Welcome to the Darkside: Sidewalks & Skeletons
For the past couple of weeks Sidewalks & Skeleton's has been teasing out material via the official Facebook page. Jake Lee is set to release the new album soon and i cant fucking wait!
A couple of days ago "Last Memory" had been unleashed, and I'm completely bedazzled. The vocals on this new track is beautiful, the percussion is totally on point. It is harmonic yet quite dark.Another example of how Jake manages to seamlessly push boundaries of the witch house genre with expiremental yet delicate compositions.
Sidewalks and Skeletons is a solo project by Jake Lee, alongside some beautiful original tracks he has also done some amazing remixes with materials from artists i love. Crystal Castles, Crosses, and Pastel Ghosts just to name a few....
I have been listening to Sidewalks and Skeletons since early December.
I initially heard of Sidewalks and Skeletons when i found out he was supporting The Courteasan's alongside my boyfriend's band. I spoke to him briefly whilst watching Leashes play. To me Sidewalks & Skeletons is the type of music i wish i heard during my youth, to me it sounds like a mixture of dark matter, dream pop - in short the genre is a gothic dream.
The elusive figure behind Sidewalks and Skeletons (Jake Lee) took some time out of his schedule for an exclusive interview.
Diane: What is Sidewalks and Skeletons?
Jake: Sidewalks and Skeletons is my solo-project which started mid-2012. I've been obsessed with all kinds of music my whole life, and grew up playing in lots of different bands - usually as a guitarist. But after many of them proving to be a waste of time due to unreliable band members and difference in creative vision I decided it was time to do my own thing, and I'm so glad i did because it's given me complete freedom to create from within myself without any external distraction. Sidewalks and Skeletons is an honest and vulnerable expression of my soul.
Diane: Talk us through your creative process
Jake: My creative process is quite strange - I always have a sound in my mind before I create it, because songs comes to me at the most random times, like I'll just be walking down the street and suddenly a melody comes into my head, and i focus on it and can imagine all other parts of the track until I have it all in my head, and I have to rush home and try to create it before it vanishes from my mind. I can't even tell you how many tracks I've lost by being distracted before i've managed to make it. So my particular creative process can be very frustrating. I use an AKAI keyboard and a tonne of VST's which I desperately search through to find something close to the kind of sound I'm looking for, and then I manipulate it with layers of FX until it's ready.
Diane: What musicians have influenced you?
Jake: I would say some of my biggest creative influences are Marilyn Manson, Crystal Castles, Slowdive and David Bowie.
Diane: What are your top 5 films/ tracks of all time?
Jake: It's too hard to choose just 5 so here are my favourite film directors - David Lynch, Quentin Tarentino, Rob Zombie.
Some of my favourite albums ever: Slowdive - Souvlaki (especially the song "When The Sun Hits") Crystal Castles - (II) & (III) Marilyn Manson - Holy Wood, Antichrist Superstar, & Mechanical Animals
Diane: Can you tell us how your 2016 album will differ from the prior two albums?
Jake: This next album is going to be a little more gothic, I can't say too much yet but it's definitely going to delve deeper into the night. It's going to glow.
