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The Story of the Making of Skycamefalling's 10.21 Album

Skycamefalling (Photo: Adam Tanner)

It's no secret that the Long Island hardcore scene has blessed us with a wealth of killer bands throughout the decades. Formed in 1996, Skycamefalling burst out of the LIHC scene with a sound that leaned into the chaotic side of the metalcore sonic spectrum.

After Good Life Recordings founder Edward Verhaeghe fell in love with their demo, he signed the band to his label, eventually issuing the band's 1998 EP, ...To Forever Embrace the Sun.

Skycamefalling then changed labels, signing with New Jersey's Ferret Music, an underground powerhouse at the time that was also behind releases by the likes of Every Time I Die and Disembodied.

But it wasn't till their debut album, 10.21, did Skycamefalling truly fully realize their sound. The attack of their previous material was still there, but the arrangements are stronger, showcasing the band's instrumental and lyrical prowess. 

Here's my conversation with vocalist Chris Tzompanakis and bassist Andrew Keym on the making of Skycamefalling's 10.21 album.

How do you remember about the time right before you started working on what would be end up becoming the 10.21 album? I got to play to Long Island a bunch in the mid-to-late ‘90s, but I want to get your thoughts from your viewpoint as a band playing and releasing music in that era and scene back then.

(Chris Tzompanakis, vocals): From what I remember, the Long Island scene was evolving during that time. Many of the bands that had influenced us, such as Silent Majority, Mind Over Matter, and Motive, were starting to break up. Meanwhile, younger bands like From Autumn to Ashes, On the Might of Princes, and Cipher were beginning to take their place.

Despite the changes, there were still plenty of venues and thriving local scenes, indicating that the overall community remained strong even as it underwent a resurgence. A few years later, the genre began to gain mainstream popularity with the success of bands like Taking Back Sunday and From Autumn to Ashes among others.

This period also marked a shift from a more DIY approach to greater involvement from record labels, aided by the rise of the internet and the increasing popularity of the genre.

Photo courtesy of Skycamefalling

Something interesting about your previous record, …To Forever Embrace the Sun is that you released it through Good Life Recordings. That was definitely one of the higher profile labels for that time and hardcore/metalcore, but they were based out of Belgium. Did you have a decent following in Europe, or was Ed just a big fan and reached out to you about working together?

Chris: When we released our demo, we sent it to as many labels as possible, hoping someone would be interested in releasing a 7". Good Life had released several of our favorite records back then, like Morning Again and Culture, so we sent a demo to Ed.

My memory is a bit hazy on how exactly we connected with Ed, but it's likely that John Wylie from Eulogy had some influence, given his relationship with Good Life and my constant pestering to book Morning Again. At that time, we had never been to Europe and had no following outside of the Northeast, so we were still a relatively unknown band.

In terms of the lyrics, did you have any kind of theme that coursed through the lyrics on 10.21, or was each song supposed to be a standalone piece?

Chris: Over the years, people have described it as a break-up record, though I wouldn't say that it is the only theme. I wrote many of the lyrics while I was away at college, which was my first time living on my own.

I felt incredibly homesick and was mourning the recent loss of my grandmother, to whom I was very close. I wasn’t in a good place mentally to focus on school. I was also dating someone I thought I had a future with, but when we eventually broke up, I realized just how unhappy I was in a new city without real friends, studying a major I wasn’t passionate about. Many of the songs reflect the feelings and emotions I experienced during that time as I tried to make sense of where I wanted to go with my life.

Staying on the lyrics for a moment, they read very poetic and I’m curious about the authors that you were reading at the time.

Chris: Back then, Salinger, Hesse, and Kafka were my most beloved authors. Spirituality greatly influenced my writing during that time. The feelings of loss and hopelessness I was experiencing led me to question what I was doing with my life.

Books like Franny and ZooeySiddhartha, The Stranger, and The Way of a Pilgrim all had a profound impact on me and my sense of purpose.

Listening to the album again while prepping this, I’m reminded how “composed” everything is. What I mean is that many (most?) bands Skycamefalling gets lumped in have killer riffs/parts, but often it feels all thrown together. Was there someone in the band that took charge in the arrangement side of the songs, or was it truly a group effort?

Chris: Cameron, our guitar player, was the main songwriter in the group and typically brought mostly complete songs or ideas that we would then work on together. To Forever Embrace the Sun was made up of many riffs and parts that didn’t quite fit together cohesively, while 10.21 seems more unified.

I don't think this was a conscious decision by anyone, but I believe the time between the two records allowed Cameron and the rest of us to mature as musicians and to explore a wider range of influences. In the beginning, we were quick to discard parts that weren't hardcore enough or didn’t align with the genre. However, during the writing of '10.21,' we began to embrace more diverse and angular ideas.

The '10.21' recording sessions

READ MORE: 5 Long Island Hardcore Bands That Changed My Life, by Vinnie Caruana (The Movielife, I Am the Avalanche)

How did Jim Winters enter the picture as the producer for the album’s recording sessions? I still think he’s one of the most talented musicians to come out of the hardcore scene, regardless of era.

