Interview with Obsidian Skies

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

Tim “wasn’t good at sports”, any sports for that matter as a kid, so his parents put him into music and he ended up loving it. He learned classical guitar, piano, bass, and how to sing. If he wasn’t playing music, he’d be playing even more League of Legends and researching something in the field of Linguistics.

Logan started on percussion after being able to test it out in 5th grade. He later changed his focus to piano and guitar, looking for more melodic instruments. If he hadn’t helped form a metal band in college, he would have likely pursued some higher degree in Astrophysics.

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

Videogames, television, and film are common pastimes for both of us. We both love the music in these artistic mediums and they inspire us to write music as well. Both of us like nature and find a lot of inspiration from the profound abstract beauty. Tim loves to cook, which offers him another outlet for his creativity.

How long has your band been around?

We’ve only been around for about a year. We formed during the height of the pandemic and this is our first release!

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

We are based out of Boulder, Colorado. We find that the natural beauty of the Rocky Mountains helps inspire our music.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

We wanted a name that captured the void and darkness that one would experience on a voyage into the unknown. A lot of our music deals with mystery and intrigue so we wanted to reflect that with our overall image. Once we came up with the idea of using “Obsidian” in our name it just felt right and we went from there.

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

We are a studio band, so we haven’t played live as Obsidian Skies, but before that, we were in other bands. When we were both in Endlight, we played at a small bar in the mountain town Nederland, CO. The show was absolutely packed and it was just a great time to play in such a beautiful place. We also both loved the show we played at 7th Circle, where we opened for Unleash the Archers.

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

The Oriental Theater in Denver is a great place to play! It’s a big stage and has a great atmosphere. We’d love to play at some type of open-air festival someday.

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

Obsidian Skies

Fleshgod Apocalypse

Obscura

Ne Obliviscaris

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

Focus on creating music that you want to create. Don’t try to make music to please others. Don’t force yourself into a specific genre if you don’t want to and don’t try to write what you think will be popular; people will notice that it is artificial. Playing with people that you like and respect is important. Even if everyone in the band is a great musician, it won’t mean much if there isn’t chemistry.

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

Don’t keep pursuing something because it’s comfortable or you think that you should be. Go in the direction that you want to and the rest will follow. Musically, don’t let others tell you what is good or bad and just write what you want.

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

Rebirth in the Stars. We both feel that we poured our hearts into this song and were able to push some boundaries that we hadn’t dared to before writing that song.

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

Currently, we’re a studio project, so we haven’t played live. People seem to love Home, so we’d probably play that a lot if playing live shows.

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

Generally, we write guitar parts together and use that as the basis for any given part. We’ll discuss the transitions and flow that we’re trying to achieve and work together on the whole structure of the song. Logan will then add piano and orchestra, and Tim will add bass, drums, and lyrics. We present each part to each other and alter them together to ensure a cohesive sound. The entire writing effort is very collaborative.

Nature, the unknown, and science really inspire our lyrical themes and motivate us to write music. Both of us also just have a need to create some form of art and music is a great outlet for that. Great stories and fantastical worlds inspire our songs.

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

All of our songs are story-driven so we like to get across compelling ideas. Generally, they are pretty hopeful. Even if bleak at first, they’re about prevailing over challenges.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

We have our fair share of disagreements, but we eventually reach a compromise. We try to approach all of the situations by asking ourselves “what is best for this song or part?” and we find that helps solve a lot of the disagreements.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

We’re about to dive into writing our full-length album. We’re going to explore new stories and are excited to get back to writing! With the release of Saturnian on October 14th, we’ll have a lot of time left in the year to get a good start on the full-length album.

Members:

Tim Watervoort: Guitars, Basses, and Vocals

Logan Dougherty: Guitars, Piano, and Orchestration

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Instagram.com/obsidianskiesband | YouTube

Obsidian-skies.bandcamp.com

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