Jake Skylyr's Music

Bio:

I am a multi-instrumentalist that plays primarily guitar, bass, and keyboards. I started playing guitar at age 5, bass at age 6 and piano at age 9. Early on I discovered that I had perfect pitch, which only further reinforced what I should be doing with myself!

After having been in bands throughout most of my youth, I began having ideas for "solo" material in about 1998. This began the era of "Jake Skylyr" as a solo artist I guess you could say. I still work on solo stuff off and on to this day, despite working on band(s) and other projects.

As I have a rather diverse range of influences, many of my tracks tend to follow a particular avenue that is in my head during creation. So if one track doesn't seem to be "your" style, try others, I can be rather diverse! (check the influences)

Some tracks are collaborations as well, and I will be sure to acknowledge all co-writers, performers, etc. I'm not a spotlight/credit hog.

Be sure to check out my other tracks on my website:

www.jakeskylyr.com/music/mp3

I am also a private guitar/bass instructor in NJ.

Thanks for taking the time to check out some of my stuff! Please contact me with any feedback, questions, comments, etc. I welcome it all!


My Equipment:

Because I'm sure some of you will want to know. Right now my guitar equipment consists of the following:
Guitars:
1998 Ibanez Universe UV777BK (my Baby)
Modified 1995 Ibanez RG450DXLB (autographed by Dream Theater)
1992 Rickenbacker 620FG
1986-88?? Steinberger XM2 Bass
1980 Guild D35 Acoustic
19?? Seville Mandolin

Stuff:
Live
Blackface Rocktron Chameleon
Blackface Rocktron Intellifex
T.C. Electronics G-Major
Rockman Octopus
Mesa/Boogie Mark III Blue Stripe Simul-Class Rackmounted Head
Marshall MG412A cab ugraded with an EVM 200w Black Shadow and a 300w Peavey Black Widow.

Home/Recording
Korg A4 Bass Processor (sparkly clean tones!)
Zoom 505II (awesome bang for buck!)

What I've been up to lately:

October 2004.
I was working at Sam Ash still, and met James, and he became my drummer. We've been playing together since. Off and on we had his buddy Matt Gati on bass, as well as a few jams with my friend Ron Tarsan on bass. Nothing became of either of those lineups, yet James and I carried on.

February 2005.
James' friend Marty was going to an Audio school, and happened to meet a guy who was a keyboard player looking for a progressive band. Eventually, it worked out, and we got together. This was when we met Mike Pignataro, keyboard virtuoso. We became a twisted power trio of sorts, and continued along, looking to complete the lineup. James was also playing drums for another band named Akora around this time as well. I had also done a recording session for Marc Wasserman, a fellow Sam Ash employee, where I played guitar on a few tracks. He liked my playing and sound, and wanted me for a few tracks on his ongoing project to become known as "Yankee Doodle Blitzkrieg".

Mid 2005. James, Mike, and myself were continuing on. James had split with Akora, and he and other buds formed Engaging The Enemy, which included Matt Gati on bass. I had met Mike Blair, vocalist of the highest caliber, at Sam Ash that summer, around June-ish. We tried to get him to join us, but really wanted to come in on the ground floor of something. He really didn't want to try to write over songs we had, and would rather start something new. In this time, we had also managed to bring in Nat Gallo (a good friend of Mike Pignataro's) on bass, and there was a whopping ONE rehearsal where we had a full 5 piece lineup. After Mike Blair decided that he didn't want to really do it, things dwindled. Nat was very busy with his job, and had very little time to practice anyway. Work and lessons were robbing me of free time as well. Mike Pignataro really wanted to do more composition, and less "jamming". However, there really was no way to work it out neatly. By September, Mike decided that he was going to move back to Florida. So back to James and I. I also leave Sam Ash to teach guitar/bass full time. (Equipment wise, I picked up a new rack case, and my first 4x12 cabinet around this time.)

Fall 2005.
Mike Blair got in touch with me. He wanted to pursue composition of a project he has had in the works for quite some time. A concept album. We get together, hash things out conceptually, and begin the process for the story of "Avion". We hit it off pretty well with this concept, and began occasional sessions for it. Mike Pignataro tells us he has decided against moving to Florida, and wants to know if we still want to jam with him. Upon hearing about the "Avion" material, he wants to get in on it as well. It goes without saying that James was to be onboard this on drums as well. Like I said, he is "my" drummer. Him and I are a team of sorts, and there is something that happens when we play together that just reinforces that we are meant to play together. (Equipment wise, my Peavey Equalizer started giving me trouble. I actually buy another one on ebay, and it's tweaked as well, forcing me to re-think things in my current rig. )

