by Alexandra Mrozowska
— Senior Columnist —
Browsing through the weighty volumes of Rock history, you can’t help but notice the first chapter is always the same. It always starts with a group of young, like-minded individuals determined to make it in the music industry – no matter what. As the story progresses, names and faces change as the band in question is heading towards stardom and their former bandmates of the early period falling into oblivion.
It doesn’t happen very often indeed that the artistic partnership created at that early stage continues. However, there are exceptions to the rule and one of them is the upcoming Brazil-based act Skyward, led by João Gabriel Torres (vocals) and Samuel Toledo (guitars). “Having the same goals and respect for each other’s opinions is gold,” the two musicians claim as they check in with Hardrock Haven to discuss anything from their songwriting process to new, single-oriented ways of “making it” in the music industry and their thoughts on the Brazilian music market.
Hardrock Haven: Technically, Skyward appears to be a two-piece band. Are the gaps in the line-up filled with session musicians, or do you plan to expand the band line-up in the future?
Skyward: Alexandra, before anything we’d like to thank you so much for the invitation! It’s a true honor for us. And yes, so far it’s been just the two of us and we definitely need to fill the gaps with a killer drummer and bassist. We’re on the look for them. But on the other hand, we are not desperate to find them at any cost. The thing is that we get along so well and our musical venture has been so easy-going that we’d rather wait for the right person to tag along the way. To be a band together and have a long-lasting career involves many things other than just good musicianship. Having the same mindset, sense of purpose, even a sense of humor is just as important as playing your instrument for that matter… We are sure that once we can get more active and perform live again with session musicians, we’ll find our guys and it’s gonna be awesome!
Hardrock Haven: Fingers crossed for that! One cool thing about Skyward is that the two of you have maintained a musical partnership since your teenage years. What do you think is a secret of its longevity?
Skyward: There are a few key ingredients to that recipe. One of them is having fun. We laugh a lot together and hang out with our friends while not making music. Also, having the same goals and respect for each other’s opinions is gold. We think differently about many issues and still support each other’s goals and ways of thinking. There’s no better opinion. Allowing ourselves to embark on each other’s ideas, and letting go of our own safe places always helps us find our ways. Having a similar taste for music and a sense of humor are also important to glue everything together and keep the flame burning.
Hardrock Haven: Speaking of that longevity, are songs already released as singles newly written, or is it material that’s accumulated over the years of your collaboration?
Skyward: A bit of both! Some of the ideas for the songs have been sitting for over two decades and are finally coming together now. We can say some of them were conceived during the golden days of Hard Rock and therefore we think that’s why people claim to feel that vibe with so much authenticity. Other ones are just popping out right now, some of them being fully written in a two-hour jam session. Sometimes things just flow incredibly well and sometimes the cooking is slow but the final piece is to the taste.
Hardrock Haven: What does the songwriting process for Skyward usually look like?
Skyward: It usually starts when we are apart. Someone comes up with an idea, either a guitar riff or a catchy chorus, melody and lyrics. Like our album’s name would state, “everything starts with something”. Jo is more like the melody and lyrics kinda guy and Sammy is the crazy guitar licks and arrangement guy. We start sending our ideas to one another and, since we’ve been doing this for such a long time, we read each other’s mind and continue their work. After the outline is drawn, we get together for a recording session and boom, a new song is ready for release!
Hardrock Haven: We’ve mentioned the singles, and Skyward has released seven so far. What’s the reason for starting out by releasing your material song by song? Do you think that in the days of iTunes and streaming platforms, releasing singles may actually make more sense than full albums when the band starts out?
Skyward: We think that’s the new way to go, especially for new bands. This way you can keep people always coming back to you for more. The streaming services allow us this new strategy and we should take advantage of it. Many bands, like ourselves, haven’t started out with a big label behind us, or with the budget for producing a full-length album. Releasing the singles allows people to access to your songs and big things can happen because of that, like it happened to us. We were able to catch the attention of record labels, PRs, several radio stations around the world, and grow our audience by doing so, instead of trying to sell our “demo tape” to a label before we even start. Like good old-fashioned guys, we do fancy the idea of a full album, but nothing stops you from releasing the songs one by one and then packing them up into a full release.
