skull earrings
by Zoroarkfilms
Today is our interview with vaporwave producer, genre-blender, and experimental artist “skull earrings.” This interview is mostly about their new album Knife Rose Incident, a nightcore and vaporwave mashup! Please enjoy.
Zoroarkfilms: Where did the concept for Knife Rose Incident come from?
Skull Earrings: The idea to do a nightcore-influenced album has been in my head for a while now - I stumbled into the post-nightcore/nightcore revival rabbit hole on Bandcamp at some point and loved exploring what people were coming up with in terms of what sped-up samples could become. I wanted to experiment with taking the techniques I use in my vaporwave and going in a very different direction in terms of mood and atmosphere. And when I think of the genre, it reminds me of being young and full of energy and not caring what anyone thinks, so I tried to bring out that attitude throughout the album.
Z: You’ve drawn a lot of influences from nightcore and even hyperpop in this record as you’ve already stated, but are there any specific artists or albums that inspired you throughout production?
se: I’m glad you mentioned hyperpop, because I believe artists like 100 gecs were definitely a subconscious influence on this record. More directly, I took inspiration from the work of Plastic Neesound and .ExisT, plus the album UBERJAMS by ᐱиɢə∟Шʌvə.
Z: There’s a wide range of samples in Knife Rose Incident from many different places. What is your personal method for finding samples?
se: When I start working on a release and have the sound I want in mind, I usually start by combing through my personal music library for inspiration. The majority of the samples on this particular album were from songs I already knew and liked. I also like using Spotify to find songs on curated playlists (for example, The Sound of Classic Russian Pop playlist, since I frequently sample international music) and adding songs that catch my attention to my own playlists to return to later. I’ve also found some pretty neat samples in the past looking through newly-added releases on Discogs.
Z: What do you feel personally about the album art and it’s connections to the album?
se: The album art of Knife Rose Incident incident was done by a friend of mine (@thegarfieldphone on Instagram) - when I conceptualized the album and especially the young/rebellious attitude I mentioned earlier, this character came into my head that would represent all those feelings. I asked the artist to help bring her to life and I’m super happy with the result. It was different for me because I usually take a more DIY approach to my album art, editing stock images and my own photography to create it. But I like the new direction we went for this release’s artwork and I think it’s very fitting.
Z: For all the fans out there of this record, do you think physicals might happen in the future?
se: I’ve never done physicals before, but if someone was ever interested in making that happen (for any of my releases) I would definitely love to be a part of that!
Z: Breakupwave seems to be a very personal album from the music and the name, is there any backstory to it?
se: To be honest, I’ve never been through the breakup of a serious relationship. However, I think we can all relate to those feelings of loss and sadness and regret in one way or another, which is why it’s such a popular theme to turn to. So no backstory, just me attempting to portray that part of life.
Z: Wow that’s very interesting, so you took the feeling of general negative emotions and turned them into breakupwave. Is this something you’ve done before perhaps?
se: I’d say most of my albums have some form of emotional concept that ties them together, some stronger than others. If I can talk about my most recent full-length release, deTached, for a moment, that comes from the feelings of isolation I was having several months into the pandemic, knowing that I needed to do something to push myself forward but not knowing what that was. An older release, GIRL’S BEST FRIEND, is about the feelings we associate with diamond jewelry and gems in general: the glamour, the status, the romance.
Z: Where did the name skull earrings come from?
se: I have my own pair of skull earrings: rhinestone ones that I use an edited photo of as my icon. Something about the cadence of the phrase stuck in my head, it feels both dark and stylish.
Z: And our final question, what’s next for skull earrings?
se: I plan to continue pursuing both the energy of old-school vaporwave and more experimental directions. I built up a lot of creative energy over the semi-hiatus I took at the beginning of this year, and I wanna give myself some time to try out new ideas and see what else I can bring to the world of sampled vaporwave. As for the new album, this may be my first nightcore release, but I definitely don’t plan on it being my last.
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Check out Knife Rose Incident HERE, and listen to more skull earrings HERE!