Chris: I believe it was Carl Severson of Ferret Records who approached Jim Winters with the idea of producing our record. We had played a few shows with Turmoil, the band Jim was playing guitar for at the time. None of us were really familiar with Jim's background before meeting him.

Did he get involved with any of the arrangements or play any guitar on the record?

Unfortunately, we didn't get to spend much time working with Jim on ideas or arrangements. We sent him a handful of demo recordings before entering the studio, but our time in the studio was brief, leaving little room for experimentation.

Jim WInters performing w/ Conviction @ Unisound, Reading, PA, 1991. (Photo: Justin Moulder)

Chris, how were the vocal tracking sessions for you? Did you have a strong command of your voice and approach by that point? Clean vocals can also be tough to nail down when you’re also tracking harsher vocals at the same time.

Chris: I felt I had a strong command of my voice at the time since the band was actively touring. I didn't handle any of the clean vocals until our very last EP. Cameron took care of the clean vocals and some backup screaming parts on both To Forever Embrace the Sun and 10.21

Most of the vocals were recorded over a week in the laundry room of the basement studio where we finished the record. Interestingly, the crickets you hear at the beginning of the record were so loud that they were picked up by the mic while recording vocals. Our engineer grabbed a few mics, and we all went outside to record them. The rumbling you hear just before "With Paper Wings" kicks in is actually from a plane at JFK airport.

The cover art for 10.21 captures the spirit of the album perfectly. Andrew, can you talk a bit about how you put it all together? Were there any designers and/or album sleeves that helped inspire its look?

(Andrew Keym, bass): At the time, I was a novice designer, so honestly, I think it was a bit of dumb luck and gut feel on capturing the album's vibe. I hadn't researched any other covers or really gathered any inspiration before diving in. With both record covers (To Forever Embrace the Sun and 10.21), I was just exploring without really thinking too much about it.  

The process involved grabbing assets from anywhere I could find them (books, magazines, printed material), scanning them and pushing my parent's computer to the limit with Photoshop and Quark. People have asked me who the woman is on 10.21 and Chris and I laugh because we have no idea {laughs). We're hoping she reveals herself one day.

The original cover art for '10.21'

What do you remember about the album’s release in terms of public reaction? Did fans of your previous stuff buy in instantly, or did it resonate quickly with people?

Chris: Opinions were somewhat divided. Some fans preferred the rawness and style of the EP, while others favored the sound of 10.21, which is understandable. We were evolving in a different direction, and several years had passed between those two releases.

Photo courtesy of Skycamefalling

How do you feel about the way Ferret Music handled the album’s release and marketing? Did the album receive the kind of push you think it deserved from that standpoint?

Chris: I have nothing but good things to say about how Carl and Ferret handled the release.

We were all big fans of Ferret's releases, and bands like Disembodied, Torn Apart, and For the Love Of were major influences for us. Being able to release a record on Ferret was a significant milestone. I also believe that being on Ferret opened many doors for us that would not had we not worked with them.

How much touring did you do to support the album? What songs from it got the best response when you played them live?

Chris: We toured almost full-time for about 2-3 years after the album's release. Looking back, there are many things I would have done differently, but at the time, the only option was to keep grinding it out on the road.

Songs like "With Paper Wings," "Laura Palmer," "The Nothing," and "Healing Yesteryear" were always staples in our setlists and consistently got the best responses from the audience.

You recently released a new version of 10.21 that includes some re-recorded parts, in addition to a remastering by Will Putney. Is that something that you always wanted to do with the album, or did the passage of time inform that? Was it tough to listen to the album throughout the years for you before this new touches were done?

Andrew: I don't think it was tough to listen to the album, but I felt like we knew it could be better (production wise). When we initially recorded 10.21, we ran out of budget which forced us to switch studios mid-recording so we never really felt it was properly finished or done right.

We had the idea a few years back to try and digitize the tapes and see if we could improve what we had. The process was really long (we talk about it in the liner notes of the vinyl) and we had points where we doubted whether we could even pull it off.  

Luckily, Cameron happened to be in Applehead Recording studios recording the new Sleeping record and we had him ask Chris Bittner to help us re-record some of the guitar parts and re-mix the record. We also had our original bass player, Matt Woisin, record the bass parts remotely from North Carolina.

After hearing Chris's mix, we knew that we were onto something because we felt it sounded 10x better than the original. With Will, Cam reached out to Rob from Incendiary and we linked up with him. Again, being a fan of Will's work we knew he'd be the perfect person to finish off the recording.

The '10.21' reissue

What is your favorite song on 10.21 and why?

Chris: I believe "Porcelain Heart Promises" stands out the most to me. It was the first track we wrote for the album and really set the tone for the rest of the material on 10.21. We started playing that song very early on at shows, and Matt, our bass player, had a major influence on it.

Finally, what are some of the current LIHC bands you’re listening to?

Chris: HEAVYHEX, Koyo, Stand Still, Secret Tapes, and Inner Love are probably the ones that I would say that have been in regular rotation. 

Andrew: Private Mind and Family Dinner stick out for me. 

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Tagged: 2000s hardcore week, skycamefalling