Releasing the singles with a certain regularity helps people to engage more often with your work, and can open important doors that would cost a ton of money otherwise. Back in the day, bands would usually take one-two years to work and release their albums if they had a label behind them and all the means to produce. People would feed from that work while building up expectations for the next release. Today, if you spend that much time without releasing anything, interacting and being active, you would probably be forgotten. So things have changed, people have changed. We should understand the world we are living in and adapt if we want to stay alive.
Hardrock Haven: Absolutely. You’ve been releasing the singles starting from the late 2019 I think, so the majority of them saw the light throughout 2020. Do you think the lockdown period was advantageous in terms of boosting artists’ creativity?
Skyward: Yes, we released our first single “Hitchhiker” in 2019. I think the lockdown made us somehow increase the focus on production. What do you do locked up at home? Play the guitar, compose as much as you can and listen to as much music as you can. It’s almost all you can do (laughs). So it’s been a great time to finish what was pending, and work hard to put everything on track. I think that’s what’s happening for all of us. Imagine, if a band cannot perform, go out on tour, or even rehearse together… It seems like the best option we have is to dive into productions.
There is also a really negative side to it though. We feed on shows and concerts by the bands and musicians we love, and also on our relationship with fans. Not being able to have that “live” experience and that awesome exchange with people seems to dismay us a little. It makes things less personal, and music is completely personal. Music is what makes us come together since we were cavemen. So in this sense we need to overcome the moment and find ways to get closer, even though we are physically apart.
Hardrock Haven: Definitely. So, 2020 being such a devastating year for the entire music industry, what effect did it have on your plans in particular?
Skyward: It has certainly affected all of us in different ways. We were excited about planning our next concerts and participating in festivals, but as it was not possible, we took the opportunity to dive into new compositions, revisit old stuff that was nearly forgotten, redo some recordings that could be improved. We tried to take advantage of this time also to develop other aspects of the band in general. Even with plans for when everything starts to happen again. So we would say that it was inevitable [for it] to affect all plans that were outdoors – I think for everyone – but it forced us to look more inside.
Hardrock Haven: Out of all the singles, do you feel there is one that fully represents Skyward musically?
Sammy: That’s a hard one (laughs). I would say that usually the last one to be released tends to show maximum of our growth and synergy. At least we hope so! Having said that, if I were to choose one, I think maybe “We Will Come Through”, because it was our first composition together in fact. “Another Day” is an incredible song and it was the beginning of everything. Jo already had it ready and when he handed it to me, I freaked out. But the total sum of our creativity for the first time, was in “We Will Come Through.”
Jo: I think all of them have the Skyward DNA very deeply rooted and each one shows a different aspect of it, but if I had to pick, I’d go for “We Will Come Through” and “Never Before”.
Hardrock Haven: Which bands influenced you the most in terms of music, image etc?
Sammy: Despite the different style, Angra is probably the band that most influenced us in the sense of an image. As a Brazilian band, they have managed to build an incredible career all over the world in a very smart way. This excites and inspires us. For both of us, musical inspiration seems to be a thing for the moment. We are inspired by various types of music and many bands. From Jazz to Heavy Metal, from Samba to Soul and so on. I mean it. But I think I can say that the basis of our inspiration comes from bands like Stryper, Mr. Big, Van Halen, Aerosmith, Crazy Lixx, Guns N’Roses, Jorn Lande, Richie Kotzen, Dream Theater, Narnia, Vulfpeck, Ken Tamplin, Journey… not to mention the Brazillian ones (laughs). My God, we could name bands forever here. So many of them helped shaping us as musicians and as human beings.
Jo: I have to make a special comment about one guy here. My mentor Ken Tamplin. Not only has the dude inspired me with his music since I was a kid listening to Shout, or a teenager headbanging to his tunes in solo career, but I also had (and still have) the amazing and unique opportunity of being mentored by the guy who is simply one of the very best Rock’n’Roll singers of all time. He is responsible for many great things that happened in my career and only God knows how thankful I am for that.
Hardrock Haven: Well, when it comes to mentoring, Ken Tamplin is definitely a person to go to! Anyway, do you plan to eventually release a full-length album and if you do, will the singles be included on it as well?
Skyward: Absolutely. We will release the singles and then pack them up on a full album, of course, with some new tunes added to give it an extra purpose. That will be our main release strategy for now. Also we fancy the idea of printing some CDs and vinyls for the hardcore fans too.
Hardrock Haven: We’ve already mentioned platforms like Spotify, and Skyward’s music is obviously available on them. As we all know it’s not really beneficial in financial terms for younger bands, what other advantages does having your music there have for you?
