Five Times August
What's Up With One-Man Bands?
Issue date: 11/12/08 Section: Entertainment
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Rotunda Reporter
After selling over 100,000 digital downloads without a record label, having every song from his last album placed on various TV programs (MTV's "Real World," The CW's "One Tree Hill," and many more), and touring 43 of the 50 states in 2007 alone, one can only wonder what one-man band Five Times August will be accomplishing next. As a 24-year-old Dallas native, Brad Skistimas is the perfect example of the new breed of music that is launching in today's world thanks to the Internet. Skistimas is a completely unsigned artist, which makes his successes that much more amazing.
Five Times August is really just a new version of the classic sensitive singer/songwriter, strumming his acoustic guitar over folk-rock arrangements and singing sincerely about romance. His songs focus on love and self-esteem. His latest record, "Brighter Side," was released last March and showcases his catchy tunes while Skistimas wears his heart on his sleeve. It was recorded and produced in Dallas at Bass Propulsion Laboratories by the studio's owners, brothers Todd and Toby Pipes (Deep Blue Something, Drowning Pool, Flickerstick).
According to his official Web site, Skistimas is the sole creative outlet for Five Times August, but he does need other artists to play on his records. "Since Five Times August is a solo project I have the freedom to bring in a variety of players to fit each album." Skistimas said. "It's great because those different inputs provide a level of comfort in knowing my sound will never get repetitive from one record to the next. It's like forming a new band each time around."
At the recommendation of the Pipes bros, Skistimas recruited local studio musicians for most of the instrumentation but also took it upon himself to invite former Vertical Horizon drummer Ed Toth to provide solid structure for the record. What makes his sound unique is his ability to blend acoustic pop with hints of rock, country and punk music. The smooth "Who You Are" will appeal to fans of Sarah McLaughlin, while the unruly "Overrated" might pull in fans of Green Day or Rise Against. The '90s-esque "One Way Road" channels the style of 3 Doors Down, while the energetic anthem "The Lighting" features heavy electric guitar riffs.
Five Times August has sold over 13,000 CDs independently, held #3 Unsigned Artist (worldwide) on MySpace for ten months, #1 Unsigned Acoustic & Pop Artist (worldwide) on MySpace, #1 Artist at awarestore.com & iSound.com, over 11 million plays on MySpace Player and 62,000 friends. He has played on the CBS Early Show, appeared in newspapers and magazines such as USA Today and Billboard Magazine, as well as appeared on a panel on Fox Business Network as the "expert" on the music industry's new business model. Five Times August is also the only unsigned artist sold in Wal-Mart stores nationwide. Remarkably, this phenomenon started simply by word of mouth and through the Internet.
According to his MySpace page however, now Skistimas is represented by Croshal Entertainment group, a virtual label based out of L.A. Skistimas was able to establish quite a name for himself with little promotion, so just imagine what will happen now that he is being funded to promote his work. He is currently wrapping up a nationwide college tour which will end at Longwood with a free concert on Friday, Nov. 15 in the Lancer Cafe.
Five Times Augusts' music can be found on its official Web site, http://www.fivetimesaugust.com/, as well as other popular Internet music sites such as iTunes, Purevolume, iLike, MySpace and Facebook.
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