Second Sky

These local boys are making good, one CD sample at a time. If you frequent The
Chameleon Club, then you've heard Second
Sky, a live band that laces together space-age electronica and global-village funk. The result is archaic-futurism that you can dance to,
with groovy vocals by Billy Medina. Second Sky will continue to grace The Chameleon Club stage, on dates that will be announced later. In the meantime, the band's getting more exposure, which means bigger shows. Case in point:
Last week, Second Sky appeared at Lightning Ridge Farms in New York along with members of the Grateful Dead and The Band. Drummer Bill
Lascek-Speakman said Second Sky's grass-roots approach to self-promotion has been the key to their recent success. "We burn a lot of
sample CDs and hand them out wherever we go,"
he said. "We've had shows in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York, and wherever we go, so do the CDs." Last year, the guys drove all the way to New Jersey to do a show,
only to find out that it was canceled because of the club's faulty
sound system. Instead of brooding over the missed opportunity, Second Sky
decided to do a little footwork while they were in town. "We grabbed a Village Voice
to see if there were any shows happening
that night," Lascek-Speakman said. "There was a show at the Bowery Ballroom, so we headed there." They handed out CDs to a lot of people that night. As it turns
out, one of these individuals was a representative from L'Oreal,
the internationally known make-up corporation. "They make this shampoo called
Garnier Fructis, and this product
is geared towards a young, hip crowd on the Internet," he said.
"On this Web site there's a 'DJ Booth' where a bunch of new bands
are filed under 'Soon to Be Famous,' and you can download MP3s
of their songs. L'Oreal wanted to buy one of our songs and put
it on the site." The pitch was made through an e-mail sent by advertising
executive
Angel Resto. The message also read, "... My associates and I
estimate over a sum of 400,000 hits to the site after it launches." Second Sky
didn't need any more convincing. L'Oreal bought one
of the songs from the sampler called "Nebula 5," and filed it
under "Lounge." The song can be downloaded at www.garnierfructis.com. All of
the band members met as students at Millersville University.
They are Laseck-Speakman, Medina (vocals, guitar), Michael Christie
(keyboards, percussion) and Wes DiIorio (bass). They also get
support from violinist Melissa Dunphy, DJ Image and tribal percussionist
Tim Riggs. They experimented with music, played live shows and eventually
released "Random Escape Plan" in 2002. Second Sky has been tagged as
"international music smugglers,"
because the musicians like to trot the globe in search of new
vibes. "I've been to places like Africa, and Spain" Lascek-Speakman said. "I was
told to watch out for the gypsies in Spain and I ended up singing
with them on the streets. Billy's been to Egypt, and India among other
places. Like music anthropologists, Second Sky studies the original native
sounds, then uses modern ingenuity to create electro-pop soundscapes. "In the
'50s and '60s, exotic sounds from the Middle East, Africa
and Latin America were being explored in popular music, combined
with what was considered to be space-aged sounds at the time,"
Lascek-Speakman said. "I think we're equally interested in global
rhythms, but in the year 2004, we have new ideas about what is
space-aged." Second Sky also masters the balance between organic and electronic
sounds beautifully. "Once the songs are arranged, we decide which sounds
should remain
electronic and which should be played with an acoustic instrument
to add the organic feel," DiIorio said. Lascek-Speakman said many artists,
like Thievery Corporation,
Thunderball and even Bjork, are approaching their work in a similar
fashion, blurring the line between acoustic and electronic. "Even jam bands
like Soundtribe Sector Nine have adopted electronics
to such a degree that you have to ask, 'Is it live or iMac?'"
he said. "As a drummer, the challenge has been, 'How do I replicate
these breakbeats and sounds acoustically?' Sometimes it works,
and sometimes it doesn't. But it's always a fun challenge." He said this will
show on Second Sky's follow-up to "Random Escape
Plan." "We don't have a name for it yet, but we're in the process of
recording it," Lascek-Speakman said. "It should be released by
the end of summer or early fall." Anyone who wants to sample their work in the
meantime should
go to www.secondsky.net. If you're listening to Second Sky for the first time,
you'll
immediately catch the cinematic presence of each groove. "We've been told many
times that our music would make a good
soundtrack," the drummer said. "Some people say it makes them
feel like they're in a spy flick. Maybe we could do the next
James Bond theme?"

