Feature: Simesky+Fritch Decodes ‘SKALA.02’
What was the creative process like for this particular 'SKALA.02?'
Will (Fritch): Messy, undignified, unruly, nerve-shredding and excitable. Reigned in only by deadlines and endpoints. It was the start of a blast of creativity.
With Alex (Simesky) living in Belgium and me living in Wales and with the two of us never having met, we shared all this and shared ideas while we constructed the songs over emails and clouds from home studios. We’d send snippets and sketches of ideas to each other and let the other one change them and add to them. We didn’t know if we’d click or call quits. We hardly planned for one single never mind an EP or an album with enough left to fill a few more.
Alex (Simesky): It’s been a pretty wild adventure in time and (mostly virtually) across the Channel. Our musical souls connected in this wonderful and mysterious way, a direct explosion of ideas ensued. Part of that has coalesced in the form of ‘SKALA.02,’ but there is more beyond too!
Were there any memorable or standout moments during the recording sessions for 'SKALA.02?'
Alex: I recall the goosebumps while recording the guitar solo for “Til We See You and Then” – you know that feeling of poetic justice when everything fits? Just the way the creative process was done on that song – based on Will’s demo, how its flow got to me. It felt right and a welcome variation, not only in the process but also in the style. Another lovely memory is the moment when Will sent me our first demo with his added vocal and lyrics, the way they snapped in place with my initial instrumental. That’s when I knew, this is the guy, he knows! That demo became “Back and Down Again.”
Will: The nervousness of approaching this guy, and the nervousness of messing with his music. Along came these demos and ideas for songs that I could tinker with, touch feebly, or completely rearrange and I decided to go big or go home. So I chopped his ideas into new structures and added, and even took some parts out completely. I plastered my vocals where I thought they might fit and hesitated for DAYS before sending.
I was heading to the beach when this email came through with a massive thumbs up and ‘I love it’. I can’t tell you how goddamned relieved I was. If he’d have hated it I might have retired. I might be a pig farmer in Prague if it hadn’t panned out (with a side hustle as an Elvis tribute act, obviously).
What is your personal favourite song from 'SKALA.02' and why?
Will: Ooooh tough choice and tough question. They all got a story behind them. “Back and Down Again” was made out of the first loop that Alex ever sent me so it has a real ‘start of the trip’ feel attached to it. “Delicate Intricacies” and “Colour Running Away” somehow show the comfort of us learning to get to grips with each other and leaning into each other's creative streaks. “Til We See You and Then” is tough to listen back to as it’s all worked around the thinking that my father wasn’t going to wake up. It’s me saying it’s OK, we’ll meet later.
So maybe that makes it the favourite. How Alex took the bones of that idea (and such a sad one at that) and carried the mix of love, heartache and happiness to have loved into every new part that he added… well, what he did still amazes me now.
Alex: Very hard to choose indeed, I think it depends on the moment. Right now, I have to say “Til We See You and Then.” I've been listening to it a lot while working on some visuals for it– it’s just constantly in my head and I love it. The poignant genesis of the song is a stark reminder, but there’s also that bittersweet, almost optimistic nostalgia about it. I’m very lucky to have been allowed in its intimacy and grateful that Will accepted those rather disco-esque contributions! But before this song I was inclined toward “Back and Down Again” and “Colour Running Away.”
Will: “Colour Running Away” was what gave us momentum…. The first to hit radios worldwide and hit charts. For the kick and the faith that it gave us, it definitely has a special place.
Can you share a bit about your musical background and the journey that led you to where you are today?
Will: Now we’re gettin’ into dangerous territory… Before this, it was solo work as Fritch all Scott Walker and darkwave and industrial. Before that, it was Hollywood, a Nick Cave Vs Cohen with some Kyuss grudge rock. And before that it was Dick Venom & the Terrortones (with me as the titular stocking-clad Dick), going full Cramps, New York Dolls and CBGBs. Throw in some drums punched for punk bands and a long lost electro two-piece, some yet-to-see acoustic duo melodics and somehow we ended up here. In the shining neon lights of the 80s. I certainly did not see that coming!
Alex: It’s been a bit of a long odyssey, and still learning, of course. I started out with small toy-ish synths, but the instrumentarium got alarmingly bigger over the years, added guitars to it… I was mostly self-taught for many years, then got this big idea to have a musical education in music applied to media, finally finished that after some detours. Well, the labyrinthine paths of life!
Where do you find inspiration for your songs or musical ideas?
Alex: I grew up with a healthy diet of instrumental electronic music as my Mom saw my endless tinkering with the keyboards and said, oh, really? Take that! And handed me Jean-Michel Jarre and Vangelis albums which are somehow still at the core of my musical DNA, along with Mike Oldfield. Later, it was all about Pink Floyd, Genesis, Depeche Mode, Enigma, Philip Glass, Air…
But pulling apart from those influences, the inspiration just seems to come directly, usually when I’m playing keyboards or guitar. It’s initially an unexplainable manifestation that makes the fingers move in a certain way, a melody might come out, sometimes entire sections. The ideas are developed more consciously later on, but it’s always that sudden spark that brings about the best ones, sometimes in a serendipitous way. Other times I might just start beatboxing or humming, record that on whatever for later reference and voilà, a new groove is born (well, when lucky).
Will: Music wise it’s a constant absorbing. With every sound that I soak up from my scattergun listening habits (currently got Jay-Z’s ‘HOV DID’ on the speakers and before that was Ladytron, AMTV and Carl Perkins), something sinks in and sets off a spark. A production trick, a structure, a feel.
Word-wise…. You’ll probably get the gist from the album. This is definitely the most vulnerable I’ve been without a stage presence or persona. Maybe it’s the cobbled together home studio that allows it, singing unseen to a mic, not on show. But that detracts from what Alex has given… a freedom to follow a feeling and the patience to see where it leads to. With all the songs that we’ve got yet to finish and master with vocals and words already recorded, with all the good and bad moods, stories and mindstates they contain, Alex might know me much better than most.
