Denver Musician Skysia Makes Feature-Length Film to Accompany Album Debut

Tanner Allen is parked somewhere outside of Denver in his converted mini-bus, which includes his mobile music studio, as he discusses all the ins and outs of his upcoming full-length debut, Here. The former film student, who performs under the name Skysia, had a distinct vision for the thirteen-track album: to chronicle a person’s life from birth to death. And Here is certainly a sonic quest, fusing elements of electronica, bass and downtempo. But to properly convey its overarching message, Allen decided to also produce an accompanying feature-length film, which was written and directed by Julia Delbourg.

“Basically, I kept putting this album together and…eventually I liked the order. I started listening to it on walks and hikes and just getting into it. Every time, it felt like there was this story from birth to death, like someone’s full life,” he explains. “I just really wanted to tell that story in full. It’s instrumental, so no one’s really going to listen to the album and be like, ‘Oh, that’s the story of someone’s life from birth to death.’ It’s definitely abstract. It was just very clear to me that I wanted to further that story through a movie.”

The film follows the traditional hero’s journey arc, a time-tested storytelling template, which Allen also employs whenever he makes music. The question at the core of the two-part project was: What makes us human?

Allen “kept landing on memory – having the ability to have memory and know our past. Creating our own story with our memory became a big theme,” he reveals, adding that the story follows a woman who becomes “obsessed” with her former lives and develops a memory-jumping machine that allows her to relive her past. “She gets so caught up that she kind of gets stuck in her past and has to break back into the present moment.”

It’s trippy. It’s philosophical. And it’s catchy – particularly the music.

“The path of a human life, to me, has always been super intriguing. After hearing this album over and over, it was like, ‘That’s the story I like,'” Allen adds. “I think being human is naturally a hero’s journey, like starting in one place, going through an intense dark period and coming back out of that; all those waves have always really enticed me.”

While Allen has always been “entranced” by the human experience, he says that seeing the seminal downtempo artist Bonobo showed him how this type of music can take listeners on an odyssey.

“I think he was the first person who I stumbled upon who made instrumental music where I was like, ‘Whoa, there is such a story here.’ There are no lyrics, but I can create my own journey within his journey. It always inspired me,” he reflects.

The 22-day shoot took place in Allen’s former Southern California stomping grounds around Los Angeles, as well as Big Sur, Death Valley and Palm Springs. The plan, Allen says, is to have a proper premiere at an L.A. theater the same day the record is released, on April 28.

But first, Denver will see an early viewing at the Catbird Hotel on Wednesday, April 12. A partnership with Denver Yoga Social, the event is more of a curated yoga experience, complete with an advance listen of Here. The tie-in is a perfect match, Allen says, as he likens his music to the popular meditative practice.

“I know my music does get played a lot in yoga classes. Again, it’s the journey thing. In a yoga class, they’re already on their own journey. There are moments of intensity and moments of break and rest and breathing, so it makes sense,” Allen shares. “This album, specifically, is a great yoga journey.”

His approach is about “really using energy of a song to really create that story.” Bass tones conjure up “darker” feelings, which Allen enjoys resolving within each song. For Skysia sunset shows, like the one he’ll be putting together at the Catbird, you can expect a more relaxed atmosphere that pairs well with the rooftop setting. “It can start out really light and beautiful, and then in the middle it kind of gets dark. It’s staying within the same key, but using different root notes and the scale you’re using within the song and coming out to another beautiful light moment,” Allen explains.

That duality also allows him to make more bass-heavy “bangers,” especially when he’s playing at larger festivals.

“A lot of the time, I’m getting booked at these festivals and I’m playing Sunday night at midnight. I love bass music, too. I’ll take a lot of these melodic tunes that I have and I’ll flip them and make my own remixes of them that are bass heavier, more danceable,” he says. “It’s just storytelling. I feel like that’s something we kind of lost over the years, especially in the electronic scene. Everyone just wants bangers and bangers. That’s cool and great, but I still want to hear a story, I still want you to take me somewhere on a journey.”

Ultimately, Skysia should “make you feel something,” Allen says.

“If you cry, that’s great, then I did my job. I like the emotional side of it,” he says. “That’s a really rewarding experience for me.”

Skysia, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, Catbird Hotel, 3770 Walnut Street. Admission is pay-what-you-can; get tickets here.