Faith Forum is a monthly event where we host a conversation on a big question or topic. At our February event, we invited Skies Speak to be our featured artist. I was thrilled to find out that he wrote an EP for our topic, "The End of Loneliness." So, I invited him to contribute an artist statement for the piece. To read my intro to our artist statement series, click here. You may listen to the EP, "I Promise You Were Never Alone," and his statement below.
"This 4-part Ambient piece was inspired by my ideas and thoughts on loneliness: a feeling with which, if we are being honest, we are all intimately familiar. In spite of being surrounded by more love than I could hope for, I still struggle with this feeling. Over time, I have come to believe that loneliness, along with many other emotional pains like depression, anxiousness, and disappointment, will not completely be removed in my life. While I believe that God has given me access to a perfect love in relationship with him, I also believe I am living in a broken world, processing life through a broken mind and body.
The music is predominately hopeful, but also contains elements of lament and sorrow. These parts ebb and flow between moments of peace and tension, ultimately ending with the confrontation of struggle. Sometimes life does not offer the comfort of closure, and I am left to boldly confront pain and suffering, moving forward in spite of a lack of resolution."
BIO:
Jordan Vidrine, known as Skies Speak, got into computer-based music when his father downloaded cracked versions of music software that were popular during his time in high school. Once in college, his musical pursuits halted. Upon graduation in 2012, the itch to create was nagging him to pick up where he left off. Skies Speak has always been interested in electronic, ambient, and atmospheric music; with this in mind, he set out to develop his first EP in late 2014, completing it in the summer of 2016. Using sampled vocals and drums, brooding synths, and guitar, his debut album Testament explores past hurts, present circumstances, and hope for the future. With his first EP now finished, he has begun to develop ambient music with an emphasis on the use of analog and modular synthesizers inspired by composers such as Jóhann Jóhannsson and the duo behind the soundtrack of Stranger Things, Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein.