Meet Skyler Heck of F-ETHER

Today we’d like to introduce you to Skyler Heck.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Skyler. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Because my dad was a musician, I developed a fascination with music at a young age. He used to play drums or keyboard with me on his lap before I could even hold up my own head, so in a way I was doomed before I even had a say in the matter. I began learning to play drums on my dad’s kit when he wasn’t around and I’ve never had any formal music training, so everything I do is based on what feels and sounds right.

Eventually, I played in a couple of short-lived metal and post-hardcore bands in high school, but after pretty consistent letdowns by band members, I ventured into music production as a means to be an independent solo act. Going from banging on drums to being able to writing music using headphones was a huge leap and made making music much more accessible with my schedule while in high school, and it grew from there. Eventually, I began producing hip-hop and performing in a trip-hop duo, but I always liked to experiment with the weirder side of what was happening in the electronic music scene. Having had a fascination with techno, house, and avante-garde electronic music from a pretty young age always led me to explore new genres by way of the internet.

After moving back to CO and away from my primary friend groups in AZ back in 2014, I really began to dial in my production skills and make the music that felt right to me. I was existing in a pretty isolated music bubble, and I began refining my sound. There has been a monumental change in my sound since I released my first (and only) EP in 2015, and so many of my experiences in my career since then have influenced that. After landing DJ gigs in 2015 and playing my first live and all-original set in 2016, I was plugged into the local scene and began learning from my peers. Winning a national remix contest and sharing stages with international acts exposed me to so many new ways of performing and producing, leading me to realize that if I think of both those things as I’m writing new music maybe I can really write what feels true to me as F-ETHER. That brings us to where I am now.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There are pieces of my path that have been a smooth road, but there are so many things that haven’t been along the way. I am infinitely grateful for my community; be it my friends or fans, everyone has become family eventually. Without a support system like that I absolutely would not have made it to where I am now as a musician. Friends that believed in me shared my music with people that they thought would enjoy it, and that has led to so many opportunities, including not only my first shows but even some of the largest ones. But every light casts a shadow, and the behind-the-scenes of musicianship can be difficult.

A lot of the time I struggle with perfectionism and the feeling of not being good enough, so before I’m even able to begin a new project, I have to fight my way through the feelings of possible inadequacy or that the idea won’t match the product. I’m constantly sitting on and coming up with new inspiration and what I really want to do, but getting myself started has always been the most difficult part. That combined with having always been such an emotional creature will stack up in the worst of ways sometimes, and I have to push myself hard to get to what I want to create. This has left so many songs unwritten, so many projects unfinished, and so many connections lost. It seems for me that the true starting line is getting myself onto the track for the race itself, but when I’m there, I can remember how much I love running.

My community has so often been the reason that I’m able to trudge through those hard days. Having friends that understand the artistic process has always provided me with a confidant and having fans that love and support what I do provides the motivation I need to keep doing what I do. The hardest part about being a creative and finding your path is finding it, but sometimes all you need is a person to help you through the trees.

Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I produce and perform electronic music as F-ETHER. With an affinity for the experimental side of things and a knack for using instrumentals to connect with my audience, I think that what I do is best said by my mission statement: “F-ETHER stems from an artistic striving to bridge the gap between what is tangible and what is ethereal.
This project exists as a melodic depiction of the human condition by way of a digital lens, portraying spiritual abstraction in a way that words alone cannot.”

Different people know F-ETHER as different things, and I think this has a lot to do with whether they’ve seen a DJ set or a live set comprised of original music. The type of person that comes out for my DJ sets often differs from the fans that come out for the live sets, and this all has to do with the process on my end.

I started gaining traction in the local circuit as a DJ, having held several residencies at bars around Denver since late 2015, and this has served well to grow my initial audience. My DJ sets are never and have never been, planned or premeditated. Each one is unique to the moment and impossible to recreate. I love being able to read the room and play off the emotions of audience members or people that accidentally stumbled into the bar/restaurant/venue. This tends to create much more of a collaborative experience in that the crowd and I are playing back and forth of each other, neither of us knowing which direction we might end up in.

Live sets provide less ambiguity in the process; however, they’re recognizable in their own way. I focus a lot more on production value and performance, coming to the table with a journey that I want to bring the audience on, and I guide them on a path that I have laid with songs I have written and variations thereof. Two great friends and collaborators of mine went as far as to help me actualize a vision I had regarding a personalized light show that is extremely unique; we designed two clear-bodied mannequins to be midi-enabled lighting units. This means that I control both the musical and the visual experience from where I stand on stage. I can trigger lights to resemble the sounds that I play and manipulate outside of what the in-house lighting technician is able to do. This is extremely helpful when the lighting designer is unfamiliar with my music or the lighting setup is limited.

Regardless of which way I perform, I am constantly reminded by fans of the ways that my energy emanates from stages, and I’ve always had people tell me that the fact that I’m dancing with (or sometimes even for) them makes the experience that much more enjoyable.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I think that before we’re able to discuss the ways that ‘luck’ has impacted my life and musical career we must first take into account ‘privilege’. I am aware that as a cis, white, straight-passing male in America that I have been given so many opportunities that other people do not have access to. I am well-educated, I have a family that has always supported me, and I work within the confines of a system that was created to benefit other white men like me. Before ‘luck’ comes into play it is my duty as a white person in a wealthy and industrialized society to recognize that I was born with more opportunities at my disposal than I can even fully recognize.

With that being said there are many times that I have experienced opportunities as a musician that have allowed me to grow, reach a wider audience, and expand upon my skillset. Being in the right place at the right time and being down for whatever life throws at you will open a lot of doors for any creative. In order to get to a place where you can turn down job offers, you have to stay humble and willing to accept anything that comes your way. Through these experiences, we are able to discern which opportunities that present themselves best align with us, our values as individuals, and our artistic process.

A friend once denounced the term ‘luck’ to me as we understand it and instead presented the idea of “Labor Under Correct Knowledge”. By constantly working at what you love and improving your skillset in the process, you are able to become the best candidate for any opportunity that presents itself when it’s in line with your process.

Pricing:

• https://f-ether.bandcamp.com – Pay What You Want
• (All streaming services) – FREE

Contact Info:

• Website: https://f-ether.com
• Email: info@f-ether.com
• Instagram: @f_ether
• Facebook: facebook.com/fethermusic
• Twitter: @f_ether

Image Credit:
Photos by: Veronica Lee Holyfield, Mikey Trees (Rebel Friends), Adrian Encalada, WaZeil (STALPH), Andrew Evan John

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