- Intelligencer journal

Jim Speese, Reading Eagle, November 2002
" There is the electronic element of the Chemical Brothers as well as the overarching coolness of Beck."

Peter Baker, Fly Magazine, January 2003
"...songs with genuine emotion ... an organic, vintage sound ... incredibly tight ... eclectic music ... and yes, you can dance to it."

Rob Seitz, the Snapper, April 2003
"I could see this band kidnapping a DJ at a rave and putting on their own show without anybody being the wiser."

Bob Hill, Origivation, August 2003
"Second Sky is waving their "freak flag" high... proclaiming an innovative underground tornado of sound to all who gather before them. It vibes, it's solid, and it boldly goes where no rave has gone before."

Kevin Krieger,
Weekender Correspondent, November 2003
"An electronic jam that deftly combines acid jazz and trip-hop and marries them to a funky backbeat for a totally modern sound."
- www.secondsky.net

Cliche notwithstanding, the sky's not the limit - not when there's a Second Sky.

Second Sky, a self-defined "live electronic" quintet from Lancaster, Pa., will make its Trenton debut tomorrow at Joe's Mill Hill Saloon.

For one of the band's members, it will be a homecoming.

"I was born and raised in Trenton," says drummer Bill Speakman. "My mom ran a beauty parlor there and I still have a lot of family in the area."

Those who knew Speakman before he moved away at age 15, however, might find it hard to believe he's providing the backbeats for the decidedly groove-driven Second Sky.

"I always had a real interest in listening to music, but my mother would say I'd never grow up to be a musician; I could barely walk and clap at the same time," he confesses. "As soon as I moved out of New Jersey, that was when I started playing drums. The new school I was in offered a band for beginners, so I signed up.

"By the end of high school, I was the president of four different band organizations. I was pretty much king band geek by then."

Speakman hooked up with other music "royalty" while attending Millersville University outside Lancaster and, after playing in a number of lineups, Second Sky dawned two years ago.

The band - which includes Billy Medina on vocals and guitar; Michael Christie on keyboards and synthesizer; Wes DiIorio on bass; and Tim Riggs on percussion -released its debut CD, "Random Escape Plan," last year and plans to head back to the studio before year's end. (Music samples can be heard at www.secondsky.net).

While each musician brings a variety of influences to the mix, Speakman said they're all intrigued by the concept of taking the sound of synthetically produced electronic music and adding blood and muscle to it.

"We really started to get interested in a lot of music that was primarily being done by DJs or electronic producers," Speakman says. "We thought it would be really something to see a live band play this way."

Hence, the description "live electronic."

Listening to "Random Escape Plan," it can be hard to believe that the sounds Second Sky creates are 98 percent organic (the guys do have a guest turntablist on some tunes). For example, "Picture This," the first track, bursts open with what sounds like the mating calls of two robotic elephants who then are taunted by a high-voltage drum 'n' bass breakbeat and machine-works keyboard riff before Medina's Adrian Belew-like voice joins the fray.

The rest of the 10 songs on the disc (plus two hidden tracks) are just as adventurous, feeding from a smorgasbord of trance, house, jazz, world, reggae, dancehall and dub flavors.

Speakman recognized the irony of trying to imitate the sounds of mechanical devices that were invented to emulate live musicians.

"It's funny - sometimes I definitely do emulate an electronic drum part," he says. "But it can be a real challenge. There are some things a programmed drum machine can do that are almost impossible for a drummer to do, some that ARE impossible."

Adding to his handicap, Speakman uses a simple kit - just a bass drum, two snares, a high hat and a ride. Riggs, the band's other percussionist, "does have a rig that triggers a keyboard," but otherwise his set-up is pretty rudimentary, too.

