Skydaddy

Skydaddy, the moniker of London based musician and bandleader Rachid Fakhre, has shared a new track ‘Lebanon Rising’, a beautiful instrumental composition serving as an homage to his heritage. The track is taken from his recently announced debut EP Pilot, releasing on 2 Feb.

Following a trip to Lebanon earlier this year to shoot the stunning music video for debut Skydaddy single ‘That Morning’, Rachid has written ‘Lebanon Rising’ as a composition celebrating the resilience, beauty and strength of a country and its people. An instrumental piece based mostly around guitar with the addition of violin, cello and piano, ‘Lebanon Rising’ was recorded in one take straight to tape.  

Skydaddy’s upcoming EP Pilot represents rebirth and rediscovery, not only has Rachid started the Skydaddy project from the ashes of former musical ventures, he’s rediscovering his Lebanese heritage. 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. Including a duet with Tyler Hyde (Black Country, New Road), the 5 tracks on Pilot take the listener on a whistle stop tour of the highlights of a larger grand adventure.

Offering insight into ‘Lebanon Rising’, Rachid tells us:

“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.”

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 of 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. Available as a very limited edition pressing here.

Buzzy whisperings around the name Skydaddy first started to bubble when he and his band were taken on the road as a support on Black Country, New Road’s May 2023 tour, going on to play sold out, 1,500 capacity venues with no music released. Since then, Skydaddy has been holding ‘works in progress’ nights at small London venues, hosting the likes of Black Country, New Road, Ethan P. Flynn, Katy J Pearson and Drug Store Romeos, performing stripped back, unreleased tracks which they’re in the process of writing. The nights are often ripe for catching buzzy London upstarts testing new material, including bands such as Keg, Sarah Meth, Heka, Blue Bendy, John Myrtle and more.