Since his early teen years, Skrizzly Adams has been involved in music in some way, shape, or form. Whether he was playing in bands or singing backup, life just seemed to revolve around instruments and lyrics. Although he didn’t know it (or think it) early on, Skrizzly’s fate as a talented artist was inevitable. After being announced as the 2015 winner of the International Songwriting Competition (a very prestigious award), his abilities were undeniable.
But for Skrizzly, talent and skill take the backseat when it comes to the reason why he is so involved in this intimate relationship with music. “I just love making music,” Skrizzly expressed. “I don’t make music for any other reason other than the fact that I love it.”
Skrizzly’s growing fan base is surely glad that he loves what he does, because with every single, every album he churns out, the people only want more. “I already have some songs in mind and ways of how I want to top the charts next year. I think there is always room to get bigger,” explained Skrizzly.
Amid his daily studio sessions, Skrizzly was able to sit down with ED Magazine to talk about his new track “Rattle Your Cage” — which he admits does not represent where he’s headed in the future — his very own record label, and even his thriving beef jerky business.
ED: Does the song “Rattle Your Cage” represent the steps you’ve taken as a musician this past year?
ADAMS: My core fans know this, but I think a lot of people that have just discovered the album or will discover the album don’t know that it really isn’t a reflection of where I’m at musically right now. It’s actually a very old song. I wrote it when I was 23 and I’m 28 years old now, so the song has been in the vault for a very long time. I don’t want to get too far in-depth, but earlier in my career, I was signed to Atlantic Records and I had a vision for how I wanted my debut album to be, and I pretty much had the exact tracklisting down (it only varies slightly). I thought it was best to stick to my original vision, and doing so was a long process, and I released some other music that wasn’t on the album in order to build myself up. But, I stayed true to the vision. “Rattle Your Cage” isn’t a reflection of where I’m at now; right now I’m working on another album, and there’s a lot of exciting developments. But “Rattle Your Cage” really was just the cherry on top for the “Young Man” album which just kind of reflects my early 20s.
ED: Why would “Rattle Your Cage” be a good song choice to play at a gentlemen’s club?
ADAMS: I think it will work in a strip club setting very well because it has all the ingredients needed to be a sexy, lust-oriented song. I think it works on many levels that separate it from other songs. It’s not like the tongue-in-cheek, AC/DC, “let’s bang” type of hard rock song. “Rattle Your Cage” has a little bit more emotion to it, a different tempo, and it has a little bit of frustration in it as well. I think it will stick out. I’m sure that the girls will find their own ways to brand it and put their own spin on it. Just like “Take A Sip” was different and stood out, I think this song will, too. It could become a staple, or not, who knows. But overall, I think it’s got good energy, a lot of passion, a big chorus, and lyrics that are emotion-evoking and touch on real-life things. But, at the end of the day it’s about a guy just trying to get laid so, it works.
ED: Do you think with so many platforms to be heard and/or seen, that it is easier to get your music out now or harder to be identified among the masses?
ADAMS: It’s a double-edged sword. I believe it’s actually much easier to get your music to the people that want to hear it. I have no label, I have no marketing team, I don’t have all those things, but I’m very lucky that millions of people are able to listen to my music. At the end of the day, it’s more about consistency. If you put a song out on Spotify, don’t expect a million fans to find you tomorrow, that’s just not going to happen. Computers are running these things and if you give them the right data, it will get you to the people that want to hear it, assuming your music is good and has a potential audience. Feed the beat. Give it as many songs as possible and people are going to see them, they’re going to click on them and they’re going to see streaming patterns, similar artists, and you’re going to get new fans every day.
I think the downside to that is the idea of an artist hitting a mass audience; that’s few and far between. How many new artists a year truly hit a mass audience? For example, an artist like John Mayer in the early 2000s, in order for him to have a million fans, how many people had to know his songs and hear his name in order to choose John Mayer as their type of artist? It’s probably somewhere between 10 and 100 million people. If 10% of the overall audience liked him, it was a grand slam. Whereas nowadays we have artists like Russ (I’ve done some work with him), who plays in arenas all over the world, has tens of millions of monthly listeners, and several platinum records because he got his music to the fans. I think with Spotfiy and stuff like that, we just have to get the music right to the fans quickly. We don’t need a sales team, we don’t need people putting our music on store shelves, etc. In terms of getting in front of a niche audience, yes it’s easier. But in terms of getting in front of a mass audience, it’s almost impossible.
I think it will work in a strip club setting very well because it has all the ingredients needed to be a sexy, lust-oriented song. I think it works on many levels that separate it from other songs. It’s not like the tongue-in-cheek, AC/DC, “let’s bang” type of hard rock song. “Rattle Your Cage” has a little bit more emotion to it, a different tempo, and it has a little bit of frustration in it as well. I think it will stick out. I’m sure that the girls will find their own ways to brand it and put their own spin on it.
“I think (“Rattle Your Cage”) will work in a strip club setting very well because it has all the ingredients needed to be a sexy, lust-oriented song. I think it works on many levels that separate it from other songs. “Rattle Your Cage” has a little bit more emotion to it, a different tempo, and it has a little bit of frustration in it as well. I think it will stick out. I’m sure that the girls will find their own ways to brand it and put their own spin on it.” – Skrizzly Adams
ED: How do you motivate yourself to keep going into the recording studio when you’ve reached a certain level of success?
ADAMS: First off, I just love making music. I don’t make music for any other reason other than the fact that I love it. I’m sitting in the car for this interview in between studio sessions. My studio is full of people because we’re working and it’s like that every day. Why get lazy? “Take A Sip” was on the Panda Top 20, and I was super proud of that. We were up there with all the big names like Cardi B, Post Malone and Ariana Grande. For the album I’m working on now, I already have some songs in mind and ways of how I want to top the charts next year. I think there is always room to get bigger. Until you’ve done more than Paul McCartney, I don’t think you should ever stop!
ED: How is the beef jerky business going?
ADAMS: Towards the end of the year, we entered album mode, releasing my debut album “Young Man.” So expanding beef jerky has not been my top priority for the last two quarters of the year. But, I’m very lucky and grateful to say that when I play a show, the jerky always does sell well. It’s the same product, but there has been a lot of discussion about expanding into different flavors, utilizing some marketing money for research and development for better packaging, etc. But right now, I’m just kind of sticking with what I’ve got and riding the jerky train.
ED: What do you have planned in 2020 as far as tour dates and performances?
ADAMS: Right now, all I have on the books is a show in NYC. I also run a record label on the side called BOMB (Back On My Bullshit) Records, I just announced it a couple of days ago, and I signed one artist, it’s a viral meme page—I’m very involved in the meme community. So I signed the meme page and we started making rock music for a meme artist. I’ve lined up his first gig opening for me, so it will be kind of like a hometown New York show (located at the Mercury Lounge). Regarding touring, there are a lot of ideas in the works. I was very lucky to have gained popularity in Europe, to the point where nearly half my audience is in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, so I’m fishing around there. It won’t be easy, but a European tour is definitely being discussed. For North America, if I don’t do a tour, expect me to be playing around the midwest and the cities that I always play, whether it’s acoustic or with a full band. But, you never know, it might be a huge touring year—I’m still getting my ducks in a row. I’m still just working on my second album and trying to get a lot of business done regarding that, so that’s my priority right now. But anything is possible!
