Special Interview: Foreign Skies

theaussieword.com meets with Foreign Skies for a special blog interview!

What can you tell our readers about you? How and where did it all begin?

We are a three piece post-rock influenced band from Glasgow, we first started jamming as a band about 2 years ago when I (Jamie) met Calum at college studying Music Business, Calum then introduced me to Kevin and suggested we had a jam together and we have been a band ever since.

What had you first interested in music?

I think my interest in music first came from just listening at a young age, my dad was always playing music in the house growing up and my mum was always keen for me to learn an instrument. One thing I am always reminded of is when I was young I was told I wasn’t able to play flute in school because my fingers were too small… Going from what I have heard I then cried for about a week and got bought a guitar to try show me my life wasn’t over! That story always makes me laugh, I really am not a fan of flutes! (maybe deep down I am still a flautist, watch out for it on the next record haha)

Who motivates or influences your quest to make great music?

The main influence for me in writing our music has really been each other. I think we all really work off of each other well and the way the other guys play really effects what I write. The majority of our EP had been written really spontaneously and in rehearsals together and I think it motivated us so much more than if one of us had come in with a full song idea and expected the others to just play along with it.

Do you have any planned tours coming up?

We haven’t got any tours in full planned yet, I think we are just going to play some one off gigs around Scotland to test out new places we haven’t played before so when it comes to booking the tour we get it all right that time round! We have had interest from a lot of different Scottish cities to play so I don’t think it will be long before we have ourselves a tour in the pipeline!

What are some of your biggest goals you hope to accomplish as an artist?

I think our main goal and focus is always going to be in our next release. It would be amazing to get ourselves some bigger shows and festival slots which will hopefully happen in time, but I think as long as we are as happy with the next release as we are with the last it will be a big accomplishment for us.

What can fans expect from you in the coming months?

The next few months I am really excited for, we are currently in the planning stages with Keep the Change Productions for the video for our next single which I’m already dying to release

Success, what is the secret to it and what has been your biggest career highlight so far?

I think the secret is making sure you are happy with what you are doing, we have only really been a band for about a year now so I think the best will come in the next few years! My highlight personally was definitely recording the EP. It was the first bulk of work we have released as a band and it is the first songs we have wrote together so it was really great recording them and developing it into a final product.

Which stars of the music industry do you find inspiring?

Personally I don’t think there are many stars that really inspire me, I think the bands who inspire me most are the Scottish bands who were once in our position.

How would you best describe you and your music to your fans?

I would probably describe our sound as post-rock influenced Scottish rock, I think the EP sums up this sound as it has some ambient and big post-rock parts but also has catchy chorus’ and some more straight forward song structures

What can you tell us about your latest album?

The latest EP ‘This Human Error’ was recorded, mixed and with Paul McInally at 45A-side Recordings in the east end of Glasgow. The artwork was designed by Martin Hanson. The EP we have done as in house as possible, we are all so close to Paul so he knew what sound we were after and how to get the best out of us as musicians and Martin is Kevins brother so we could really work with him on the artwork however we didn’t really need to as he knew exactly what we were after.

Are there any new exciting projects in the works?

This is all our newest project which I think is good as we are all still so excited about it!

The music industry is huge, where do you see yourself a few years from now?

I have just finishing studying for a degree in Commercial Music and have been doing some work with labels and local music companies, I hope to be playing music and ideally working in the industry on any level.

Name a few of your favourite Aussie artists.

I don’t think I actually know a lot of Aussie artists! Hopefully after speaking with you thats something that will change! Im sure I will know a lot of Aussie artists that I just can’t think of! Our producer Paul is actually second cousins I believe with some members of AC/DC which I was amazed by.

The shape of the music industry has changed significantly over the years, including the use of social media, how do you feel about the industry as a whole and what does it mean to you in getting your records out into the public eye?

I think in its in a great position for new bands with the use of social networking, since the introduction of the digital age it has given unsigned artists the power to reach a new fanbase all over the world. Though there has obviously been a drop in record sales with the introduction of pirating being big, for bands like ourselves, I think the exposure at a band of our sizes stage should be an unsigned bands main focus rather than to financially gain. I still believe in the old fashioned way of gaining exposure and I can’t wait to get gigging intensely!

Facebook: ForeignSkiesOfficial

Bandcamp/iTunes: http://foreignskies.bandcamp.com / Foreign Skies iTunes
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/foreign-skies