SILENT SKIES is all about emotions. The haunting and touching vocals of Evergrey frontman Tom S. Englund are supported solely by piano sounds, synthesizers and a warm cello. There is no metal in SILENT SKIES, but the very big feelings and the equally silent cries for help of tortured souls. Vikram Shankar is the musical mastermind behind this project. Besides playing piano and keyboard, he composes film soundtracks and works for many other bands. In this interview he talks to us about the musical core of SILENT SKIES and the new album „Nectar“, the deep emotional lyrics and the therapeutic effect of the recordings. We also speak about psychological problems and mental health – topics that still have a hard time in society and need to be addressed more and, above all, more openly and with more acceptance and thoughtfulness.
Hello Vikram, thank you for taking time to do this interview and congratulations to “Nectar”, a truly special and so emotional album. How are you these days?
I’m well! Things are a bit of a whirlwind right now with the recent release but we couldn’t be happier with how people are receiving the record, including yourself. So thank you for that!
The debut album “Satellites” was released on Sweet Lemon, now you switched to a big metal label with Napalm Records. I think you are not only addressing a larger target group, but also a different one. Fortunately, otherwise I might never have discovered SILENT SKIES! Why was this the right choice for “Nectar”?
It’s great to hear that! We love working with Napalm Records, not just for their marketing and corporate might, but because they understand that there is a place for non-metal music in the world of metal music and metal fans, because of the deep kinship between us and metal music. We love expressing darkness, melancholy, and the trials of the human experience, and Napalm recognizes that metal fans appreciate hearing that in all kinds of music, not just metal.
How did the collaboration with Tom Englund originally come about? How did you meet and decide to approach this project with this musical direction?
Tom and I connected via the magic of social media in 2017. I had been doing piano arrangements of metal music and Tom saw some videos of me performing songs from his band Evergrey – he recognized that we had a musical kinship, we understood and expressed emotion and phrasing in a similar way to him and that we shared a similar sense of aesthetics and atmosphere. He reached out suggesting some sort of collaboration, to make an album inspired by cinematic, atmospheric, and ambient electronic music with strong vocal melodies, music both intimate and grand
“Satellites” was released in December 2020, “Nectar” in February 2022. Is the music and the atmosphere of SILENT SKIES just right for cold, dark days and is that why you put the releases in these periods?
I wish I could say that was the only reason, but these times actually happened to work well with other releases that we each have had planned in our respective musical lives. That being said, we do believe that this music is appropriate for the long winter days, and it’s great that you feel the same way!
„Nectar“ is something life-giving in both nature and mythology. Why did you choose that as the album title?
To us, “Nectar” is a hymn to the power of the will and human spirit – our “Nectar” is that essential life force within each of us that motivates us to pick ourselves up and keep going when darkness threatens to overwhelm us. It’s what we reach to when times are tough, and we believe that each of us has within that which it takes to overcome whatever life throws at us. This album is about that fight, and it represents both our own personal will to persevere and hopefully inspiration to help our listeners to understand that they are not alone in their struggles and that they too can overcome whatever they are dealing with.
I think compared to „Satellites“ the instrumentation is even more reduced and calmer. How do you see that, in what way have you changed in your opinion compared to the debut and what did you personally learn from it?
I think when making “Nectar”, we are older, wiser, and know ourselves and our tools much better. We both felt quite eager and confident as producers and recording engineers, and we worked as hard as possible to make sure every single element of every arrangement was necessary, strong, and refined to suit the song as well as possible. This relentless quest to “serve the song” resulted in songs that I think are more cohesive than the first album, more distilled and more potent.
Is the music now even more adapted to Tom Englund’s singing? His voice is clearly the center of attention and if a piano note accentuates the end of a sung line or becomes louder or softer to match the singing, it is pure musical delight.
The vocal is of paramount importance to us in the songwriting and production phases. Every instrumental and arrangement choice has to serve that essential nucleus of vocal melody and harmony, and we’re very discerning about making sure every choice we make does not compromise this. That being said, because a lot of vocals were written around piano parts I wrote with melodies included, the interplay between piano notes and sung lines is sometimes because I’m matching the singing, yet sometimes it is because Tom’s vocal is accentuating my piano playing. This synergy, and the mutual respect it implies, is I think a big part of what makes SILENT SKIES special.
Can you imagine doing this project with another singer? Why is Englund the exact right singer for this music?
