Tuesday 20 October 2015

Sykoya Q&A

Your name:
Anna Marcella.

Where are you from? 

Chicago, USA, but living in London, UK.

Name of band: 

Sykoya (inspired by two giant sequoia trees I like to sit under to write and produce music).

Who else is in your band?  

Eduardo Leal (Bass/Synth Bass), Alejandro Bonatto (Keys) and Curtis ElVidge (Drums).

How would you describe yourselves and your music? 

A blend of electronic, ambient and indie pop.

Who are your main influences musically? 

Too many to name, but if I have to narrow it down...The Knife, London Grammar, Daughter, Depeche Mode, Massive Attack, Radiohead.

What do you hope to achieve in music? 

I would love to be able to do it for a living. I love writing and producing music and I think I will always do it. It would be great to be able to live off of it fully though.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why? 

Before the project came together, I got to spend a week recording the EP at Monnow Valley Studios in Wales (some of the greats including Oasis, Queen and Rush have recorded there). I took the tracks and my productions up there and had an amazing week working with the engineers/producers in the studio who really brought them to life. This is actually where I met Curtis, who was interning as an engineer/producer there, so I really feel we started the project together. The studio is set in a beautiful remote region of Wales and is the perfect environment for creativity where you can unplug from reality and focus on music 24/7. I feel this really enabled us to come out with a great EP. 

And what’s the moment you want to forget? 

Difficulties finding a drummer...always seems to be the case! haha! We didn't initially have Curtis in the project because he was still in Wales, so we tried out a couple drummers and all fell through, but it worked out perfectly because in the end it timed perfectly with Curtis moving back to the area, so he could join the project! 

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why? 

Hard to say. I think we are continuing to develop our sound, as the project is quite new, so I feel that our unrecorded songs are become more a representation, mixing the ambient, haunting vocals from the track 'Closer' with more electronic production like in the track 'Here'. But the EP as a whole still definitely represents us. 

Where can we listen to it? 

https://soundcloud.com/sykoya



Where can we find out more about your music?

Anything else you’d like to say about your music that I forgot to ask?
For any UK residents reading, we have a show on October 22nd at Surya London (Near Kings Cross) and November 3rd at Cafe 1001 (on Brick Lane).

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