Growing Stone

Growing Stone (Skylar of Taking Meds) preps new album (watch the "Party City" video)

Growing Stone
photo by Luke LeCount

Skylar Sarkis, vocalist/guitarist of NYC punk band Taking Meds, will self-release a solo album under his Growing Stone moniker, I Had Everyone Snowed, on November 30. “I started writing this record when I moved to NYC in 2013,” Skylar says. “I rarely had any money for studio time so I just basically chipped away at it for four years with producer Jon Markson, and it got tabled indefinitely in 2017 when Taking Meds started touring full time.”

“Fast forward to 2020… when COVID first hit, Jon got a little bit of free time and happened to look at it. He told me that he was going to finish some overdubs and then it basically just needed to be mixed, which he did for me as a birthday present. I’ve been sober for three years, and these songs are definitely a bittersweet reminder of how I spent most of my 20s. I decided to put the album out on November 30th because that’s my current sobriety date.”

We’re premiering the Luke LeCount-directed video for new song “Party City,” which was previously released in a more bare-bones form on the Ugly EP. This new version is polished up and fleshed out by a rickety drum machine and some gorgeous string arrangements, and it’s a lovely dose of indie/chamber pop. It’s a far cry from Taking Meds, but it suits Skylar just as well as that band does. Check it out below.

Growing Stone

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