Absolutely not – Tom is essential for SILENT SKIES to be the way that it is. He has a remarkable ability to see the bigger picture, and approach songwriting from the perspective of a producer and instrumentalist as well as a singer. He also has one of the most critical and discerning ears I have ever experienced. His soul and identity and his sense of emotional storytelling is second to none, and we have a shared set of values, musical, aesthetic and personal, as well as a matched sense of attention to detail, standard of excellence, and determination to deliver every note of every song with full conviction and emotional honesty.
Raphael Weinroth-Browne can be heard on cello on almost every track, providing a very nice, mellow instrumental background. How did you come up with him and the decision to use a cello?
I love live strings – it adds an incredible level of humanism and heart. Raphael has been one of my favorite cellists ever since I discovered him with Musk Ox’s „Woodfall“ and Leprous’s „Malina“ albums. I had him work with me on my Lux Terminus album The Courage to Be, and on both Satellites and “Nectar”. Not only is he a wonderful musician, but he “understands” music in a similar way to myself and to Tom and has a similar emotional and atmospheric approach. In contrast to “Satellites”, where I wrote nearly 100% of his parts out in notation, I only did so with about 60% of his parts on “Nectar” – the rest were parts that Raphael improvised, mainly ambient parts that I processed further with effects to create otherworldly textures.
The music already has a very emotional atmosphere, through the deep and fragile lyrics this is amplified even more. Were there a lot of personal feelings processed here?
Absolutely – our music is deeply personal and is a direct reflection of ourselves, in terms of our struggles, things that we deal with as professionals and as people, and mental health.
If I interpret it correctly, the songs address topics of mental health such as depression, loneliness, and uncertainty. These are delicate topics that are often kept quiet or treated insensitively, but you approach these topics very gently and respectfully. The lyric alone, „If I fall hopeless, I hope you notice“ says so much and represents the cry for help from many troubled people who will likely never be noticed. Do you find it important as a musician with a certain stage to address difficult topics and to possibly help or accompany some listeners with it in a way?
This is exactly right – I think we don’t talk enough about mental health and personal struggles, and this cultivates a toxic culture in society where people are ostracized due to their struggles and feel ashamed and closed off, thereby not getting the help they need. Our music, and the personal depth we put into it, is hopefully a way that listeners can realize they aren’t alone, and we can help start a conversation to develop a society where people are treated with the respect and love they need and deserve.
In „Let It Hurt“ there is the line „Let it hurt, let the pain come.“ Do you sometimes just have to let the pain come in order to process it better?
I think so. All too often, we think that the best way to handle our problems is to sweep them under the rug, and while this might be a decent temporary salve, bottling things up and not confronting reality is only going to make things worse. I’ve learned, thanks to the mentorship and help of many people around me, including Tom, that the best way to handle the things life throws at you is to meet them head on, with the confidence that you DO have within whatever it takes to make it through – we all do.
Despite all the melancholy and gloom, there are always hopeful rays of hope in the songs and lyrics like „I believe better days will come“. How important is it to always keep some hope, even in the worst of times?
I personally try to live my life with as much of a positive mindset as possible. As someone with mental health challenges and plenty of ups and downs in my life, this can be a significant challenge, but I still think it’s important to hold to that to the best of my ability, for a few reasons. Firstly, I think I’m simply a more pleasant person to be around when I am trying to view life through a positive lens, and I owe it to my friends, family, and loved ones to do what I can to live a positive and balanced life. Secondly, I have found empirically that positive outlooks beget positive outcomes. That being said, that can be a real challenge when one is struggling and I don’t at all lay blame to those who struggle to maintain a positive outlook in tough times. That’s why we need to start having these conversations about mental health and support our fellow human beings as much as possible.
What does it mean for you personally to have produced „Nectar“ and filled it with so much personal stuff? Is it perhaps also therapeutic to open up in this way?
It is absolutely therapeutic – it’s almost like having a therapy session with music, or perhaps the DAW, being the therapist. You bounce ideas, thoughts, feelings off of your instruments and the computer and the process of doing so can help you grapple with your inner thoughts and process them in a way that is for me personally much more effective.
When you yourself are feeling bad, can you find support and comfort in lyrics or compositions by other artists?
I have had this type of relationship with my favorite music for many years. It is because of this that I know the power of what music can do for people, because I am that person, same as any other listener. Speaking strictly for myself, I take this power very seriously, and have committed to try to make the world a better place and help people however I can.
