Skinshape at the Quartyard in San Diego
LALITA ARSLAN / USD RADIO
As I stood in line, I wished there was a way to skip it. I had been looking forward to this night for weeks, and it was finally time. Will Dorey, a London based composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and mixer otherwise known by his stage name, “Skinshape,” came to San Diego on his tour throughout the U.S. for his new album “Another Side of Skinshape.” The tour kicked off in Los Angeles on Oct. 9. The following day, he played his second show in San Diego. Doors to the Quartyard, a funky event venue and urban park located Downtown, opened at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 10, ushering in a crowd that soon filled the space with the sounds of Skinshape. The opening act was an Anatolian folk band of Turkish origin by the name of Derya Yildirim & Grup Şimşek, whose distinct psychedelic rock sounds prepared the audience for Skinshape’s main performance. Although both performers fall under the same style of music, each had their own twists on the genre; Will with his surf rock groove and Derya with her traditional instrumental melodies.
As I waited in line, I could hear the Turkish-inspired music from outside the venue. Looking around me, I took note of who else might be excited in seeing Skinshape. A couple standing in front of me wore matching tie-dye shirts that read “Ocean Beach, San Diego.” A group of boys behind me, all with hair longer than my own, were discussing the crazy camping trip they recently went on. While they were engrossed in conversation, I was trying my hardest to hear the openers’ performance.
Being from Turkey, I eagerly wanted to hear what Derya might be singing about, but I could not make out the words from the other side of the venue’s walls. However, I could hear the saz, a Turkish stringed instrument with a long neck and teardrop shape, very clearly. By the time I finally made it inside the venue, they were singing “Nem Kaldi,” a song about loss and helplessness described through imagery of the dividing world and references to Turkey’s ancient history. The crowd swayed, their heads lifted toward the band, and the lights synced perfectly with the movement. I squeezed my way through the crowd to the front barrier of this spacious venue. At the end of their set, I yelled, “Bir tane daha çalın!” [“Play one more!”] Derya looked back as she was walking off and smiled, teasing that she would if she was given more time.
I explored the venue a bit during the break between the performers. There was art all around the open space — paintings and photographs of faces, flowers and vibrant colors filled the walls, encapsulating the energy of the people and the music. At the heart of Downtown San Diego, with tall buildings surrounding the short space, it was easy to feel tiny in a world so vast outside these walls.
While the lights were dim, Skinshape walked onto the stage. They found their positions on stage, picked up their instruments and began to play as the lights slowly came on. All conversations and disengagement concluded. The room fell silent, and all eyes — and ears — were on them. The music started off with a few slow songs, each with happy undertones. Just before playing “The Bay,” the song was given a little introduction: “Now we’ll be taking you to the English shore,” Dorey said.
The drums kicked it off into an instrumental solo as Dorey impressed the crowd with his smooth jazz guitar. The accompanying band included rhythm guitarist and backup voice, Peter Anderson, bassist Paul Wale, drummer Tom Blunt and Oliver Pash on the keyboard. I can only imagine how an artist must feel before going on stage, so to get a better idea of what that might be like, after the show, I got to find out.
Band Member Tom Blunt speaks on how it feels before going on stage: “It feels good. We’ve rehearsed a lot.” Blunt replied. “We feel like a band. I mean, Skinshape is Will Dorey. He’s nine albums deep. The rest of us, we’re touring musicians, we’re new to the scene. It’s his project, and we’re very lucky to be a part of it and lucky that you like such amazing music and we got to play it.”
Back to the performance, I was at the front of the crowd observing Dorey as he looked out with a proud expression on his face. I glanced at the audience and saw the same thing he did — smiles on every face. The energy was contagious, spreading like wildfire to the back corners of the Quartyard. It was clear that the crowd was not just listening to the music, they were feeling it inside and out. They were experiencing the emotions behind each note. I was curious to know how he realized he could make a career out of his music. Luckily, I later had the opportunity to talk to Dorey himself.
“You just do it because you like it,” Dorey said. “You may have an awareness that you’re good at something, but it’s more than that. It’s like a calling. This is what I do. It’s never gonna be anything else.”
Toward the end of the main set, Peter Anderson sang Andy Platts’ part in “The Longest Shadow.” His voice carried an amazing range, reaching angelic heights. Anderson already proved his talents on the rhythm guitar, supporting Dorey and playing a few solos in his own style, but when he took to the mic to sing, it was as if nothing else around him existed. The moment was intimate and slow. For a moment, Anderson closed his eyes and began moving his hands, gesturing along to the music and carrying the attention of the audience with him. Dorey and Anderson’s chemistry couldn’t be ignored, and Anderson remarked on their stage presence: “Well, see, I was a fan of his music back in the day,” said Anderson. “I didn’t know Will when he first released the music but I happened to be in the similar music vibe and the local music scene like him. That’s kind of how this came around.”
Another surprising moment of the show was when the keyboardist brought out a recorder for a solo during “Watching From The Shadows.” Some might picture the standard fifth-grade band when thinking of the recorder, but Pash reimagined the instrument to create a longer, richer-sounding tone. Pash’s melodies fluttered through the air, akin to the sound of a jungle full of birds. Dorey made a point to showcase the individual talents of each band member in unique ways.
The final song was “Don’t Call My Name.” A bittersweet moment as it was a popular song that the crowd sang along with, but signified the nearing end of the night. Dorey and the band rang out the last note as the crowd cheered and applauded in admiration. But that wouldn’t be the end of it. Simultaneously screaming for “one more song,” Dorey came back out to play “Mandala” and “I Didn’t Know,” their most listened-to song with over 44 million listens on Spotify. The crowd applauded them enthusiastically until Dorey, Anderson, Blunt, Wale and Pash came down from the stage and mingled among the people in attendance. I, as well as many others, took that opportunity to engage in conversation with the musicians. I enjoyed listening to one boy telling Peter Anderson that he often listens to Skinshape when he is highlining, a sport that involves balancing on a tightrope hundreds of feet above the ground.
Overall, The tunes that Dorey creates mimic that feeling. It’s like floating yet your heart is pumping and the view around you is wildly immaculate. That image is what his music creates, and it brings the crowd to feel that, figuratively and literally.
The beauty of live music lies in its unpredictability. Even if you see the same band multiple times, no two performances are ever identical. The magic of a live show comes from its spontaneous solos, off-the-cuff banter, the expressions in the crowd and the happy accidents that unfold in the moment. Those authentic experiences can only be fully appreciated when you are there in person, breathing in as it is happening.