Jovi Skyler is an enigmatic, Sydney-based grunge-punk auteur whose music sounds like it was dragged straight out of the Black Lodge. A true lone wolf of the underground, Skyler rejects conformity—he conjures up his songs at night and operates with a total DIY ethos, directing his own surreal, distorted music videos completely alone in the dark.
Skyler‘s path took a strange turn when he abruptly vanished from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Trading rigid structures for a ghost-like existence in Europe, he spent two years drifting between shadow-lit cafes and underground bars, performing unplugged sets under shifting aliases. Now back in Australia, Skyler channels this displacement into a sound defined by unsettling duality. On the cusp of unveiling his sophomore album Unpopular on September 25, Skyler today premiere’s the album’s lead single Dead Rockstars, a song that epitomises the Seattle fuelled grunge that coarses though his veins.
Recorded in a Sydney basement, then mastered in Seattle by The Godfather Of Grunge, Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney), Unpopular is is the definitive soundtrack for the outsider—the sonic equivalent of standing on the edge of the woods, looking through the window at a world you don’t belong to. HEAVY sent Skyler through some questions to find out more.
HEAVY: You are premiering the single DEAD ROCKSTARS via HEAVY today, September 24. Tell us a bit about the track.
SKYLER: Dead Rockstars is about the end of authenticity, the dopamine machine, the overwhelming overload and rehash of society itself, and the copy and paste of the individual.
HEAVY: Tell us about the song musically and what you were going for.
SKYLER: I obviously wanted to rip off Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit—just joking. Or maybe not. It’s a hard thing to explain. I didn’t have a plan or know what I was going for, wish I did. It would make life much easier.
HEAVY: DEAD ROCKSTARS comes with a music video as well. Run us through that and how it relates to the song?
SKYLER: The clip is a metaphor for the song, using the grunge era as a time capsule. By splicing in archival footage of late grunge icons alongside my own performance, it shows how the dopamine machine stripped away authenticity and turned everyone into clones. You can’t fake authenticity. Today, everything feels disconnected. In the video, I’m just digital static trying to break on through to the ghosts of the past.
HEAVY: It has been chosen as the song to represent your sophomore album UNPOPULAR that comes out on Friday. Why choose this song as a lead in to the album.
SKYLER: Interesting question. I was working on several music videos, but this song just progressed the fastest. There was another track I originally wanted as the lead single, but life got in the way—sometimes rainy days get the best of you. When I finally got the urge to create visuals again, the momentum shifted here. So, the music video was really the deciding factor.
HEAVY: Is it a good sonic example of what to expect from UNPOPULAR or does it just scratch the surface?
SKYLER: It just scratches the surface and gives you a pretty scab. The album is a bit of a mix—it has both the dark side and the bright. It’s like that specific feeling of getting intoxicated on a Sunday afternoon.
HEAVY: The press release says the album “carries the Seattle DNA, but it is mutated by the isolation and digital static of 2026.” Can you elaborate on that?
SKYLER: The Seattle DNA is completely transparent in the sound—and, of course, came from the expertise of the legendary Jack Endino. Only his ears could bring that specific weight to a record.
I brought the raw, sleep-deprived noise, but his ears made sure it cuts right through the speakers. The ‘mutation’ just comes from taking that old-school grunge framework and filtering it through total isolation. It’s vintage noise being warped by today’s digital chaos.
HEAVY: It was recorded in a studio basement in Sydney. What impact did that setting have on the final product?
SKYLER: The biggest impact was the total lack of sleep throughout the process. It gave the record this heavy, nocturnal energy. Screaming at the top of your lungs in a basement when you haven’t slept for days—there’s a strange, chaotic rush to that kind of sleep deprivation, and you can hear it in the tracks.
HEAVY: Then you sent the album to Seattle to be mastered by the man known as THE GODFATHER OF GRUNGE, Mr JACK ENDINO. What was the thought process there?
SKYLER: It was something I used to just say to myself—like, ‘How cool would it be if I could get him on board with my DIY project?’ To me, it always seemed completely out of reach. Having someone who shaped the music I grew up on actually working on my own material is still hard to compute, to be honest. I felt like only Jack Endino could bring that exact weight to the record. It was deeply surreal, and I’m incredibly grateful that The Godfather of Grunge mastered my album.
HEAVY: You have described UNPOPULAR as “the definitive soundtrack for the outsider.” What do you mean by that?
SKYLER: It’s just music for the people who are sitting on the fringes, looking in. It’s for the crowd that doesn’t want to fit into whatever slick, manufactured thing society is selling today.
It’s sincere, it’s raw, and it doesn’t apologise for being uncomfortable. That’s all I mean by it, really. If you get it, you get it. If not, then it’s probably not for you.
HEAVY: Your story is interesting to say the least. After leaving the SYDNEY CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC you elected to head to Europe to travel for 2 years.” Was that always the plan or was it more a spur of the moment decision?
SKYLER: Honestly, I don’t think of myself as an interesting person. Leaving was definitely a spur-of-the-moment decision. I was at the Con for a very short time—I just didn’t fit in. I didn’t like the idea of playing jazz, classical music, or whatever else was in store for me there. One day, I just decided to no-show my classes and drop out.
Going overseas was originally meant to be a short trip, but I somehow never came back. I spent two years moving from place to place, completely drifting through Europe. Looking back now, the whole chapter was a bit weird and chaotic, but it shaped everything.
HEAVY: What did that trip teach you about yourself and your music?
SKYLER: It taught me to stick to an obsessive routine: staying up all night, drinking a litre of coffee, and just writing. Regardless of what town or country I was in, I couldn’t be bothered to participate in the local scene. If I played a gig, I would immediately leave, head back to wherever I was staying, and it was just a loop.
I lived completely in my own little dream world, and that specific isolation is the electricity keeping my music evolving. The songwriter’s life is actually a bit boring—well, at least for me.
HEAVY: And how has it influenced the material on UNPOPULAR?
SKYLER: I’m not sure how to answer that, really. That path started with the birth of my first EP, followed by my debut LP Nothing to Do, which evolved into Call It A Day—and now the journey has brought me here, to Unpopular. I don’t overthink these things or have pre-packaged answers for them. It just happens, usually when the weight of the world is on your shoulders.
People say it made my music a bit cynical. I think I’ve always been cynical, but I view it more as just being a realist. Anyway, whatever I write or do, the most important thing is to be sincere. Otherwise, why bother?
HEAVY: Do you plan to play the material live? If so, do you have any dates coming up?
SKYLER: Oh yeah, I’m planning to play Lollapalooza, but I think I missed it ha ha. Otherwise, it’s just a grind, and I’m not motivated right now. I might be later. If I could have my way, I would prefer to just stay home, play guitar all day, make music, write in journals, and basically just make art. But you know, one thing for sure about me… is nothing ain’t for sure.
HEAVY: What’s next for JOVI SKYLER?
SKYLER: I don’t think too far ahead. Who knows? I’ll probably just sit in a café, stare out the window, and daydream a bit. I suppose I should try to finish another music video, but you know… right now, I just don’t feel like it.
https://joviskyler.bandcamp.com
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