An interview with SILKDAZE

Directly from Sacramento, California, SILKDAZE made some time to answer our questions about his most recent introspective EP, “Maybe Manic”. The alternative and percussion soaked EP transports us to all refined playful and sombre corners of the universe, a trip you do not want to miss. 

Mafi: When was your first contact with music? When did you realize it was what you wanted to do?

Slikdaze:My first contact with music was very early. My mother enlisted my in piano lessons when I was about 8 years old, partially because she regretted not playing music when she was younger. I stuck with it for about 8 years and started to form a hatred to it because I felt forced into it. It wasn’t for me. As I got older I started taking interest in other instruments like cello, saxophone, and guitar and that felt very different and much more enjoyable because I wanted to learn. Although I didn’t enjoy a lot of the lessons I was forced to take, if that didn’t happen I wouldn’t have been able to form my own interest in it. I pushed myself as much as I wanted to and got to focus on my own projects instead of learning because somebody else wanted me to. It was much more personal at this point. I really realized that music was something I wanted to pursue a few years ago. I had played in a few bands in high school but when I wanted to start making albums and focusing on only music during my free time I notice most of my friends weren’t able to put the time in that I felt was needed. All of a sudden all of my band mates were no longer interested and I was left alone with this passion to keep creating music. Instead of trying to find new people I felt drawn to the idea of creating a solo project in which I had full creative direction over everything. SILKDAZE is the result of that idea. It is entirely me with no outside influence. A few weeks into rating my first album I knew this was something I was going to put my entire focus and effort into until it failed. This is a project just for me, with music made just for me, and I hope people can relate to that and relate to the topics I discuss lyrically. 

Who are your main influences? My main influences besides my friends who encouraged me to pursue music were Homeshake, Inner Wave, and dominantly acoustic artists like Gregory Alan Isakov and Benjamin Francis Leftwich. I was very drawn to Homeshake and similar indie artists as they wrote most of the music themselves. It felt like a very person expression instead of an entire collaboration between a band. Similarly, the acoustic artists I listened to were very good at storytelling. Aside from the very stripped back acoustic-style songs, the lyrics told a very personal story that made me feel closer to the artist and kept me thinking about the songs long after they ended. These both influenced me heavily in my own music creation. 

Q: How did the creation of your EP “Maybe Manic” start? The creation of my EP “Maybe Manic” started with a very deep dive into my own mind. I was reflecting upon a lot of recent situations and occurrences in which I had made mistakes, harmed others unintentionally, and ended up learning a lot about myself. These songs are all reflections of my own thoughts while looking back on these situations. The title “Maybe Manic” comes from a thought in which I though of myself as a villain. Although realistically I don’t believe that was the case, I had found myself in a position where I had unintentionally mentally harmed people I really cared about. It was very challenging to acknowledge that I had done such things and the title reflects the internal struggle I was dealing with between knowing the good person I really am and how I always have the best intentions but then to be very harshly contrasted with the reality that I still am capable of making mistakes and how that showed me areas in which I needed to make improvements. 

What is your favorite song from the EP? Which one did you enjoy creating the most and why? My favorite song on the EP is probably song number two which is titled "6 Courses.” All of these songs were made within 4 days so the topics are very similar and as a listener I feel they really fit together and give off a similar vibe. This song specifically I feel is rather strong instrumentally but there is one line specifically that really hits home to me. “It’s such a shame, that I never wanna let myself be okay.” This line almost makes me tear up every time I hear it. Although sad, it is very real. The issues I vaguely hinted at earlier was caused because I felt undeserving of the good feelings I was experiencing at that time. Instead of figuring out why I felt that way and finding a way to enjoy these feelings, I ended up self-sabotaging and ruining all the joy I was experiencing through this outlet. The concept as a whole is rather depressing but was a very formative moment for me as I had finally acknowledge this behavior I was doing and could now finally make efforts to improve upon myself and my own mental health. This song and the EP as a whole was a note to myself of how terrible I was feeling and encouraged me to make efforts to make improvements not only so I could be there for myself but there for the people around me as well. 

Throughout the EP the relation between vocals and instrumentation gradually changes is there any particular reason for that? Was it all though out initially or did it just happen? This relationship you point out is something I was very much aware of. In these songs I really had a lot to say and so many of the tracks are rather vocally dominated. The final song is almost more instrumentally dominated. This was something I was unaware of while creating the songs but something I noticed while trying to figure out the order of the songs on the EP. The final song, “Sleepwalking” ends with the vocals repeating the same lyrics while a guitar solo slowly drowns them out. This was a very intentional ending to the EP because, like mentioned previously, most of the lyrics are rather sad and depressing. The idea behind having the last song end on guitar instead of sad lyrics was to give this EP an optimistic ending. Just as I am starting to deal with some very personal issues within myself, the EP ends on a note that contrasts very heavily from the lyrics. As if to say to the listener, “yeah, I know these words were somewhat sad, but there are a lot of sad things that happen in life. Being able to focus on the positives is much more important.” I wanted to give the EP some sort of resolution. 

Q: Why the name SILKDAZE? I chose the name SILKDAZE while listening to my first album “In Repair.” I had no clue what I wanted to call myself so I listened to my first EP on repeat for a few hours and wrote down adjectives the entire time, then I proceeded to look up synonyms. I ended up with a large list of words that I felt somewhat described the vibe my music gave off. I ended on SILKDAZE because I felt most of my songs were rather smooth and easy going, not too complicated. At the same time the “daze” portion of it comes from my mental health. I was feeling like I was stuck in a daze with no direction and I really enjoyed the contrast between SILK and DAZE and felt it accurately portrayed the vibe my music gives off.

As an independent artist what are the difficulties you find by managing your own career? With SILKDAZE being a solo project I definitely run into a lot of difficulties. The hardest one is management and marketing. I work full time and have plenty of other passions I am simultaneously chasing and in my free time I create music. That part is easy. I create music almost every day and have learned to enjoy the songwriting process on my own. The hard part is finding effective ways to market my music. I barely have enough time to create the songs so making sure people listen is almost an after thought. Additionally, live shows are something that are being requested of me more and more as I keep creating music and that will be a challenge as well. I write every instrument for every song and teaching 5-6 people how to play every part of every song is a task that sounds both tedious and almost impossible. 

Do you have any advice for artists that are now starting to release their songs?The biggest advice I can think of to give artists who are thinking of releasing music is to just do it. Solo or with friends. It is easier than you think. I use garage band. I have no fancy mic or fancy keyboards. I just have a laptop. On my entire first album I recored all the vocals using voice memos on my iPhone 5 and when I tell people that they are shocked. If anybody is interested just find a free recording program like GarageBand or something similar and watch tutorials on youtube. The sooner you start this the more you learn and the better you get. It’s all about passion and feeling, the quality is something that will come in time. 

 What can we expect next? As for what is next for SILKDAZE, I am happy to say that I have a lot planned. I have another EP called "Hearts and Flowers” dropping in March that includes a new music video. After that I have a full 30+ minute album dropping in April. All I can say is I have been learning at an exponential rate and the quality of songs are going through the roof. I have a lot coming so keep your eyes peeled. I drop teasers weekly on my instagram @silk.daze and I am so excited to keep creating and sharing my music and my voice and I can’t wait to see where this ends up taking me.