Cairns musician Eddie Skiba’s latest album ‘Blend On The Border’ explodes with upbeat tempos beautifully contrasted with thoughtful and hard hitting lyrics that will have you taking notice from first listen.

A strong sense of social commentary can be heard throughout the record with tracks such as ‘On The Border’ echoing a frustration towards injustice and segregation in the world. The catchy hook of ‘Rattle The Cage’ and the alternative rock sound of ‘Fault Line’ showcase Eddie’s true knack for progressive song writing.

Tracks like ‘As You Were’ highlight drummer and producer Matt D’Arcy’s many talents with a festival like groove and synth driven lines that resonate throughout the album.

Stepping forward from ‘Bullet De Bloom’ (2012), Eddie’s sound is noticeably evolving in a new direction which will no doubt take this seasoned performer to great heights.

Speaking between shows in Newcastle and Sydney, we asked Eddie a few quick questions about ‘Blend On The Border’.

Mitch Sullivan – I see you went back home to Melbourne to record ‘Blend On The Border’, why did you chose Basin Studios and how long did the process take?

Eddie Skiba – I’ve recorded at Basin Studio a few times and have developed a great, honest and creative relationship with Producer/Engineer Matt D’Arcy there. I also think that we’re getting some great sounds out of there so it’s worth the trek down. Matt also plays drums on all the tracks. He’s a fantastic drummer and brings a lot to the record through his drumming as well.

Mitch Sullivan – Local Cairns guitarist Chris McKelvie was also featured on ‘Rattle The Cage’ and ‘On The Border’, did he record his parts in Melbourne or locally?

Eddie Skiba – Yes, we did some guitar tracking in Cairns for a few songs at Pegasus Studio, but with Matt D’Arcy still behind the wheel. Chris is a terrific guitarist and brought plenty to the record, not only with his own playing on a couple of songs, but I was able to consult with him on some sounds, ideas and equipment as well.

Mitch Sullivan – There seems to be heavier uses of Synth on this album, what were your influences and how did they differ from ‘Dig It’ and ‘Bullet De Bloom’?

Eddie Skiba – It wasn’t necessarily a deliberate move to make the synth more prominent but there were 3 or 4 tracks that just seemed to lend themselves to developing those sounds and ideas. Once you get into the creative space of the studio I think it’s great to let plenty of ideas run their course and see what works. As far as differing from the 2 previous recordings I think that we really wanted to have a bit of fun with the production side of things and experiment with some different sounds so that’s probably where that flavour comes from.

Mitch Sullivan – The cover artwork is very impressive, what were the ideas behind this?

Eddie Skiba – Yes, it’s great piece of work painted by Cairns artist Greg Dwyer. The idea behind it was to create a sense of beauty and truth lying in the grey of the world, rather than the separation into black and white boxes. I believe we all have far more in common with each other than differences but unfortunately we spend a lot of time focussing on, and overstating, those differences.

Mitch Sullivan

Eddie Skiba ‘Blend On The Border’ is available on iTunes and at Travel Beats

Eddie Skiba performs solo at Salt House – Fri 17th July from 5pm

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