Legal Name: John Skobrak
Location: Norwich, Connecticut
File Under: Rap
URB: How did you get into music and where does your name come from?
SKOBIE WON: I first got into music from my brother being in the hardcore/punk scene. I started by recording his band. I was making beats on the side and always had the ambition and wanted to make rap music. The name is just a nickname that stuck. Easy play on words from my last name–Skobrak.
URB: What’s the inspiration behind the record?
SKOBIE: The record is inspired by having to work a crappy job and wanting to make music for a living, teaching myself everything from how to record, how to rap, and how to make beats, all the way down to teaching my self math to pass my collage classes. I feel like to me that’s what Autodidact is about but it can be interpreted any way you want–that’s what music to me is.
URB: What are some of the advantages and challenges of recording and producing your debut on your own?
SKOBIE: Funding my projects seems to be the most difficult challenge to overcome, finding the money and making the time is the hardest part. The advantages are that I can do what I want with out having to answer to anyone.
URB: Who do you dream of performing or working with?
SKOBIE: If I could work with any of the people that inspired me El-P, Aesop Rock, P.O.S. and Sage Francis are at the top of the list. I also have a slight obsession with Norah Jones.
URB: Connecticut isn’t known for a rap scene. Do you often run into people expecting your act to sound a certain way because of where you’re from?
SKOBIE: I don’t really fit in a box I’m sure there is some kind of expected attitude for a kid from Connecticut, but I don’t really try to appeal to that. I try to keep doing my own thing and hope people catch on.
URB: So, what are your live gigs like?
SKOBIE: My gigs are usually high energy and all over the place I like to keep the crowd involved, whether it be a room full of metal/hardcore kids or a room full of hip hop heads I think everyone has fun and that’s all it’s about.
URB: What’s the most valuable part of using Sonicbids?
SKOBIE: Being given the opportunity to get exposure outside the sticks is an awesome thing, and the company is full of opportunities.
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Skobie Won “American Dream” from Autodidact, available free.
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I enjoyed reading your interview son. Send me some updates of your music.
Pops