October 10, 1998 (Page 58)
Sky Sets Its Sights On 'Paradise'
Songwriting Duo's EMI set Reflects Pop, R&B
Influences
By LARRY LEBLANC -- Billboard Newspaper
TORONTO-While many newcomer acts are
often intimidated working in major studios with notable producers, that wasn't the case
that wasn't the with Montreal based pop songwriting duo Sky
- James Renald and Antoine Sicotte in
recording their album debut, "Piece Of
Paradise," slated for release Oct. 13 here on
EMI Music Canada.
"Studios and production didn't mystify us,
because that's our thing," says James, who,
like his partner, uses only his first name professionally "We're 'tech heads' with quite
an elaborate studio of our own. [Recording
the album] was a collaboration. If one [of us]
felt something was out of the question, it was
dropped."
"We had to explain [to the producers] that we
had a vision," adds Antoine. "We weren't
looking for someone to rip [the music] apart
and create something new. [The album]
came out the way we wanted."
The 10-song album was produced by Peter
Mokran at Metalworks Studios in Toronto and
by Euro-syndicate Productions (LLC, the
Berman Brothers, Jeff Coplan, and Joe West)
at Gallery Studios in New York.
While James handled main vocals, guitar,
and keyboards, Antoine played bass and
keyboards and did the drum programming on
the album. Among the album's backup
players are Coplan, Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson"
Ragin, Michael Thompson, and George Nash
Jr. (guitars); John Acosta (piano), who
co-wrote two songs; Neil Stubenhaus (bass);
DeMonte Posey (keyboards); Dave Mann (sax);
and Barry Danielian (trumpet). There are
backup vocals by Acosta, Dan Metreyeon,
and Dessy Di Lauro of the Quebec rap act
Dubmatique.
The album will be released by EMI Oct. 26 in
South Asian territories. It is slated for February
release by EMI affiliates elsewhere in the world,
except in the U.S., where plans, are still being
made.
"This is our big [international] shot," says Deane
Cameron, president of EMI Music Canada.
"The album has a great feeling. Ifs not pop
fluff. James and Antoine are tremendous
songwriters."
EMI Music Canada issued the album’s lead
single, "Some Kind Of Wonderful," to
Canadian top 40 and AC stations Aug. 3. In
the Oct. 5 issue of The Record, the track is No.
33 on the Broadcast Data Systems-based
contemporary radio chart and No. 61 on the
pop adult radio chart.
"It's a good radio song, and it's starting to do
well for us," says Guy Brouillard, music directo
of top 40 CKOI Montreal. "It reminds me a bit
of "65 Love Affair'by Paul Davis in 1982.
However, after six weeks of airplay, Curtis
Strange, music director of top 40 CKZZ
Vancouver, dropped "Some Kind Of
Wonderful" recently. "It didn't test well," he
says. "People said it was a cheesy record and
a bit annoying."
A video of "Some Kind Of Wonderful" was<
serviced to Canadian video outlets Aug. 10. I
is now receiving medium rotation at
MuchMusic and its Quebec French-speaking
counterpart, MusiquePlus.
"They are quite interesting," says Benoit
Varnnasse, director of music programming at
MusiquePlus. "It's still early [for radio airplay],
but they are picking up [AC and top 40 radio
airplay] in Quebec."
To set up the album in Canada, James and
Antoine will embark on a week of nationa
media and retail promotion the week of
release. The two will visit such Canadian
centers as Montreal and Quebec; Ottawa;
Toronto; Winnipeg, Calgary; Edmonton,
Alberta; and Vancouver. The band's first
national TV appearance will be on
MuchMusic's "Pop Goes Much" program Oct.
11. EMI Music Canada is flying more U= 150
industry figures to Montreal for the album's
launch party Oct. 21.
Stylistically, the album is a mix of varied pop
styles, ranging from '70s R&B ("Push" and
"America") to rhythmic funk ("Love Song" and
"Powder").
"[The album] is a combination of our diverse
influences," says James. "I grew up listening to
mainstream disco, America, Stevie Wonder,
and Southern bands like the Allman Brothers. I
only discovered R&B from meeting Antoine."
Adds Antoine, "The more urban sounds [on the
album] are mine."
The two met in 1992 during a oneyear music
production course at Musique Technique
school in Montreal. "Halfway through the
course, we became partners," says James. "It
was funny, because Antoine was the
complete opposite of me. I was like this
hippie with a beard halfway down my chest,
and he was like [a member of] the Montreal
jet set. We had little in common except
music."
For the next few years, working in several
makeshift studios of their, own, the two did extensive demo work for their songs and
occasionally performed with different bands in
local clubs. "It's been a long process," says
James. "We've done every style of music
imaginable, and I think we did them all well.
At one point, we formed a four-piece
metal/rap group called Louder Than A Bomb,
which never did any shows."
Sky's soulful pop style developed, the two say,
from painstaking songwriting sessions and
endless studio hours. "We wanted to create
some-. thing special, to bring flavor, quality,
and good songwriting to pop and urban
music," says Antoine.
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