"He has pieces of sheet metal and things created out of trash and stuff that make these real unusual sounds," says Speakman.

Speakman stressed that the man-made electronics and "unusual sounds" are just a part of what Second Sky is all about: First and foremost, he said, there are the songs. And the priorities don't change when the band takes the stage.

"There's an even blend of improvisation and playing our songs," he says of Second Sky's live shows. "We usually perform our songs, but how we get in and out of them may be like a DJ would mix from one track to another. . . . We may start out improvising, but when we feel it's time to hit a certain song, it will just happen."

Speakman said he is excited about returning to his old turf to show just how far the boy who couldn't "walk and clap at the same time" has progressed - and the fact the band is making its Trenton debut this weekend makes the homecoming even tastier.

"The band," he said, "will be having Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house before the show."

Second Sky will perform at 10 p.m. tomorrow at Joe's Mill Hill Saloon, 300 S. Broad St., Trenton. $4 cover charge. (609) 394-7222.
- Trenton Times

Every time you pop in a new CD by a band you've never heard before, it's natural to look for comparisons or familiar themes. For Lancaster-bred Second Sky, the choices may be a tad obscure, but that's a reflection on their unique approach to their craft.

Part way through "Picture This," the lead song on their new Artica Music release titled "Random Escape Plan," the band tosses out playful reminders of Be Bop Deluxe, David Bowie and the solo work from King Crimson frontman Adrian Belew. Like we said, slightly obscure, but distinctive nonetheless.

The seeds for "Random Escape Plan" were sown with a series of demo tracks that soon blossomed into something new and interesting. The band just couldn't avoid exploring their experimental side and the debut CD was born.

The music on the debut release is quirky and jazzy, but most of the songs have an insistent beat and an undeniable hook. There's even a bit of Bohemian coolness that rides through tracks like "Leaving" and "Signs." To carry the oddball comparison one step further, "Leaving" even has an Edie Brickell feel, with its sultry R&B groove. Obviously, being slightly off-center is something that this quartet is proud of.

Second Sky is a band that occasionally refers to itself as a 'live, electronic music group,' and it's the electronic tag that separates them from the pack. Keyboardist Michael Christie adds much of the unique touch to the music, but it would certainly be a lot less interesting without the mechanical beats of drummer Bill Speakman. Whether it's the metro rhythms of "To Give In" or the frantic chill-out vibe of "Remember," Second Sky has developed a sound that stands up to repeated listens. In fact, it demands them.

The lyrics on "Random Escape Plan" were left to collaborator Bill Feeley, but guitarist Billy Medina's vocal delivery suits the words just fine.

And while we're at it, it's worth a sec to take note of Wes DiIorio's slippery bass lines that weave in and out of most of the tracks. One track, "Signs," even contains turntables played by DJ Image. I've never been sure how exactly you "play" a turntable, but the track is an electronic jam that deftly combines acid jazz and trip-hop and marries them to a funky backbeat for a totally modern sound.

If Second Sky can pull off the coolness and the musicianship in a live atmosphere, they may be in the game for the long haul.

Rating A: 'If they can pull off their unique sound live, they may be in it for the long haul'

By Kevin Krieger
Weekender Correspondent - Wilkes Barre Weekender

There is a buzz sweeping through the cornstalks of Lancaster County. It transmits the scientology of music according to Second Sky. On their latest lp, entitled "Random Escape Plan," the quartet [sic] laces the conventions of trip-hop with a million and one sounds [as if] spinning off of dual turntables at 72,000 RPM's. The disc is at moments both fast and furious, and then, without warning, it evaporates into slow-jazz jams wrought with sultry vocals and smooth bass lines.

Billy Medina elaborates, "We wanted a band that reflected our collective interests, as diverse as they are: dancehall, house, electronica, acid jazz, Brazillian, funk, etc...

