ICYMI: #WomanCrushWednesday IG Live featuring Skandra

BY LAURA HARPER/WWR Staff Writer

The music industry is in a constant state of change as the world continues to adapt to the circumstances of the COVID-19 global pandemic, and few musicians have experienced the effect of this quite as much as Skandra.

Born and raised in California, Skandra started playing piano at the age of 4 and received classical training until she was 12. While she appreciates the skills she learned in classical training, she found that she was more comfortable creating music her own way.

“The one thing I realized is that music is everywhere,” Skandra said.

Eventually, Skandra started writing her own poetry and then setting those poems to chords to create her own original content.

“I love words and I love to be the one to write them,” Skandra said.

It was only when Skandra started posting these songs on TikTok that she really started to notice a shift in her music career. She fell in love with the platform because its algorithm is much more personalized than that of Instagram and Facebook.

“One of the most beautiful things about TikTok is that is gives users what they want,” Skandra said.

For Skandra, TikTok quite literally helped to launch her career overnight. A video she posted of her song “Rivers” hit one million streams in a day, and a few days later she found herself taking interview requests.

Despite her online success, however, Skandra has yet to have the opportunity to perform live. Her first rehearsal with her band took place in March 2020, and shortly afterward the world went into pandemic lockdown. Since then, Skandra has been focused on recording new music while trying her best not to succumb to the pressures that many artists are currently feeling to release new music.

“Pressure is good, but it can also be unhealthy,” Skandra said. “I do best when I’m focusing on other people.”

During the interview, Skandra performed a new song she has been working on called “Watch From Here.” She said this song was inspired by her desire to rise above and move on from a negative person in her life.

“I’m tired of writing about the same thing and the same person,” Skandra said. “This is the last song I’m going to write about them.”

This song came to her after a period in December 2020 where she found herself overcome with writer’s block, likely attributed to the conditions of the pandemic coupled with the pressures of a new year.

Despite this, however, Skandra says she is still committed to creating more art and releasing more singles in the coming year.

“Art is important,” Skandra said. “It really does change the quality of life in this world.”

For more on Skandra, you can check out the entire interview on Instagram @OfficialWomenWhoRock.