Ski Team
There is absolutely no doubt that Ski Team’s latest single “Me” is one of my favorite releases of the year. It’s the best thing I heard in a long time, and it feels great to listen to something that unique, refreshing and incredible. The music video is just as stunning as the song, and it’s a must watch !
Thank you so much Ski Team for taking the time to answer my questions. A true honor !
“Me” is now available everywhere.
Hi there, how are you? What's the story of Ski Team?
Hello! The story…is, I suppose, 1:1 with the story of my life, and perhaps one of coming into one's own. Despite its name, Ski Team is a personal project. I've been writing songs since I was a little kid and doing a lot of musical things with/for people. But Ski Team is the name I chose to start putting my own (quite personal) songs out into the world.
Do you remember your earliest musical memory? What did you grow up listening to?
Do you mean musical memory…like…something I heard? Or something I played? Will answer both.
Heard: I grew up around a lot of music. Artists I remember hearing around the house or in the car are John Prine, Elvis Costello, Tracy Chapman, Cat Stevens, Lyle Lovett. I guess all of those are sort of folk. I remember the first time I heard "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel on the radio, I recorded it to a cassette tape.
Played: I remember playing a shaker egg in one of my dad's bands in some club when I was extremely short—must've been like three or four years old. The first time I remember performing was at church. For some reason I was singing Amazing Grace a cappella. My parents must've thought it would be cool if I started it solo? I was maybe five or six.
One cool musical memory is sitting in church with my parents and their friends and being mesmerized by how they could harmonize with anything on the spot. I assumed it was like cursive—just a thing everyone gets good at when they're older—so I tried to get there as fast as I could.
I grew up listening to whatever my parents and older brother had on, but I also really loved all the young pop stars of the 90s and 2000s: Jewel, Britney Spears, NSYNC, etc. Kind of studied Max Martin through that era I guess. Eventually I found artists like Outkast, Gorillaz, Daft Punk, Air—people doing interesting things to blend shiny electronic music elements with like…organic…artistry. By the mid-2000s, I really loved Jimmy Eat World and The New Pornographers. I'm not sure there's much of a through line.
When did you start making music? When did you know you were good at what you were doing?
I suppose I started when I was learning how to talk and walk and all that. My dad has a recording of a song I wrote when I was five. I got my first guitar when I was six and started playing for my classmates and in church and just wherever would let me around that age.
I always knew I was good for my age, but that wears off. I suppose what made me think I might be good at this in a lasting way…is the same thing that still gives me confidence it's worthwhile to make music, which is when I'm singing a song and look around the room and see tears in some people's eyes. Or when they come up after and say it moved them, or that it felt powerful.
When did you know you had to be an artist and release your original music?
Related to the last question ^ I guess it's just that: when people keep saying, "You need to be making music," it's hard to erase that. I also feel something powerful when I'm able to connect to a group of people through singing a song. It's the most alive and in the present moment I'm able to feel. So…just enough times doing that throughout my life, it's impossible to not want to do it all the time.
Who was the first person to ever believe in you?
My parents! I think if they had it their way, I would do nothing else in this world but make music.
"Me" is your latest single - what's the story/inspiration behind this song?
Hmm, it was a quick write. I wrote it on the BQE on my way home from visiting someone dear to me: neither squarely a friend nor squarely a romantic thing. I was thinking about partnerships and relationships and roles, and about how one's identity is so tied to the roles a person plays in life. And I kept switching my role to this person. Friend, lover, future wife, acquaintance, ex-lover, chosen family, emergency contact, colleague, business partner. It's about when you feel some strong connection to a person—feels like you're supposed to do something with that. But we were sort of exhausting all the options.
Eventually, over the course of writing and recording the song, I came around on like…I don't want to be tied to this person. It feels special, but it's taking up too much space for something that's never quite right in any arrangement. So it's a memorial for that relationship and also a decision to retire from it. You can hear me verse by verse changing my mind and interrupting myself—looking at other couples' stories, being direct, being indirect, wanting to start a business together, wanting to stay in love, dealing with the lows, and ultimately choosing to hang the jersey.
Could you describe the songwriting/production process for this song? How was it like to collaborate with Daniel Knowles , Matt Podell and your brother Ian Lozinski on this record?
Sure!
I wrote it pretty quickly and recorded a demo on a midi keyboard and my laptop in my apartment. Sent that to a producer/friend, who added some elements and built a soundscape around my voice and organ. This was during peak pandemic where everyone was doing their best but not doing great, so it was slow-going getting this song together.