Perhaps that explains why Medina and his fellow skysters chose to retool their sound for this album, performing a complete about-face, and abandoning the world music style that originally defined them. In its wake stands a ten-song collection that infiltrates the ears and mind with a barrage of teeming drumbeats and syncopated groove hooks. The disk opens with a three-track rush that screams like the last radio station on the highway to hell.

Amidst cleverly constructed, well-insulated walls of sound, Medina belts out insightful vocal passages. As the four parts combine as one unit, there is a high-brow synergy that raises the level
of their collective game. In the CD's liner notes, a fifth member named Bill Feeley is given sole credit for all of the lyrical content, but it is Medina that breathes life into those words, allowing his foggy-basso pipes to drift over the music as it plays out below. Despite his enthusiasm regarding the release of the new LP, Medina feels the group's strength lies in its onstage chemistry.

Drummer Bill Speakman concurs, claiming that he is inpired by "the people with whom I play, and the energy that is created during the shows. Much of it is about the exchange with the audience."

At moments, "Random Escape Plan" falls victim to an over-abundace of sounds outflexing one another. Still, the group somehow manages to keep their beats incredibly tight amidst a plethora of plates left spinning simultaneously. Jams like "Picture This" and "Remember" pop and stop with breakneck frequency. During more sullen moments, the instrumentation takes a moment to catch its breath (i.e. "Inside," "Who Am I,") digressing into slow, pounding suites of jazz and funk. Most impressive of the disc's latter moments is "Descending" - a Morrisonesque, best-played-at-the-break-of-dawn meltdown of sound.

Medina explains that the band's reluctance to be confined by a specific typecast, asserting, "Good music transcends genre. When the world listens to something good, people say its good music - not that it's good funk, or jazz, or pop, etc..."

So far, Second Sky has managed to dodge the branding iron of an industry hell-bent on labeling anything and everything that comes down the pike. This has become increasingly difficult ever since pop radio commanded the "alternative" tag and cooped it as something sickeningly mainstream. The fact is that Second Sky is waving their freak flag high, storming through clubs from Harrisburg to New York, proclaiming an innovative, underground tornado of sound to all who will gather before them. It vibes, it's solid, and it boldly goes where no rave has gone before.

Although Medina remains tight-lipped about prospects for the band involving any big name labels, he recognizes and maintains a guarded understanding of maintaining the band's sense of self in light of executives who won't book uless you've got the look:
"Two highways that are going in opposite directions don't necessarily stay separate all of the time. If construction needs to be done on one of the highways, you can use the other to allow traffic to go both ways. Some might say that Art and commerce can walk hand-in-hand. But there are a lot of people who would say that they contradict one another. Music as an Art is the priority, with integrity as the bottom line. And integrity is being true to ourselves. That's the beauty of being in a band as opposed to being an actor. You don't have to worry about being someone else."

For now, Second Sky is consumed with creating an identity that will help them to carve a niche into the heart of popular (or even not-so-popular) music... and defining for themselves what that niche will be.
- Origivation

When Second Sky was plugging in and doing a mic check in the Club Deville last weekend I could only begin to imagine what their sound was going to be. I saw keyboards, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, a bass guitar, a trumpet, a
megaphone, a drum set, congas, djembes, and various other percussion instruments. When Billy Medina (vocals, guitar) stepped up to the mic with
his long blonde wavy hair pulled back donning his Bono-esqe shades I knew they were ready to rock, but I didn’t know that I was ready to dance for two hours straight.

