Born in Kosovo but now in Los Angeles, songwriter, musician, producer and actor Skender Beck has delivered his debut album Stars Aligned, now available.
Within this new album, listeners will find an abundance of masterfully crafted songs packed with potent melodies and a foundation of top notch musicianship. As Beck’s solo debut, Stars Aligned delivers a cinematic, highly emotive sonic journey through conflict, hope and embracing love. It encapsulates his experiences from childhood stardom in Kosovo, through increasing civil unrest during his adolescence, up through his relocation to the United States.
An experienced performer, singer and actor, Skender Beck delivers a distinct sound and has a highly engaging charisma. His passionate, theatrical vocal performances bring the stories and themes of each song to life, filling the listener with hope, inspiration and motivation.
Stars Aligned is a masterfully crafted work of sonic art. Working with Grammy-nominated mixing engineer Marc DeSisto (U2, Pink Floyd) and a team of highly talented musicians guarantees each track packs even more punch to this undeniably powerful record.
From his early years acting and performing in musicals, to burying himself in classic rock among civil unrest as a teen, to studying theater and being awarded two National Theater Awards, all the way to his New York migration where he continued studying at the Lee Strasberg Institute, music and the performing arts has always been a central pillar in Skender Beck’s life.
Stars Aligned is the (excellent sounding) culmination of his experiences, emotions, and stories from growing up in Kosovo to starting fresh in the U.S. Fans of Kings of Leon, U2 or singers like Brandon Flowers will embrace this album as well as its creator, Skender Beck.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Skender about the new album, challenges, technology and more.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I was born in Republic of Kosova. My older brother back then, introduced me to rock music and literally changed my concept of life. Listening to Pink Floyd, Talking Heads and Led Zeppelin changed my perspective on how can you be creative. I loved and I still love rock music.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
Passion. Always… even as a kid, I always thought of myself being on stage and singing my heart out in front of a crowd, imaginary crowd. It gave me so much comfort while politics was the main issue of the day. Every day.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
Common sense is that you try and release a single to learn the drill on how to make better music…but I had so many songs swirling on my head that I decided to do more than one. Then two…all of the sudden I was at the 10th song. I did set a really low bar on how am I going to make money from my music. Just had a vision of me….going on iTunes and buying my own album. That was the my motivation. I did all these songs from my heart and paid no attention if they will sell or not.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this over saturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
For my first song I had to learn how to use Garage Band…then bought Logic X and everything changed. I was able to do multiple takes on my guitar, vocals. My music all of the sudden started to sound way better. Since I’m not a good guitar player, I’d do multiple takes just to get the right sound and note for my melody. But then I decided that I’ll hand all my files to Andrew Timothy, an amazing guitar player to play my songs like a pro. I never met Andrew. I’d send me my files online. He’d get my polished guitar files back and I’ll insert them into my song. So, technology made all this possible for me.
What was the last song you listened to?
Gashi ft Sting “Mamma”. Great song! By the way, Gashi is also Albanian and he emigrated to the States around the same time I did, too.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
I prefer WAV or MP3’s.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
I prefer iTunes. Easy to use and easy to get music to download.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
Facebook or Instagram. Seems that they made it so easy to connect with anyone and everywhere.
Anything else before we sign off?
I hope we get to do this more often. And I hope I can invite you to my post-pandemic concert in person! Thank you!
