Five Times August comes to Edmond
Tracy Corcoran
Brad Skistimas, also known as recording artist Five Times August, will be performing in Edmond on Jan. 30 at University of Central Oklahoma.
Skistimas started writing music when he was 14 years old, but it wasn’t until four years later when he realized he wanted to pursue a career in music. He describes his music as acoustic/pop/rock and said it’s for fans of John Mayer and Dave Matthews.
Five Times August is Windows Media’s Artist on the Rise for January and February and is also featured on iTunes and Napster.
Five Times August’s big break came when he was approached to have his music played on MTV’s “Laguna Beach.” He has also had song placements on the CW’s “One Tree Hill” and MTV’s “The Real World.” Skistimas said TV placements have really helped his career.
The unique thing about Five Times August is he is and always has been an unsigned musician. Without a record label, Five Times August has sold more than 100,000 digital downloads. Skistimas has already turned down seven record labels and is perfectly happy with the path he is on.
Five Times August’s manager Kelly Vandergriff said because it’s just the two of them, they have to work extremely hard to make up for the lack of people helping them.
“We’re constantly working because we have a goal. We know that with being two people and not having a major label, we have to work that much harder to make up for not having a big team of people behind us,” Vandergriff said. “With Brad, it’s a goal that he set for himself a long time ago, and he’s the kind of person that’s not going to stop until he achieves it.”
Skistimas admits getting a record label was his goal when he first started making music. Through time and hard work, he realized he could make his dreams come true on his own.
“When I started out, the main goal was to get a record label. I kept doing so much on my own and I realized I could do it on my own and still be in charge of what my message is and what my image is,” Skistimas said. “I talked to other record labels, and I realized they would want to change me a lot and I didn’t really feel comfortable with that.”
Skistimas plans to remain unsigned and finds it humourous label records are now looking to him for advice.
“After a while, record labels started writing Kelly and me, asking how we did certain things, which is really funny. So, it’s like, why would I want sign to a record label when they’re asking me for advice?” Skistimas said.
The internet has been a large part of Five Time August’s success. Web sites like MP3.com and MySpace have given Five Time August much exposure and led him to his first TV placement.
“He’s been on the Internet since 2001 and using it to his advantage, which is actually how he got his very first song placement on ‘Laguna Beach’ because the music supervisor found his music online,” Vandergriff said.
Five Times August has been traveling consistently for the past two years.
“The best thing, I would say, is traveling to a place you’ve never been before that’s thousands of miles from home,” Skistimas said. “It’s really cool to just show up, start playing your songs and people are singing along with them.”
Five Times August’s new album, Brighter Side, drops March 18. Skistimas is expecting nothing but to keep climbing to the top of his career.
“The great thing about not being signed to a label is that a label is not just going to put me out there and see what I can do and then if I don’t do well enough for them, they just take me off and put me in the garbage,” Skistimas said. “The cool thing is that since it’s my career and I’m doing it myself, my career will just continuously build. I won’t have anywhere to go but up as long as I maintain what I already have.”
Stephen Speaks will be opening up for Five Times August at UCO in the Constitution Hall on Jan. 30.
The show is $5 for students and $7 for non-students. It starts at 8 p.m. and is open to the public. More information and details about Five Times August can be found at www.fivetimesaugust.com.