The band sees themselves "as a LIVE evolution of electronic music." However their music goes beyond the realm of electronica. It seems as though they are a techno band raised on a hippie farm. Or an ethereal hybrid of Beck and
Björk’s back up band. In this day and age of programming, sampling, and technologically souped up recordings Second Sky isn’t afraid to challenge the audience’s preconceptions and notions of live music. Oftentimes I wasn’t sure
exactly what I was hearing. "How the hell are they making these sounds?" I asked myself. In the studio it’s possible to distort vocals but Medina does it live by singing into a megaphone. It’s possible to have a drum loop that
plays until infinity but Bill Lascek-Speakman keeps his drum set going with ease and finesse. The Flaming Lips use spaced-out sound effects on their albums but Michael Christie’s expert keyboard knowledge allows him to not only
provide beautiful melodies and harmonies but also to make you wonder if you’re listening to a live band or if they are all playing unplugged instruments in front of a CD player like The Monkees. While some bands like the White
Stripes don’t even have a bassist Wes Dilorio reminds us of just how important they can be by filling the room (and half of the next one) with a beautiful sound. And just who is playing that odd shaped metallic instrument with a
wrench and providing those ape-sounding "Oooh ooh Ooooh" lounge vocals? That’s right kids, it’s Tim Riggs.

All of these guys are home grown Millersville Alumni that are committed to remaining undeniable while constantly challenging themselves and evolving. I could see this band kidnapping a DJ at a rave and putting on their own show without anybody being the wiser. The listeners would continue to rave, do the hustle, dance like Michael Jackson, hell you can even swing to
these guys’ music. The smoke and lasers of a stadium show would also go very well with their sound. But this band is founded on good song writing, "If you take away the smoke and lasers and the songs are no good... then its just
smoke and lasers." If you’re still unconvinced of this bands skill or if you are curious to hear them for yourself check out www.secondky.net to see when they’ll be in town or call WIXQ to request a song from their recently recorded "Random Escape Plan." I’m certain, at the very least, that you’ll be tapping your toes.

- Snapper Magazine

>> by Benjy Eisen

The live music scene in Central Pennsylvania can often appear homogenous, and the experience — both for bands and fans — tends to be similar. The recurring theme is a lack of support for new original music. Bill Speakman, drummer for Second Sky, has had a different experience.

"I think that being in an area like Central PA is a double-sided coin," says Speakman, whose band formed at Millersburg University. "On one hand, there may be less of an audience for new music than in the larger cities, and fewer bands. But that also enables a lot of people who are here and looking for something interesting to sort of come together and form little communities. And right now, these little communities are growing. We see a lot of the same faces at all of our shows. And new ones are returning all the time. People are getting to know each other, and a community is forming. Every show is like a party. And now that national bands like Brothers Past and Moonraker are continually returning to Central PA, I think the future looks bright."

That’s a refreshing change from what most area musicians would have to say about the local music scene, but then again, Second Sky are a refreshing change from many area bands. Their CD, Random Escape Plan, is an impressive, professional sounding collection of down-home organica that fits right in with America’s burgeoning live electronic jam scene. Second Sky belong to a growing number of jambands that are increasingly dipping into drum ‘n’ bass, house, electrolounge, and trip-hop as much as traditional jam rock. "What sets us apart from a lot of the jambands who share a lot of similarities to Second Sky is our focus on songwriting," says Speakman. "The songs are the heart of the sound."

But when the band went into a home studio last year, with keyboardist Michael Christie taking up double duty as producer, their identity was still just developing. Explains Speakman: "It started out as a four-song demo. At least that was the original plan. But during the recording we kept coming up with new songs that we felt good about until it became a full-length release. I think it was during this process that we really found our sound. When it was done, we realized that we were an entirely new band, and that was exciting."

Realizing too that the band’s sound moved into an electonica realm, Speakman remarks, "It’s neat that bands like Second Sky, Lake Trout, and the New Deal have adopted drum ‘n’ bass and house music to a live setting while a band such as Radiohead has used electronics to resuscitate rock ‘n’ roll. Popular music is in an exciting place again."

- Mode Weekly

Second Sky
Published: January 2003
Story: Peter Baker
Photo: Fly Magazine photos by Cathy Skrinak

Imagine Santana sitting down for dinner with Radiohead. While they're eating, Tricky joins them and orders the potato skins appetizer. Booker T. Jones, sitting at the next table, orders them a round of cookies 'n' cream martinis, which they accept gratefully. That guy from Jamiroquai interrupts and eats Thom Yorke's buffalo chicken wrap while he's in the men's room, before being asked to leave by Frank Zappa. That would be the best way I know to describe the general sound of Second Sky; they defy genre.

