The Twin Cities certainly has had its share of heartache and revolution in the prior four months. Lost in that turmoil has been the stellar musical contributions from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Take Skittish for example. While not exactly Prince or Lizzo in name recognition, Jeff Noller the namesake of Skittish has made his own artistic impression.
Years of constant touring the country made Skittish one of the “can’t miss” acts in the Twin Cities music scene. Industry recognition came with CMJ charting and two Independent Music Award nominations in 2016 for Album and Single of the year. In 2018, Noller temporarily stepped back from life on the road and went to graduate school in Savannah for film sound.
One thing that didn’t change was the desire to make music. He began using the school’s studio after hours to record songs he had written since arriving in the ‘Hostess City of the South.’
“I lived in a small apartment with thin walls, so I had been writing soft little acoustic songs I could whisper-sing to myself instead of doing homework.”
Eventually, these became the tracks on Skittish’s seventh album Savannah Sessions. Local Savannah musicians lent their talent.
“I met a busker in Forsyth Park who absolutely crushed anything on the violin. I managed to sneak in classmates who could sing and drum to fill out a few songs as well.”
Soon after graduate school ended, the Covid-19 quarantine started.
“It has given me time to mix the songs and indulge my introverted ways. Spending a lot of time on your own, whether self-inflicted or quarantined, its only natural to turn inward. I never want to stop questioning and poking at assumptions. There are tools like therapy and psychedelics that can help you discover more about yourself and your place in this world. Music is another one of these tools. Its an instrument of empathy that helps you connect. If I can’t hang out with you in person and spend all night talking tangents, then at least I can reach out with this record.”
With that, Glide is thrilled to premiere “Car Crash Companion” a courageous hook limbed rocker with emotionally explosive songwriting. When Nolle bluntly shouts “I’m tired of my own brain fuck fuck fucking me,” there is a sense of an edgy Bob Mould and Robert Pollard creeping underneath that melodic presentation.
“This song is about trying to keep your mind from going off the road. I’m a bit of a searcher, and I have tried all kinds of alterations to keep on track. Some provide insight, some just put me in a fog. This has lines right from my life, said to a then-girlfriend, who I appreciated being along for the ride, even though it was a doomed one,” says Noller.