Skyward: I think the biggest benefit is getting our music out there, to as many people as possible and being in the same place as the big bands. The music market today is almost entirely streaming – if not all of it. Platforms like Spotify can take our music anywhere in the world. Incredible, isn’t it? Music spreading so quickly and easily is fascinating. These platforms are providing musical plurality. We have access to groups that we would hardly be able to listen to unless they signed with a major label. This is the new market. I think we’re still in the middle of the music industry revolution, and there’s no turning back from it. Of course, it has all its disadvantages as well, especially financial, but I think we are still adapting to this market. We need to use this revolution and technology in everyone’s favor.
Hardrock Haven: Do you use Spotify and other streaming services as a listener and what’s your opinion on them?
Skyward: Yes, a lot. We think it’s wonderful. We have met many cool bands through playlists that we never would have otherwise. The ease of finding anything with a click is fascinating. It’s easy and fast. Of course, there is the pleasure and the nostalgia of taking the time to crack open a CD case or vinyl, reading the booklet, spending time enjoying it too. Is different. We still keep the physical media of some favorite bands. That’s what they are now. A collector’s item and a hardcore fan’s treasure. But I confess that it’s becoming more rare to see people doing all this ritual.
Hardrock Haven: Skyward comes from Brazil, and although it’s not a country we’d associate with Rock music right away, you seem to have quite a fanbase for this kind of music there and some legendary musicians coming from there as well. So what’s the Brazilian Rock scene like these days?
Skyward: We have amazing bands here in Brazil and legendary musicians – like you said. But the rock scene here is a survivor. Brazil has a very specific music culture and we are sort of the renegades in that sense. If you compare the ‘80s and ‘90s editions of Rock In Rio to the last ones you’ll get a glimpse of what we’re talking about. There are still many true Rock’n Roll fans here, but we are hard to find. We do have some great Rock pubs and awesome bands playing covers on a daily basis but they hardly display original songs in there, which is really sad. But we’re optimistic and we can see a new wave of original bands with absolutely fantastic work coming out of their caves lately.
Hardrock Haven: We promise to keep them on our radar! And speaking about that, your songs are played in various radio stations across the world. But what’s the support – if any – for the Rock scene and bands like Skyward from the media in your homeland?
Skyward: Honestly? No support. Not at all. We rely 100 per cent on each other inside the Rock scene. We’ve seen other bands such as Sepultura and Angra, among many others complaining about the same thing. They had to grow out of Brazil to come back here acknowledged, which is sad because we are always taking Brazil with us, representing our country wherever we are. But Rock is not valued here. It is not the major musical style, so it is not seen as a good investment possibility. But the truth is that we are part of building the culture of our country, and also taking that culture around the world. It’s a shame.
Hardrock Haven: I know at least a few countries who deal with exactly the same problem… But speaking about more positive things, are there any Brazilian bands you’d be happy to recommend?
Skyward: Absolutely. In the Rock/Metal realm we could mention Angra, Shaaman, Electric Gypsy, Elephant Casino, Allos, Dr. Sin. In other miscellaneous styles such as Jazz and Bossa – Paulinho Pedra Azul, Zé da Viola, João Gilberto, Djavan, Milton Nascimento, Toquinho…
Hardrock Haven: What are the band’s plans for 2021?
Skyward: We are going to release a few more singles and prepare to release the full album Everything Starts With Something. And the main idea is to play, for God’s sake! (laughs) We are planning concerts here in Brazil and abroad. We are discussing with our promoter Liz (ShowLiz) about going to Germany later this year to do some shows. Everything is still a little uncertain due to the pandemic, but we are very excited about the possibility of everything. We are also already in the process of recording new songs. So we have a lot of work to do.
Hardrock Haven: Fingers crossed for all that to happen! Is there anything you’d like to add in the end?
Skyward: Sure thing. We could never stress enough how thankful we are for living this dream. We think every musician’s dream is to have their tunes recognized and appreciated broadly. Having people from every country and culture having fun, getting inspired, reaching out to us, interacting, asking for more and spreading your work around is absolutely fantastic. Seeing it getting played in numerous radio stations around the globe, people calling in and asking for it, being called to live interviews and whatnot… So many awesome people have crossed our ways and helped this become a reality, like our promoter Liz for instance. None of this would be happening without her. As we like to say the best way to thank people for all that support is to keep some great Rock’n’Roll coming their way. So stay tuned, cause this is only the beginning!
