Story By: Nick Lamoureux
Trap music fans behold, today you are getting the inside scoop on the life of Vanessa Behrens, the Los Angeles artist known as Skyler Madison!
Recent stay-at-home orders around the country have brought live shows and music festivals to a screeching halt but that hasn’t stopped Skyler. With the shift to virtual dance music shows, she joined the 40oz Cult’s Founders Dack Janiels and Wenzday for an EDM.com livestream on Twitch.
Her plans for a national tour unfortunately came to a halt during the COVID-19 outbreak right as her act was ready to “flip the script” in 2020 to showcase a new “Skyler” Madison.
“I’ve always wanted to be more than just an open format DJ and focus in on more of my creative (and) production… I was signed to some of the top agencies in the open format realm that wouldn’t let me fully pursue what I wanted,” she professed. After spending a majority of her professional music career in this realm, 2020 is her year to stop burning herself out on endless club shows and instead jump headfirst into the EDM world. Despite being told by her previous agencies that “EDM wouldn’t sell in their eyes,” or it wouldn’t work because she was female, Skyler took a leap of faith and started her journey as an independent artist. Since her vision would never align with what the agencies wanted her to do, Skyler felt that she had to step out of her comfort zone and take on a new challenge.
Since going independent, she has dedicated a lot more time into production, sharing she has been “into playing the drums so that’s been my go-to.” Interestingly, she actually goes back and forth between Ableton Live Suite 10 and FL Studio. Skyler acknowledges that it’s a “weird case, but there’s some features I really prefer on one over the other. I also use a Machine paired with my M-Audio Keyboard and KRK Studio Monitors with an audio interface.”
Prepare to turn up and get down when Skyler is spinning, as inspiration for sets gravitate towards Trap, Future Bass, Hip Hop and Twerk with some Dubstep sprinkled in.
Her newest track, “Slim Thicc” gives off a real Trap sound that unequivocally gets you moving in your car seat or on your sofa (during quarantine of course.) Talented artists like RL Grime, Troyboi, Ekali, Flosstradamus and Alison Wonderland have influenced her production; Skyler says she really tried to express these “various styles of music reflected in the music” she creates.
Skyler was about 11 years old when she discovered electronic music, listening to artists like Deadmau5 and Kaskade. Feeling a real connection to the music, Skyler attended underground raves and became engulfed in the dance music culture, which helped her cope with life at home.
“I didn’t have the best home life growing up, causing me to deal with a lot of manic depression and anxiety when I was younger,” Skyler confessed, “and music was my only mental/emotional outlet. I felt such raw emotion behind a song that sometimes I couldn’t see within people, so I was determined to become a musician by any means possible.”
Skyler wants to share an important message to fans who have continuously supported her: “Always be 100% your most authentic self. Don’t ever lose sight of your vision. Trust your intuition. Work harder than you ever thought possible to chase and conquer that dream. Last and most importantly, don’t get discouraged or overly frustrated from any type of rejection. We’ve all felt rejection at some point of our lives within our careers and if it isn’t a learning opportunity, it could be the biggest blessing in disguise. It gives you the chance to really re-evaluate your strategy and work smarter and harder. Through my experience in the music industry, someone always has an opinion regarding anything you do. At times it can be overbearing and it can throw you into a negative headspace if you let those opinions consume you or dictate the decisions you make. This is why I keep my own vision first, lean on my own intuition to guide me and keep powering through the toughest of times when it seems like nothing is working in your favor. Keep pushing forward guys!”
Skyler continues to push the boundaries of her music, tapping into more extensive sound design and crossing over multiple genres, so her music won’t sound stale or be confined to one genre. “This is the reason why Trap has always felt like home for me. I feel like challenging yourself to make a hybrid genre is what makes music most exciting for me since my ADD brain gravitates to so many different sounds and styles at once,” she explained.
Skyler had this to say before signing off:
“I think the electronic music industry is at a very interesting turning point where we have more diversity than ever before coming into the game. With that being said, there is still a lot of change that needs to happen, so if you are a fan of the community, if you are already in the community or trying to break-through – support other artists! We can’t grow without each other. I am so excited to give you guys a new ‘Skyler Madison’ starting in 2020! You can listen to my upcoming releases on Spotify, Apple Music as well as Soundcloud and follow my music and upcoming show dates @djskylermadison on Instagram. Thanks for having me!”
Follow Skyler Madison on all social media pages: Twitter: @DJSkylerMadison Facebook: Skyler Madison Instagram: @djskylermadison
P.S – Her Extra Sauce Mini Mix SLAPS.