November/December 2005. Mike Blair decides that he wants to get all of us in a live environment to capture some of the energy of spontanaeity, as well as the energy of live loud music to bring heavier aspects to life for this project. We manage a few get togethers of this nature that actually seemed to go pretty well. Mike Pignataro was not so happy with the process we were going through compositionally. He wanted things to be more calculated and planned. James, Mike Blair, and myself, were much more of the improvisational/spontaneous approach. This, as well as plenty of other things on his end that I have no clue about, led Mike Pignataro to make the move back to Florida almost unexpectedly in December. (Equipment wise, I had picked up a new preamp (Rocktron Chameleon) around this time for some different tones. I also got a Lexicon MPX-1 and decided that it would not work for my needs. I also gave up on the Peavey EQ, however, it wasn't really necessary at this point.)

January 2006.
James and I are still jamming regularly at his house on Saturdays. Mike Blair and I are still planning to work on "Avion" but between differing schedules and such, it's tough to actually arrange regular sessions. Marc Wasserman contacted James and I to give constructive feedback on the mixes for the "Yankee Doodle Blitzkrieg" recordings. At this time he asks us if we'd be willing to play this material live as his "band". We agree to it.

February 2006. James and I begin rehearsals with Marc for Yankee Doodle Blitzkrieg. I am continuing work with Mike on "Avion" as well periodically. (Equipment wise, I sell the Lexicon and purchase a T.C. Electronics G-Major. An AMAZING processor.)

March 2006. Yankee Doodle Blitzkrieg is still underway, as well as "Avion". Another fellow Sam Ash co-worker and good friend "O Neal Jeeves MMX" or simply "Neal" asks me to assist with some guitar tracks for some tracks. This becomes an "online recording session" of sorts. (Equipment wise, I sort out a switching system between my Mesa and Chameleon as useable preamps, and purchase another 6 space rack case for my Mesa, a Pearson case that is terrific.)

April 2006. Yankee Doodle Blitzkrieg and "Avion" still underway. Weekly rehearsals with YDB bring us to the point where we are about as tight as we're going to get on the material at hand. YDB's first show, as well as my first gig in 7-8 years takes place on 4/28 at Otto's Shrunken Head, a tiki bar in NYC, in the east village. It goes well, better than expected probably. There were 2 people actually taking video of the show, and there was a pretty fair turnout for such a small place. Talks with Mike Blair lead us to the possibility of some studio time for recording in the summer of 2006.

May 2006.
YDB and "Avion" again, still underway. Sessions with Neal also still underway as well. Engaging The Enemy has lost their lead guitarist "Shotgun Mike". I had volunteered my services for this as a temporary kind of thing, as the music wasn't so much my cup of tea, but I didn't want to see a gigging band lose momentum. On 5/6 I go to my first rehearsal with the rest of the band, and it went very well. They would like to see me join as a full time member, not temporarily, as they like my playing/style, etc., and think I can really help them take themselves to a new level. More on that as it happens.

..

Member Since:

January 07, 2006

Members:

Jake Skylyr - Everything. Mainly guitars and basses. Occasional keyboards, vocals, drum programming, and rough production/engineering/recording.

Plus, occasional "guest" appearances with the talent I happen to run into along the way. Most notable collaborators are Dessajo, Chuck DelHierro, and Shaun Ferris. More to come surely.

Influences:

In no particular order (except for the first two!) The Beatles, Dream Theater, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Genesis, King's X, Extreme, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Queen, The Fixx, Symphony X, Queensryche, Mozart, Frank Zappa, Mr. Bungle, ELO, Boston, Journey, Van Halen, Pantera, Billy Joel, Rush, Weird Al Yankovic, Eric Johnson, The Cure, Elvis Costello, Living Colour, Primus, Infectious Grooves, Victor Wooten, Asia, Pink Floyd, ELP, King Crimson, Jim Croce, Hall & Oates, Duran Duran, Alice Cooper, The Cars, Corey Hart, Bloodrock, Steve Morse, No Doubt, The Police, U2, Steely Dan, The Moody Blues, The Monkees, Jimi Hendrix, GTR, Howie Day, 311, Alice In Chains, Psychefunkapus, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, The Who, Aerosmith, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Liquid Tension Experiment, Al Di Meola, Steve Hackett, Styx, That's That (NJ), Jethro Tull, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Foreigner, The Byrds, Santana, Evanescence, Deep Purple, Survivor, SRC, Galactic Cowboys, Lemur Voice, Madonna, Echolyn, Tool, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Nick Lowe, Kansas, Megadeth, and many many more.

Sounds Like:

Dream Theater, King's X, The Fixx, The Cure, Symphony X, Joe Satriani, Journey