What I found in Second Sky was a head-nodding, jazz-R&B-funk-rock fusion that thwarts my weak-ass attempts at categorization. But I'm always up for a challenge.

Second Sky is comprised of Michael Christie on keyboards, flute, and percussion, vocalist/guitarist Billy Medina, bassist Wes DiIorio, and drummer/percussionist Bill Speakman. Aside from the core group members, Second Sky is frequently joined on stage by "tribal percussionist" Tim Riggs and turntablist DJ Image. In October 2002, the band released its latest CD, Random Escape Plan, which does the band full justice; while elements of every live concert are lost in the studio recording process (and vice versa), Random Escape Plan is a more-than-adequate example of the band's abilities and range.

The members of Second Sky have been playing together for several years, but have only recently hit their stride. "We've spent several years experimenting with different styles," keyboardist Christie says. "Finally in the last year or so we've hit upon a sound that works in all of our collective influences."

Based on the group's lineup alone, it is safe to assume that this ain't your grandma's jam band, nor even your burnt-out stoner uncle's jam band. "If I say 'jam band' and you immediately think of Phish or moe., then it's totally inaccurate [to call us a jam band]," Christie claims. "But to people in the scene who are following bands like The New Deal, Sound Tribe Sector Nine, Moonraker, or the Disco Biscuits, we're right up their alley."

Combining elements of trip-hop, old-school funk, classic rock, and world music, Second Sky approaches their music with a sense of experimentation that doesn't meander with a single chord progression. They improvise and jam but remain concise. "To call us a jam band is very limiting - a lot of people who are mainly into stuff like Bjork and David Bowie are also really into Second Sky," according to Christie. Second Sky's instrumentation is a melting pot of sounds which by all rights could be chaotic and confusing, but through their meticulous approach to songwriting and disregard for the confining standards of genre, they create something wholly original, highly compelling, and just downright funky.

Medina's voice is high and plaintive in the vein of Stevie Wonder and Jamiroquai, and he imbues the songs with genuine emotion often lacking in the snarky prankster epics of Phish and the played-out tunes of the Grateful Dead. The overall tone of the vocals is much more R&B than it is anything else. Medina will often take his microphone out into the crowd to sing: a nice personal touch. Keyboardist Michael Christie utilizes analog synthesizers and a Wurlitzer electric piano to create an organic, "vintage" sound that gives Second Sky a great deal of its character. "If you use all the latest gear and sounds, then yeah, you're cutting-edge, but you're also dating yourself - 10 years from now people will say, 'That sounds so 2002!'" Christie feels. "The classic sounds will always be classic."

The rewards are fantastic, and Christie's knob-twiddling and creative piano soloing adds layers of electronic warmth to the Second Sky proceedings without devolving them into Rush-esque silliness. There are no songs about elves or robots or wizards or anything prog-rock-related here. The topics of their songs are largely typical rock n' roll fare - longing, alienation, etc. But the lyrics are mainly window dressing for the music itself. "One of Me," an early-1970s Zappaesque number, and "Leaving," an electric piano-driven mid-tempo lament, highlight the Random Escape Plan CD.

The rhythm section of the group is incredibly tight but also widely varied. The spectrum of percussive instruments utilized by the group could theoretically present problems in the employ of lesser musicians (I counted no fewer than three cowbells on-stage), but Speakman and guest percussionist Riggs use them in such a way that they don't intrude on the melodic groove, but rather augment and accent it. Congas, shakers, chimes, and even a slide whistle were used during the show. Their wide range of Latin percussion instruments and the band's tendency to "groove" on them is reminiscent of early Carlos Santana, while he was still good and before he got mixed up with that no-talent Rob Thomas and won a wheelbarrow full of Grammys.

Second Sky tru - FLY Magazine