INTERVIEW: SKIES – Backstage at The UMAs

The first ever Unsigned Music Awards was held at The Troxy last night, and it was a glossy exciting affair. Sponsored by Liquiproof and due to be broadcast at 9.30pm on Monday 31st October 2016 (on Sky, Freeview and Freesat), The UMAs awarded 16 trophies to acts across numerous categories, and the winners included Brother & Bones, AKS, Broken Witt Rebels, Elle Exxe, and Jerry Williams.

The evening was packed with performances from the talented nominees, and wise words of love and support from the winners. Gigslutz spent some time backstage with alternative Alie & Jericho aka SKIES, who were performing live at the ceremony…

Hello SKIES! How are you feeling about your performance tonight at the UMAs?

Alie: Good. We’ve just had sound check and it’s a really big stage and a really good sound, so we’re pretty excited!

Your music – particularly your single ‘Hold On’ – has received a lot of support from BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing, and has been featured on Made In Chelsea. Are you pleased with the coverage it’s been receiving? What have people’s reactions to ‘Hold On’ been like?

Jericho: We’re very happy. Everything has been achieved through growth. We didn’t just smash through to the final stage you know? Everything’s taken a lot of work and we’ve gone through all the stages and jumped through the hoops so we’re pleased that we’ve had a good reaction from people when we’ve played ‘Hold On’ live.

Alie: Made In Chelsea was fun though…

Did you watch the episode you were featured on?

Alie: Yeah, our mates went mental! We got a lot of good feedback on that from Facebook as well. I think we made a lot of new fans too, which is cool.

Jericho: It was good validation for our friends who were still wondering why we chasing this crazy music dream, so it’s all been worth it.

Performing as a two-piece on such a large stage might make some acts feel self-conscious, are you aware of feelings like that when you’re on stage, or are you un-phased by it when you’re performing?

Jericho: We’re typical British people, we’re not like confident American performers who run across the stage (laughs), so we just hope that our sound and the passion we put in to our performance is enough to keep people interested.

Alie: Usually we have a TV with us which has our logo on it, or at our headline show the other day we had a massive logo in between us, so we always feel like the logo is our third band member. That usually closes the gap between us, and looks pretty cool. There’s a massive light show tonight as well, so that should be good.

I used to be in a band with six other people which was a bit ridiculous (laughs), so I think no matter what you just need to go out there and have a good time.

Are there any bands in particular who have been nominated tonight that you’re either a fan of or who you’re keen to learn more about?

Jericho: I played a gig with Brother & Bones with my old band a few years ago.

Alie: Yeah we’re looking forward to seeing them tonight.

Thanks to Alie & Jericho for chatting with us! You can read more about The UMAs and the full list of winners here.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

Kate Crudgington

Kate Crudgington

Assistant Editor for Gigslutz (2015-2017) Now Co-Founder, Co-Host & Features Editor for @getinherears