Said The Sky Talks About Friendship with Illenium, Hooters Mishaps, and Nostalgia in iEDM Exclusive Interview

Moonrise Festival saw a sold-out Sunday, due in no small part to the heavy bass hitters who made Pimlico Race Course wobble. From Excision to Ganja White Night, Slander and Zomboy, Sunday was a deep bass day for this festival in Baltimore. 

Mooncrew needed to take a break and for feel good music, there is none better than Trevor Christensen, better known by his stage name of Said the Sky.

Known for soaring melodies and piano skills, he brought a modicum of peace and tranquility to an otherwise headbanging, mosh-filled day. We had a chance to sit down and chat with Trevor before his Sunday set. 

iEDM: So, you’ve been playing piano and other instruments since you were really young, how do you think your early musical experience contributed to your current sound?

Said the Sky: Really, it helped me with understanding music. Learning how to play piano, that’s where all of my songs stem from, it’s me sitting down at the piano and horsing around for a little bit, seeing if I can come up with anything. And if something sticks, then it’s like tight, we’ll work with that. Then I’ll build everything off that.

But lately, it’s been weird because I’ve been feeling like I had to ditch a lot of that in a sense. Just because a lot of the music that I like today is a lot simpler. Like some pop music, and I’ve talked about this before, but when you listen to a song, there doesn’t have to be a lot going on necessarily, it just has to be very deliberate.

Every sound and note that they chose, there’s a reason for that. And I feel like when I’m playing piano, it’s a lot of muscle memory, so I’m not consciously thinking of every note that I’m hitting. So I kinda forget about that sometimes and I have to remind myself of what notes I want to hear right now and what sounds the best. 

iEDM: Definitely, I can see how it’s easy to forget sometimes. I see that you have your Illenium bracelet (I have one too!). You’re featured on his new album Awake. Are there any hints you can give us?

Said the Sky: I’m playing it out tonight, which is gonna be really fun. It’s a cool track and I’m really excited about it.

iEDM: What’s it like working with Illenium? He’s one of the fastest rising producers on the scene.

Said the Sky: Yeah, he’s been blowing up and it’s really awesome to watch, I’ve lived with him for about three years, I met him about three years ago and we’ve been living together since then. He recently moved in with his girlfriend, but he’s only like three minutes away so he basically still lives with us.

His studio is still in our house so he’s always over and working on tunes, and it’s great. He sponges information. Working with him has been so awesome because I’ve been able to show him some of the things I’ve learned playing piano at such an early age and that I learned in college, as far as music theory goes.

And sometimes I’ve had to explain those kinds of things to people before, and they understand it, but I have to go over it a bunch of times. With Nick, he understood it instantly. That’s my favorite part about working with him, he learns things so fast and sponges the information.

iEDM: I always get super psyched when I see a collaboration between the two of you, I know it’ll be awesome. You’re still on your Always Summer Tour, how’s it been? Do you have a favorite memory or moment?

Said the Sky: It’s been great, the headlining portion of that tour just wrapped up in Orlando. It’s been fun, definitely a learning experience. Seeing where I work, and what markets and what makes the most sense for me.

I’d say the most impactful memory (I don’t know if I’d say it was my favorite) I won’t mention the place, but one show that I showed up to, the owner of the venue forgot about my show. And he booked a Hooters event that night. So when I show up there're families sitting there eating burgers and there’re these Hooters girls onstage. And I’m like what? So I talk to the owner and he was like “No, no, it’s fine. We’re gonna swap over to your show at 10:30. It’ll still happen, it’s fine.”

It actually turned out to be really fun, great show, but I was not stoked when I showed up. Only time that ever happened to me, so that stuck.

iEDM: Well that’s a new one for me. I haven’t heard that one yet. On your website, you described your music as ‘an experience’. Do you want to expand on that? What kind of experience are you hoping people get out of your music?

Said the Sky: So lately with the new music that I’ve been working on, I’ve been trying to focus on the feeling of nostalgia. Like when you were a kid and you were out playing in the sprinklers in the front yard. When you’re that young, playing in the sprinklers is the best thing. That’s what you look forward to in the morning.

I don’t do that anymore, that doesn’t interest me at all. But I miss the feeling. That simple of an experience was so fulfilling. That’s really important and it’s something that I’ve enjoyed working on, but I feel like it’s been something that I almost needed to tell myself. To take a step back and remember that none of this shit matters. You just have to play and have fun. So nostalgia is the experience I’m trying to achieve. 

iEDM: That’s a really great experience, everyone can connect to that. Everyone has those fond childhood memories. You’re playing today and I’m so excited for your set, anything you looking forward to? Or any surprises besides the Illenium track?

Said the Sky: I’m playing out a new song that I’m putting out tomorrow actually, called "Pray for Me." So that’s gonna be fun, I’m excited to see what people think about that one. But those are the two main surprises.

Thanks for taking the time to chat with us Trevor! Your set was absolutely magical, and we're eagerly looking forward to all your new music! Stay up to date with Said the Sky's newest music by checking out his SoundCloud. Head over to his website for tour information and more! 

Check out more iEDM Exclusive Interviews HERE.