Is it Year 2051?
By Dustin P Prudhomme
While
traveling the Bleeker Street Circuit in New York City
recently, the music of multiculturalism could be heard
coming from inside the local venues. I’m still
not sure if it was the sexy outfits or the dancing
throughout the audience that raised my suspicions.
However, after coming off the street and entering
the Ace of Clubs, I was treated to the spectacular
sound of a new hip band singing under the label of
SkyeBat. SkyeBat uses a mixture of several band components
to create a unique music collection. With parts of
the songs being sung in French and English, they truly
give a true sense of the current trend in multicultural
entertainment.
The band founder is Stephanie
Batailler, who is native to the French Alps part of
France. While living in the United States for the
past eight years, Stephanie has not always been a
musician. Stephanie first began to put together the
music while producing A Trip to the Planetarium, which
recently won Hawaii’s 2009 Honolulu International
Film Festival Silver Lei award. This short film provided
the inspiration for Stephanie to create SkyeBat and
bring the idea into fruition by beginning the band.
Much of SkyeBat’s music
is co-produced by Stephanie and Kennan Keating. While
most of the music is new and created solely for SkyeBat,
they have been able to reproduce and resurrect ‘A
Walk on the Moon’; a soundtrack from a movie
with the same name. This was a great treat to an old
classic. With the ability to reproduce music and bring
these creations back to life, only great things are
in store for this young band as they travel through
time.
SkyeBat creator Stephanie Batailler works alongside
with Kennan Keating, who has a long history within
the music industry. Kennan, has who has assisted in
producing, engineering, songwriter and instrumentalist
for SkyeBat, has also worked with multi-platinum major
label artists and bands such as Nine Inch Nails, Jane's
Addiction, Blondie, Jessica Simpson, Alicia Keys and
LL Cool J. With this knowledge and music industry
and in sight, Kennan is an asset to SkyeBat.
Stephanie Batailler has stated,
"Writing a novel, a script or lyrics, it's the
same, it's about telling a story and communicating
emotion with the audience adding to the fact that
I strongly think that we encounter more Alien behavior
on Earth than in Space.” After many requests
from viewers of the film and family, Stephanie set
out to work with Kennan Keating to develop the music
that became the cornerstone of today’s band,
SkyeBat.
The band recently released
its latest CD titled Year 2051. Eight of SkyeBat’s
most popular hits can be heard throughout the Big
Apple. With an acoustic guitarist, two electric guitars,
electric piano, bass, traditional drummer, and a mix-ologist
of percussion equipment, SkyeBat surely has a way
of livening up the crowds and getting the beat flowing
from the stage throughout the audiences.
Could this be the next influx
in the music industry? With Carnival concluded in
Trinidad and Tobago, the rest of the Caribbean is
gearing up. How would this music play into what we
are accustomed to in the Caribbean? SkyeBat is looking
to make a showing at the St John, USVI Carnival in
2009 and many throughout the island cannot wait to
hear what SkyeBat has in tune for them.
With so many different members
playing together to bring out the music, SkyeBat is
sure to inspire many. Playing with the band are: Stephanie
Batailler (Vocals & Lyrics), Kennan Keating (Electric
Guitar & Composer), Stu Newman (Electric Guitar),
Jose Rodriguez (Acoustic guitar), David Ross (Drummer),
Fabio Mattos (Bass), Shawn Banks (Percussion), Beneficent
Robinson (Rapper), and Jian Liang (CD Girl).
When asked why she wanted to
combine English and French, Batailler stated, “At
the beginning I was torn between writing the songs
in English or French. I lived in NYC for the last
11 years, so I speak & write English every day
more than I speak French now. However, depending on
which kind of story comes into my mind, my French
comes back. So after a while struggling, I realized
that I didn’t have to choose one specific language
to write the lyrics, I just had to let the story leading
me. Eventually, words came out very quickly by themselves.”
What will this group do next
to increase their marketability within the ever-challenging
music industry? After hearing the band, anything is
possible from this group of talented artists. SkyeBat
plans to continue touring throughout the United States
this year including a trip to St John, USVI Carnival
in 2009. After producing their music video this year,
SkyeBat will try to move into the international music
market. SkyeBat’s upcoming performances and
CDs are available at www.skyebat.com.
(Dustin P. Prudhomme is
a contributor to Island Vibes Magazine and writes about Caribbean culture, business, sports,
and entertainment. For comments, please feel free
to contact him at dustin@islandvibesmag.com.)