I enlisted my brother, Ian, to help me finish producing it. Basically fix things I didn't like, add missing pieces, and get it ready for mixing. We worked out of his house and our dad's studio in New Jersey to record vocals and make some arrangement decisions. Was really easy and fun and casual.
And then I thought it could use a saxophone and was on the apps and saw this fellow with a bunch of saxophone videos. I messaged him like, "Sorry this isn't a date, but wanna come put some sax on a song I'm working on?" And he did! That's Matt Podell. We met at a friend's studio in Brooklyn and I had him improvise a bunch of takes.
And then I had to go through all of those takes and figure out what to keep, layer, and cut. Ian and I did that together while we were co-producing it into its final form. He did most of the engineering, and I did the kind of producing that's pointing to things and describing sounds.
Then we sent it over to Daniel for mixing, but there were a few tiny puzzles left that I had left unsolved. The intro was awkward and long, for example. Daniel solved all the remaining puzzles, and we worked remotely until we were both pumped about it. He's extremely clear, communicative, and easy to work with. Was a painless and fun mixing process.
What did you feel when recording this song?
Fun question. It felt both casual and vulnerable. Casual because it was just such a simple song. The chorus is one word, the structure is straightforward pop, it's not doing anything too deep or heartfelt. Just a cute bop. But vulnerable for some of those same reasons. Singing the line, "Boy, you're still my number one," for example, makes me feel very exposed and kind of cheesy. But that's exactly the kind of song it wanted to be, so I just let it be that. It's a pop song to a boy I'm having trouble finding a place for in my life but also having trouble removing from my life. Doesn't need to be Cool.
When did you know it had to be a single?
I was working on my first full-length record by the time we were wrapping up this song. Originally I thought "Me" would go on the record too, but when I listened to the first mix, it was clearly its own distinct thing: shiny cute pop song that just needs to go out on its own.
What can you tell us about the music video?
It's a real pop music video. I loved pop videos in the 90s and 2000s—these visually stunning worlds someone would create to introduce an artist and tell a story for three minutes. I found director Sabrina Roberts and asked if she could make that kind of thing. Just like really go for it. She came up with the vision, and I trusted her to execute it. Like the song, it's bold, vulnerable, and simple.
What message do you want to deliver through this song and music video? What do you want people to feel when listening to this song?
When I met Sabrina to talk about the video, I was in the process of quitting my job, giving up control/structure, and giving myself time to follow my own voice/instinct. I liked that Sabrina wanted to tell this parallel story as the video. The result is that you're getting two stories at once. The song is about feeling straightjackety in a relationship, bending and twisting trying to make it work, trying on all these roles, allowing my identity to fade, and eventually choosing to get free and go be on my own. The video is about all the same stuff, but from a work angle instead of a love angle.
Boiled down, both song and video are about embracing vulnerability and walking away from things that don't feel quite right. Trusting your gut, following your vision, just giving yourself time to be with yourself.
Re: feeling, I always get this deep yearning feeling looking out at the ocean really early in the morning. It's a mix of excitement, anticipation, and calm. Maybe some kind of awe. The first twenty seconds of the song give me that feeling, and I hope people feel that when they hear it.
What are your thoughts on today's music industry? If you could change one thing, what would it be?
I don't know all that much about today's music industry. But I think it's pretty cool there still is a music industry. I would be making music regardless of whether there's an industry around it. I'm pretty optimistic, I guess.
Could you list a few records that influenced the music you are making today?
I did tell Daniel during mixing that I wanted the chorus to feel big like Beyonce on I Am... Sasha Fierce and 4. I'm sure all of the music I've listened to has influenced what I'm making now, but "Me" in particular is definitely channeling pop and indie pop…
The Bones of What You Believe by CHVRCHES
shrines by Purity Ring
…Baby One More Time by Britney Spears
Maybe M83's Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
Was more interested in making it sound like the feeling I was having!
What biggest life lessons have you learned this year?
Oh man. This year has been nothing but lessons. Still processing them.
Trust yourself.
Think in chapters.
Take the leap—if you're reading this, you know which one.
In your opinion, what would make the world a BETTER place?
More blunt honesty?
More time in the ocean?
No push notifications or tailor-made nudges from your phone. Time to just navigate from your own brain, unsteered by ads and decisions you made in the past.
What can we expect to hear/see next?
The other half of the "Me" baby EP is coming next month! It's a buddy song meant to complement and ground "Me" with an organic, unplugged arrangement. Very excited for it.
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