Starting from his Waverly, Iowa, home, a University of Iowa alumnus has created music for roughly 10 years now.
Skyler Gonzalez — better known by his stage name, Dizzy Bridges — will release his first full-length solo album on April 13, Speakerphobe on Speakerphone.
Gonzalez has been a part of local bands such as Alpha Bet and Waverly, along with performing in local music venues. Waverly released its only album, Fledgling, in 2017.
“I really enjoy working in a group, and it’s fun to collaborate,” he said. “But when you write a lot and are only allotted two to three songs on an album, you just want to do more.”
A song that has been released as a single, “For You,” he termed a “reject” from previous groups. Gonzalez had worked on it for a couple years to create a perfect arrangement and is his favorite track on the album.
“I really like the chord progression on it,” he said. “It switches from major to minor, which is one of the direct examples of what I would consider the theme of the album.”
The theme of the album portrays the world after college graduation, being in the real world and confused.
“The theme came from not actually knowing what to say,” he said. “Some of the songs have an optimistic bend to them and are more about being ambivalent.”
Another single will come out today, “In Love with Love”; Gonzalez considers it the epitome of the album.
“It’s a fun arrangement, but if you listen closely to the lyrics, it’s about someone who wants to believe in something, but they can’t,” he said.
Gonzalez has long been inspired by The Beatles, but more recent influences include Tame Impala, Melody’s Echo Chamber, Broadcast, and Spoon, all alternative or experimental rock groups.
Keeping the idea of DIY music in mind, Gonzalez said he recorded and played most of the music on his own, with the exclusion of drumming and mixing done by Peter Wiehs and certain guitar solos by Harrison Horgan, both of Iowa City.
Incorporating another Iowa City artist, the music video for Gonzalez’s “Variations on a Heartbeat” was directed by Joshua De Lanoit.
What is unique, however, is the album art for Speakerphobe on Speakerphone was created by Gonzalez’s father, Darin Gonzalez, who painted the cover for his eldest son.
As for the moniker, Gonzalez said he wanted an alter-ego type name similar to David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust, as well as being flexible enough to be a name for a band.
“I was reading The Shining when I started recording, and the hotel is a weird embodiment of a crazy spirit,” he said. “I was asking myself, since music has a spirit, what kind of object would symbolize that?”