Monday September 18, 2000 @ 01:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff
It's a regular fairy tale. Many long years ago, one 15-year-old Antoine (no last names, please) is blown away by an equally young Anastasia, while both are singing at his neighbourhood community centre. Many years pass and Antoine forms one half of Montreal's most recognizable export since poutine: Sky, who go as far as to manage a Juno for Best New Group and break up in the same week.
Not long after the ultimate/final achievement of his career, he returns to the old neighborhood, ending up one late evening at a favourite eating establishment. Working at said establishment was none other than Anastasia, who'd never given up on her dream of being a singer, continuing to work on her own material and performing when and wherever she could.
The duo then decided to enter the studio - more to relive old times, without any real hope of doing anything with the material. Both Antoine and Anastasia were presently surprised by the results and the rest is history. Sky has returned with their sophomore release, Travelling Infinity, set to be in stores in November. The duo made their first step out for a publicity grab recently, in the process of filming the video for the first single, "Superhero."
Chart arrived to the super-hyped shoot at Club Meow last week just in time to sadly witness the standard rock'n'roll cliched cavalcade of super well-dressed extras parading through the club. The majority of which were booty shakin', pencil-thin girls who spent the evening fawning over Antoine. When the camera did finally roll, the extras did their booty shakin' to the tune of Madonna's hot hit single, "Music," causing Chart to wonder what made this Sky track - highly touted as "heavy dance/electronic" - undanceable.
Filtering through the chaos, catering and adoring groupies, Antoine excitedly explained the story of Anastasia, the departure of James - described as "more than amicable" - and the direction of the new Sky.
"Sky is still a pop group. We're still all over the fucking board. We've got Latin influences, country, Hip-hop, R&B, dance, folk - everything." He grins and continues, "It's like sex - you can't do it the same way all the time."
Even with all the chaos, Chart had time to wander and check out the goings-on behind the scenes. The most interesting person on location had to be Paco from Toronto indie-rock outfit Wayne Omaha. He hauled ass as much as anyone behind the scenes, keeping up the lighting end of things and still had time to entertain Chart with many humorous stories of many other bad video shoots.
As for the first single from Sky, "Superhero" sounds like it was made by Aqua, only it lacks all warmth and charm that the Danish popsters produce. You can find out for yourself what you think of it by downloading a mix of the song at http://www.emimusic.ca.
By: Erin Cardiff