Skydaddy

kydaddy is the moniker of UK-Lebanese, London based artist Rachid Fakhre. More than a

vehicle for new songs, Skydaddy represents rebirth, as for Rachid the project has

risen out of the ashes of former musical ventures. With his upcoming debut

EP Pilot, Rachid is also rediscovering his Lebanese heritage, having taken much inspiration from

a trip there earlier this year to film the video for ‘That Morning’.
 

Following a heavy case of ego death and creative disillusionment at Green Man 2022, he felt

ready to give up on his musical ambitions. He was drowning in a puddle music malaise;
at odds with the changing tides of the scene and struggling to find his place in his

then project Spang Sisters. Whilst peering into the abyss of creative existentialism, Rachid

found inspiration, a rush of fizzing creativity and a yearning to express a much more
authentic side of himself. In the small hours Monday morning in the festival campsite,
Rachid found a guitar and immediately started to pen the tracks of upcoming EP Pilot.
 

Musically, Skydaddy creates rich, layered art-rock and chamber folk. Having played the

majority of instruments on the EP himself (outside of strings and flute), Rachid leads a live

band of up to 8 players on drums, piano, cello, flute, guitars and violin. Having toured with

Black Country, New Road on their May 2023 tour - prior to releasing any material - Rachid

is a central figure in the London art-rock scene. Fostering a sense of community and

camaraderie, he offers a platform for artists to exchange ideas and swap inspirations. Being

the host and curator of ‘works in progress’ nights around tiny London venues,
musicians andmembers of some of the country’s most exciting bands such as

Black Country, New Road, Drug Store Romeos, Katy J Pearson, Ethan P Flynn and

many more have all performed stripped back upcoming material.

On Pilot, Rachid is showcasing his own new works, striving for authenticity with a renewed

sense of musical purpose and identity. Much the same as a TV show pilot, the EP is a

sampler of everything Skydaddy is about. Packed full of creative compositions and wide

ranging influences, the EP is deeply personal and deals with difficult subjects with both

sincerity and subversive humour. From Beatles-esque confessional ‘His Masterpiece’ to

Lynchain lucid dream ‘Everything’; from the hushed intimacy of Tyler Cryde (BC,NR) duet

‘Tear Gas’ to the cinematic arrangements of ‘That Morning’; the 5 tracks on Pilot take the

listener on a whistle stop tour of the highlights of a larger grand adventure. With the artwork

centred around a passport photo, Pilot is Rachid putting his true self on display, starting

from scratch as Skydaddy.
 

Offering further insight into the tracks, Rachid tells us:

His Masterpiece:

“Inspired by the story of Claude Lantier from Emilie Zola’s L'Œuvre (Commonly translated to ‘His Masterpiece’),

Lantier becomes madly obsessed in a painting which he believes to be

his masterpiece and the ultimate demonstration of his talent and genius; an obsession which

leads to his eventual, self-inflicted demise. The song is ultimately about alienation, bitterness

and the struggle of creativity”

Lebanon Rising:

“After a trip to Lebanon earlier this year (March 2023) - one I made countless times as a

child - I saw it through a new lens. We were there filming a music video for ‘That Morning’.

Still reeling from the aftermath of a catastrophic nuclear explosion on the port which took

place on 4 August 2020, we stayed less than a kilometre from the blast site and heard

stories from so many different perspectives.”

Everything:

“I was fiddling with these chords at home and wanted to write an unflinching, mantra-like

composition. What really brought the sound together was my friend’s Prophet-8 synthesizer,

which I had with me. Once the instrumental was there, the lyrics came very naturally. They

deal with an uncomfortable living situation I was experiencing – one in which my house

didn’t feel like a home, nor did London.”
 

Tear Gas:

“A song that had existed for a few years about a past ill-fated relationship. When hosting a

radio show I had asked people to submit covers and reworkings of lesser known songs, it

was quite a surprise to receive a version of Tear Gas from Tyler Hyde. She’d taken the

original and reworked it into a much more sombre solo guitar piece. On occasion, we would

perform the song live together. This became an increasingly regular moment during

Skydaddy shows. Gradually, through these performances, it coalesced into the version on

the EP.”

That Morning:

“I started writing ‘That Morning’ at a climactic moment of a very long, sad summer. Musically

and creatively, I was in a lonesome slump. Against my instincts, I went to Green Man

Festival and proceeded to have a confusingly tough time there. Early on the Monday

morning, as soon as the entire festival seemed to have gone to sleep and the last of my

friends became unresponsive, I started manically playing guitar to quell the loudness in my

head and the chords and melody came out.”