On Sept. 12, 2017 at Brewstir’s Cafe, it was a full house when Tyler Skyy and Erik Chirkoff performed their latest album, “I now pronounce you, in love.”
Tyler Skyy, also known as Devan Tyler Head, is a former Houston resident that lived in Houston at a young age until 2008 when he and his family moved to Vernon, B.C.
Skyy was well known in Houston as a successful athlete in hockey, biking, golfing, and often spent his time hanging out with friends on Cooper Road.
This is Skyy’s first time back in Houston since 2010, and his first time performing in front of a crowd who has known him since elementary school.
“Tonight we were here [at Brewstir’s Cafe] and played music in front of people that I’ve grown up with, who have known me since I was five and that I have never performed in front of before. It has been a sentimental experience.”
Chirkoff collaborated with Skyy to produce their latest album which he describes as dream-pop mixed with hip-hop.
“[As well as] acoustic singer-song writer, because they are two different versions of each song,” said Chirkoff.
The album, I now pronounce you, in love” features eight songs in total covering four songs in two different styles.
“Originally we were going to create songs that were of the Ed Sheeran genre, acoustic, which rubbed off on the acoustic version in the album, and on what we performed tonight. But when I started producing the studio versions, they came out very pop-dreamy, and very focused around nothing but love,” said Chirkoff.
Chirkoff said that it might sound cliche, but the music is inspired by the different aspects of a relationship that make love what it is.
Skyy described the album as a feeling.
“For me music is a feeling. You can feel the positivity and warmth when you hear it. The music itself is very smooth and easy to listen to,” said Skyy.
Skyy and Chirkoff’s tour has taken them from Vancouver to Prince George and now Houston, where they will continue to Vernon and back south ending their last performance in Whistler.
“[Being on tour] has been insane. This is my first go at doing anything like this,” said Chirkoff. “I’ve never been a good planner, so I’m glad to be with Tyler because he’s more experienced in the business and what it takes to do something like this. It’s been great to see people and have a different audience every night where we have to establish ourselves. And being able to see people that love our music, the experience of that, it’s phenomenal.”
Skyy agreed with Chirkoff’s description of what the first three performances of their tour has been like, adding that performing in Houston specifically has been a unique experience.
Skyy says that it wasn’t until he left Houston that he fell in love with creating music.
“I never thought about making music until I was 16, I was in Vernon at that time. I didn’t have any artistic interest before then, and then one day it just came into mind,” said Skyy.
Skyy says that people who have known him as an athlete in Houston were just as surprised as he was when he started making music.
“I never mentioned anything before, and out of no-where I said [to family and friends] I wrote a song, check it out,” said Skyy.
Both artists describe performing at Brewstir’s Cafe as a more intimate experience. One that they both felt nervous about compared to performing at larger venues.
“It’s more a personal connection, it was amazing though,” said Skyy.
“I knew that it was sentimental to Tyler, and people that actually knew the music we were playing and Tyler himself, so I know that this just wasn’t just a restaurant gig, where we are background ambiance music. I knew that people were coming to see us, and any time that there is something that is sentimental for me, I still get nervous,” said Chirkoff.
Chirkoff said that knowing that you are participating in something that is different from people’s every day life, like these cafe performances in Houston, stirs something in him and inspires him to keep doing what he loves.
The duo left for Vernon on Sept. 14 to continue on with their tour, and said they have plans in the future to return to Houston again to perform, hopefully on a tour across Canada.
Skyy and Chirkoff’s album, “I now pronounce you, in love,” is available on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes and Google Play.
To follow Tyler Skyy and Erik Chirkoff on their journey you can follow their Facebook pages https://www.facebook.com/itstylerskyy/ and https://www.facebook.com/thisiserikchirkoff/ .