatable way to my audience.
If you could choose one thing for fans to take away from your music, what would it be?
Individuality. I believe in the individual, in your power to do what you choose to do, in your choice to see the world however you want to see it. I cannot say what you should do; I don’t believe listening to my ideas will help you with your own life. But I do believe I can inspire you to look within yourself, to realize your own ideas, that give you the inspiration to take charge of your own life. It boils down to a saying I live after; “If you make your own rules, can you ever be wrong?”
Have you started working on your next release?
I’m deep into the works of my next release right now. 2020 has been a blessing in disguise, as I’ve got more time than ever before to just writing, and it’s been great!
Got so many new ideas, I’m working with my producer with right now and what I’m working on right now is probably the most exciting work I’ve ever done. Can’t tell you much more about it right now, but keep your eyes opened for 2021, it’s gonna be a good year 😉
FV Music Blog December 2020
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