Read the skull-hole Interview below and share it on social media.
Please tell our readers who you are and what you do?
Hello, my name is Brad Marek, aka Skull-Hole. I'm a 21-year-old producer, DJ, and Multi-instrumentalist. I started making my own music around 2008-2009, beginning with garageband. I think between 2009-2010 I picked up ableton live, and we've been in a happy relationship ever since. I started off making these weird little electronic endeavors, i'm really not even sure what genre you could describe them as, they're really hit or miss, but if you a half an hour or so to kill you can go back and find most of them at the bottom of my soundcloud feed. My personal favorites from that era are "Autumn," "Glass," and "Electro Funk." But still they're not really anything compared to my modern music. I used to make music with my best friend / partner in crime Brayden Barnum aka Bass Cycle aka the Disco Bastard but he is sadly no longer with us. He was my biggest inspiration and musical guidance, he was so talented and off the wall, some of his ideas and sounds are so impossible to conceive, what I wouldn't do to still have him around. But none the less after Brayden died in 2013 I had to keep pushing forward. I graduated from highschool the following year, and I would release my first album in the next. It was a 17 track compilation entitled very appropriately "The First Album." It consisted of hard hitting dubstep bangers, smooth, glossy four on the floor medleys, and some rich, synthy chillwave tracks. Since then I've had a few small gigs at art galleries and house parties, and have continued making music with my friends I've met through soundcloud, and a great friend of mine known as Michael Pierluissi aka Lueasy, but I haven't quite gotten my feet off the ground. Which i'm hoping to change in 2018.
How would you describe your influences and how have they changed over the years?
I first really started getting into music when guitar hero came around, it was something that was fun, interactive and musical all that the same time, and it really inspired to me to learn real guitar. I was in a couple bands during highschool where I rotated between playing guitar, bass, keyboard, alto saxophone and lead vocals. And then one day I was introduced to deadmau5 by a friend while playing scrabble in Brayden's basement. We listened all the way through "Random Album Title" and it was like nothing I had ever heard before. I was so mesmerized by the simplistic sound yet minute details that went into every track, when I went home I immediately downloaded it and "For Lack of a Better Name" and for the next month I didn't listen to anything besides those 2 albums. I also used to play a lot of minecraft so c418 and (A) in Mono were also some electronic artists I was exposed to early. From there I started listening to Daft Punk, Aphex Twin, Feed Me, Casey Lalonde, Globular, Soulular, Skrillex, Iglooghost, Flying Lotus, Evo Auxillium, XXYYXX, The Bloody Beetroots, Steve Aoki, LMFAO, Mr. Oizo, Synchronice, The Studio Killers, Tincup, Troyboi, um.., Zeds Dead, and So many more. And as of recently I've also been really getting into rap, a few quick faves being Tyler, The Creator, Rich Chigga, and Milo aka Scallops Hotel.
What´s new right now?
I am currently working on a double ep which is going to be called "An Auditory Simulation of a Day in Michigan." It's going to be over 6 tracks on each side and there will be physical releases available on my bandcamp. I'm looking at probably releasing it around early 2018.
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Are you a superfan of anyone? How did you become a superfan? Do you remember how you become a fan and what turned you into super fan? Have you ever thought about why you´re such a fan?
I'm a super fan of Deadmau5, Casey Lalonde, and Milo. I literally just can't get enough of these guys, I own every release they've made so far.
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What was the biggest mistake you made when you started making music and what would be the number one tip you could give to a newcomer musician?
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How do you get gigs? Can you share any tips?
Use the music board on 4chan, (/mu/) we have daily soundcloud, bandcamp, youtube, and spotify threads where you can promote yourself, discover other musicians, and give reviews and critiques to other artists just like you. Plus it's a lot of fun! <3
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Do you have good promotion tips for other musicians?
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Do you have insights on how to grow your audience on soundcloud that you want to share with our audience?
Use the music board on 4chan, (/mu/) we have daily soundcloud, bandcamp, youtube, and spotify threads where you can promote yourself, discover other musicians, and give reviews and critiques to other artists just like you. Plus it's a lot of fun! <3
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What has been your biggest challenge right now? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
Coming up with new and interesting sounds and songs. I tend to overcome this challenge with "external inspiration." ;3
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How do you personally discover new music?
I usually use soundcloud, bandcamp, I watch theneedledrop on youtube, I go on the music board of 4chan known as /mu/, and word of mouth. I surround myself with people I know have great taste in music and whenever they find anything, they'll usually show it to me.
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Once you discovered new music, do you tell others about the new music/artist you discovered? If yes, how exactly?
“Word of mouth, e-mail, instant messenger, soundcloud messaging, /mu/
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What is your number one tip to improve your music production or songwriting skills?
Just throw everything you got at the wall and see what sticks, never stop creating, never stop listening, find more artists and sounds you like and the rest will fall into place.
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What is your best tip for those who struggle with finishing their tracks?
There's nothing wrong with taking a long time on finishing a track. Just keep at it, narrow the number of songs down to what you want on your next project and focus on those. Little by little you will start to finish your tracks and begin building a setlist for your next album, ep, ect.
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We meet again in one year. What has changed?
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http://www.soundcloud.com/skull_hole
http://www.facebook.com/Skelecular
http://www.twitter.com/Skull_Hole
https://skull-hole.bandcamp.com/
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Enter your questions to the artist in the facebook comment section below.
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