Get to know Skyepaint, an artist out of Newcastle who’s just dropped his second ever single ‘Bury Us In Gold’.
But naturally, there’s a lot more than just his second single to talk about… there’s his name-checking the lyrics of one of the world’s biggest boy bands.
There’s his favourite ever songs, his first ever album, the artists he admires and all the guff on how he came to be Skyepaint.
Track his musical journey in our latest Get To Know feature here.
01. Name : Hey, I’m Amos Wellings. I make music under the name Skyepaint.
02. Where are you based? Newcastle, New South Wales.
03. How did you get your start in music? I’ve always loved music and took piano lessons from a young age. As for writing/producing music of my own, that started around 2010/2011 and I’ve been involved in a few different projects since, both solo and collaborative.
04. Give us five words to best describe you as an artist. I think a certain American group summed it up more than eloquently almost twenty years ago with their timeless words : “I Want It That Way”.
05. Tell us a little bit about your sound and how it developed. I generally describe my sound as a modern take on 1980s synthpop, but even that’s a very broad categorisation. The biggest catalyst in helping me develop the sound I have today was buying a microKORG a few years ago. Such an amazing piece of gear that I still use heavily today.
06. What’s your earliest musical memory? When I was a young boy, my father took me into the city to see a marching band.
07. Who have been your musical influences? For the Skyepaint project, artists like Grimes, Depeche Mode, CHVRCHES, Jamie xx and The Postal Service have really helped shape my sound. Otherwise, my all-time favourite songwriters are Steven Wilson, Tori Amos and Thom Yorke, and I feel like there’s a little bit of them in everything I do.
08. What are your favourite songs of all time? I could name so many but let’s go with ‘Like Spinning Plates’ by Radiohead, ‘Missing (Todd Terry Remix)’ by Everything But The Girl and ‘The Tempest’ by Pendulum.
09. Where’s your favourite place to listen to music? Definitely my home studio, especially if I’m checking out something new.
10. Who are your go-to artists when you’re feeling:
Happy? Biffy Clyro, Paramore, Arcade Fire.
Sad? Sigur Rós, Caribou, Röyksopp.
Introspective? Radiohead, Tool, The Contortionist.
Exhausted? The xx, Thundercat, Sufjan Stevens.
11. What was the first album you ever bought? ‘Play’ by Moby, still one of my favourite albums to this day (though I don’t have my original cassette copy anymore).
12. Give us a little fun fact about yourself that people might not know. I’m a massive fan of pub trivia, so much so that I actually took over hosting duties of a weekly one in Newcastle a few months ago. Best way to spend a Monday night.
13. What would your chosen career be if music wasn’t an option? I love writing and almost considered studying journalism before committing to doing a music degree, so probably something along those lines.
14. What’s the best advice you’ve been given in your career? Be resourceful, be consistent and be decisive.
15. If you could trade places with any artist in the world right now, who would it be? I wouldn’t necessarily trade places but I’d love to be able to observe and learn from James Blake. Such an amazing songwriter and producer.
16. Tell us about your latest release. My latest single is called ‘Bury Us In Gold’, it’s one of the first songs I started working on as Skyepaint around this time last year. It’s a little more upbeat and dark than the previous single ‘Maybe It’s My Fault’, but still very much a side of the sound I’m going for.
17. What do your future plans involve? I’m constantly working on new music and will no doubt release a few more Skyepaint singles over the coming months. I’ve loved performing this material live too and am excited to keep further developing my live set.
18. Where can our audience catch you live? Live dates for Skyepaint are being worked out as we speak, stay tuned! Otherwise, the first show back in over a year for my duo project Amos & Emily is happening next month in our hometown of Newcastle, details TBA.
WEBSITE : skyepaint.com.au
FACEBOOK : facebook.com/skyepaintmusic
INSTAGRAM : instagram.com/skyepaintmusic
TWITTER : twitter.com/skyepaintmusic
SOUNDCLOUD : soundcloud.com/skyepaintmusic
YOUTUBE : smarturl.it/SkyepaintYT
Australia's first stop for pop!