Are there particular tracks on “Nectar” that are very special for you? What are your favorite tracks on the record?
My answer to this changes on a daily basis, I feel strongly about all of the songs and all of them have very particular and compelling memories behind their creation. I frequently come back to the songs “Better Days,” “The One” and “Neverending” though – the former for its ethereal and celestial mood, lyrical positivity and eloquence and its unique instrumentation. The song is driven by a particular analog synth line and a self-made ambient choir of my own voice in the chorus. “The One” is a song that speaks very strongly for me because of how it relates to my personal life, and the relationship I have found myself in for the last couple years, and I think it is some of Tom’s best writing and singing of his entire career. I also am particularly fond of the cello arrangement on that song, brilliantly executed by Raphael Weinroth-Browne. Finally, “Neverending” has an instrumentation set that I really enjoy, with a sparse piano complimented by layers of swirling Moog synthesizer and some electronic programming that draws from some influences I have never gotten to fully explore, like 80s Bruce Springsteen, Radiohead, U2 and Coldplay.
Since you also do soundtracks yourself, I’d be interested to know which composers and film soundtracks are your biggest influences.
Outside of SILENT SKIES, I am influenced by a lot of “usual suspects” of film composers like John Williams, Howard Shore, John Powell and Danny Elfman, but these composers don’t often find their way into what SILENT SKIES does. Rather, with SILENT SKIES we are more influenced by Max Richter, Olafur Arnalds, and the ambient side of Hans Zimmer. Hans’s score for “Interstellar” was an early point of reference that we continue to refer to – just like the film itself, Hans managed to unite the celestial and grand with the intimate and personal in a very special way, much the same as what we aim to do with our own music.
Recently the Oscar nominations for 2022 were announced, including Hans Zimmer for “Dune” and Nicholas Britell for “Don’t Look Up” (which I think is a great film) for Best Score. What do you think about the nominated scores and do you think any other score from last year is better than the five nominees?
All nominations are extremely strong. While “Dune” has gotten some flack in some film score circles I am in for its reliance on ambience and sound design over “traditional” components of composition like melody and harmony, I think the sound design of “Dune” is a marvel to behold and I am extremely grateful I got to experience it in a theater. Remember theaters? What a novel experience! Aside from the 5 nominees, I enjoyed the scores for “Those Who Wish Me Dead” by Brian Tyler, “No Time To Die” by Hans Zimmer, and the score to the “Invasion” series by Max Richter.
The burning piano in the video for „Leaving“ looks impressively beautiful, but what did it do to you to suffer so terribly?
Thank you! The piano was beyond repair and bound straight for the trash heap – we figured rather than it languishing in a dump forever, we would let it make a final artistic statement, and a powerful one at that. I have such a strong spiritual connection with instruments that I would never condone destroying an instrument that still had music to offer the world!
Let’s conclude with our traditional brainstorming. What comes to your mind first when you read the following words?
Current favorite album: “A three-way between III” by Banks, “Segl” by Eivør and “Those Who Wish To Exist” by Architects.
Nature: The ultimate source of inspiration and, to put it simply, the greatest and most beautiful thing there is.
Religion: A powerful and effective way to answer life’s biggest questions and provide a source of community, belonging, and the essential connection to others that we all subconsciously require, but also an easily abused institution, like any other institution of power.
American Football: A perfectly fine thing that exists, although I am more of a baseball guy. (laughs)
Best Movie-/Series-/Book-Universe: If we specifically want to talk about the entire universe of a series, I don’t know if there’s much out there that can top what Tolkien and George Lucas did. From the joyous fun escapism to the bleak and dark to the spiritual and philosophical, their respective worlds have it all.
Something that makes every bad day better: Music.
Best way to relax: See above. Alternatively, cooking, time spent in nature, and the spiritual healing of friends and loved ones.
SILENT SKIES in ten years: Bigger and better than ever – I hope!
Thank you once again for your time, this deep and personal interview and the best of success with “Nectar”! The last words are all yours.
Thank YOU for your kind words, your interest in what we do, and your insightful questions. We are so happy to see this record resonating with people such as yourself. To anyone who is interested in what we do: we encourage you to take the leap of faith and check out our new album “Nectar”. If it doesn’t resonate with you, that is totally okay, but you just might find this music is exactly what you need. Peace and love and stay safe!
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8. März 2022 Stefan Popp
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