Check out this interview I did with Urbanizm Musics’ Sonic Skillz. He’s a masterful producer and specializes in creating instrumentals with laid back, ambient sounds. Sonic Skillz’ music is mainly inspired from his life, such as his love for video games and video game instrumentals, hence the Sonic name. Another inspiration came from a bad car accident he was involved in. In Kanye West style, he decided to write about it, except Sonic Skillz did it without any lyrics.
Through deep emotions translated through music, Sonic was able to deliver an album, ”Road 2 Recovery”, detailing his painstaking healing process through instrumentals. You can really feel the actual pain that Sonic must have been feeling during this time. It really takes a great talent to communicate feelings through sounds and not only words. Quite an achievement.
Besides his numerous credits with Urbanizm Music, he has also done work with a multitude of artists such as Skyzoo, Sha Stimuli and Mega Ran. Currently, he is working on a ton of instrumentals and albums that are set to hit airwaves soon. So stay tuned and keep reading for the full interview to find out more about this unique producer.
Check Sonic Skillz out on Twitter
Jason
Where did you grow up?
Sonic Skillz
I grew up in New York, but currently live in Florida.
Jason
When did you begin creating instrumentals? What fueled your fascination?
Sonic Skillz
I started making instrumentals about a decade ago. One of the biggest things that fueled my desire to create was really the fact that I always had a bunch of sounds in my head and wanted to get them out! Also, I would listen to songs (especially from video games) and mentally deconstruct them and piece them back in my own style (although I don’t know if I had developed a “style” at this point yet), and I wanted to share these new arrangements with my friends, since the thought of having fans all over without a major label was still rather unheard of back then.
Jason
Which producers and artists inspired you to create music?
Sonic Skillz
I’ve got so many inspirations, it’d take forever to list them all! Some of the big ones were Michael Jackson (the 3 albums he did with Quincy Jones were the soundtrack to my childhood), Dr. Dre, Eminem, and Nujabes.
Jason
How would you describe your beats/musical style?
Sonic Skillz
I would say my music is smoothed-out hip hop / R&B, with an ambient twist. You’re likely to find things like bells, chimes, and ambient pads in my music, which allows vocalists to put down laid back lyrics, or allows listeners to just chill to the instrumentals.
Jason
What are some of your other music credits? What other artists have you worked with? What mixtapes/albums has your worked appeared on?
Sonic Skillz
Besides the Urbanizm crew, I’ve done remixes for underground emcees like Skyzoo and Sha Stimuli, and I’ve also done a lot of work with indie hip hop artist Random aka Mega Ran. Some of my songs have appeared on albums and mixtapes by Mega Ran and Navi, and I’ve had my instrumentals featured in several video game music arrangement albums (Super Dodge Ball; Castlevania; Sonic the Hedgehog 2).
Jason
Can you tell me about your latest release, “Road to Recovery”? What inspired that album, you were in a car accident?
Sonic Skillz
Yeah, I got in a pretty rough car crash in June of last year, and “Road to Recovery” definitely helped me get through that whole ordeal mentally. By coincidence (or simple bad luck), I got in another car accident in June of this year, so maybe there will be a “Road to Recovery 2!”
Jason
How did you let the music itself tell the story without any words? You have to put a lot of feeling into the instrumental, since there are no words.
Sonic Skillz
I don’t want to say that it comes naturally per se, but since I was a quiet and shy kid I learned to express myself without a lot of words (music, pictures, etc.), and that translated pretty easily to making music. On that same note, sometimes you’ll have a song with so much feeling you don’t want anybody to use it, so it’s bitten me in the ass a couple times 
.
Jason
How do you go about creating an instrumental? What do you try to find first in order to set the tone? What are some of your favorite types of instrumentals to make?
Sonic Skillz
It varies; often I’ll hear a completed piece in my head, then I’ll have to take it apart mentally and see what goes where. Other times, I’ll just mess around with my keyboard or a certain drum or effect and just see what comes together. I don’t know if I have a specific type of instrumental to make – I do a lot of laid back stuff with Rhodes piano so I guess that could be considered my favorite. But lately I’ve been trying more sampled beats so I get kind of excited when I make something like that and it’s listenable.
Jason
What projects are you working on for the future?
Sonic Skillz
Right now I’m working on some things on the Urbanizm Music front. I’m helping produce tracks for Urbanizm’s next collaborative album, as well as Khakolak Boy’s solo project. While doing that, I’m putting together my production album, and working on some remixes. I’ve definitely got a full plate right about now!
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