Channel Dark

Check out the interview with Channel Dark exclusively on Skilly Magazine Online.

Skilly: How were you able to start your journey in the entertainment business? Where did this all start?
Channel Dark: It was never really a question. For as long as I can remember making music is what drove me. I started by playing piano at 6 and moved to other instruments as I aged. I’ve played in a couple of bands and never really stopped.

What are some of the creative ways you use to promote your music?
I’m honestly not a huge fan of big glamorous promotion tactics. The sound speaks for itself. I can hope you can connect with it but if it’s not for you, it’s not for you.

What is the greatest challenge you face in today’s entertainment business? How do you overcome them?
The internet makes the ocean a lot bigger. That’s a really wonderful and tough thing all in one. It’s amazing to be able to reach across the globe to listen to so many great artists out there. But because of that an artist can feel pretty small, lost, or forgotten in it.

What is there to overcome? Just keep making music for the love of it.

How is the music scene like in your hometown? What do you like about it and what don’t you like?
It’s broad. For a hometown that gets pegged for grunge, there’s a really good variety of music here. Another bonus is that wherever you are, you are likely a stone’s throw from a fellow musician that you can catch a show with or hang out and jam with.

That can be a difficulty. The music, or maybe the musician’s scene, does feel like it has a little element of “Seattle freeze” in the sense that everyone is keen to do the music thing but constantly aloof. I’m sure I’m as guilty as the next local.

Where do you think the future of music is going to be? How do you feel artists can be more a part of it?
As far as the next big wave of sound? Who’s today? Imagine a style of music you can’t even imagine. That will be the next sound.

As far as the scene, I think it will persist along as it has but there will be more of an independent musician element to it. It was great to see Mackelmore and Ryan Lewis do what they did without a label. I hope to see more of that.

What advice can you give to other upcoming artists and musicians trying to achieve success?
Never stop, not even for a minute. Accept the reality that in order to achieve your dreams you may have to sacrifice some things. Work on it, even when you don’t want to. Work on it until your brain doesn’t feel right doing something else. From this moment forward you only have less time to make it happen; so dive into it. A wise man once said success comes knocking on your door when you’re too busy to answer it.

What inspires you to write your next song?
Whatever keeps me from sleeping at night. I can’t sleep and generally after lying in bed for hours on end trembling over big huge questions about mortality and my past, that’s when I write music.

What are the steps you take to make a song?
It depends on the song. It typically it starts with a vocal line, a lyric, some poetry, and a riff. Every song has a different process though. Some get rewritten and rewritten until they fit the concept. Some just click after one pass of every instrument.

What do you think makes a great song?
Its ability to tap into communication and emotion to make some feel like they can relate to it or escape into it.

Where can we connect with you? Can you give us your social media links and where we can contact you?
Email: channeldarkmusic@gmail.com - Skilly Online

Working a desk job is sure to drive anyone mad, especially an artist like Channel Dark who was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest under the legendary music shadows of Jimi Hendrix and the Grunge era. Unable to sleep at night, music has become a companion using the very thoughts that keeps him awake as the inspiration for his music. He absorbs all the sounds that he’s able to listen to and it’s the reason why his music may seem disjointed. - Rude Boy Clothing

“El Wire Pacifier”, by Channel Dark, a moniker to Jonathan Maxwell, who happens to be an electrical engineer by day and a perpetual insomniac by night, has found that the best way to counteract his inability to sleep at night, was to immerse his mind and self into the creation of atmospheric electronica or EDM.

That is what this EP precisely is all about, it is electronic based music or simply EDM electronic dance music ,for those unaware of the symbolism behind it. In other words, it is an EP that takes 6-tracks in which Channel Dark, engulfs himself in, entering the minds of those who hear his creation of tunes that is this music. For instance “Feather”, is a given track that does not use any vocalization whatsoever just beats, melodies, and harmonies of music, done in an electronic fashion. If you listened to a track that was done in a remixed way, all techno driven, sounding complete futuristic, that is what this track does. Except it is just the sounds of the music, no vocals or any use of any other line of instrumentation, just the use of what appears to be the keyboard if not turn table or computer tactics to create it all. It is just simply put, very upbeat that you can likely find yourself dancing to it.

Whereas other tracks off this EP like “Don’t Care About It”, “Thunderbird”, and “Where The Monsters Are”, take use of the vocal chords, allowing for Channel Dark to embrace his tone of voice, as it is transmitted within the music atmosphere, creating a more developed trace of track, that it becomes more in-depth and fulfilling. All of these are just downright fun and upbeat, they use so many different electronic aspects, it makes the track sound different, every time you hear one of them. That is how this music makes you think and enjoy it.

The rest of the EP is simply more music based material, with lots of beats, having you picture it to be heard within the walls of a club, or even in your own house hold, comforting behind your zone per say. It’s really just a douse of music that you can experience and take in as a whole another realm of reality. Channel Dark was really trying to find a way to help himself fall asleep easier so diving into the EDM sense, helped him create not just something original and new to him, but did help him sleep somewhat afterwards.

“El Wire Pacific”, is one of those EDM releases that takes it as it is, an EP. It provides you an idea and glimpse into what to expect. That is what you get when hearing Channel Dark. You get that ideal of who he is and what he has created. It is something he has made that will branch out reaching more people who enjoy the electronic EDM genre, it just want something groovy to hear.

In short, Channel Dark is one person that has created something that see’s growth. For he has been involved in a variety of genres, going back to several years ago, so he has the click to keep the beats in check. Just need to listen to get the pace of the beats. - Skope Magazine

A Great Techno Dance Track!

Whenever we hear a great techno/electro-pop dance song, we immediately are taken back to a time of going out, dancing around, and fist pumping the night away. Recently, we got the chance to check out Channel Dark‘s new single, Feather. So what did we think?

Channel Dark- Feather Single Review

Feather has all the elements of a great techno/electro-pop dance song that we would expect. It starts out at a slower pace and then starts to build into a bigger pulsing section until it finally explodes in sound. Then, it calms down a bit, before it does the same thing all over again.

While we’re typically more into songs with lyrics, we did find ourselves enjoying this one, bopping our head along the entire time.

We also liked the description the artist placed on the song, specifically when he said, “Spread positivity. Spread love. Be good to each other; we will always face some negativity, but it is ours to carry through and help each other through it.”

Take a listen below to the song and check out Channel Dark, who recently released his new EP EL Wire Pacifier. If you like good, fun music you can dance to, you won’t be disappointed. - Real Mr Housewife