Dorian Williams II, known professionally as Skateland, is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist based in Austin, TX. After moving from Las Vegas to pursue a degree at the University of Texas, Williams began writing songs and experimenting with various instruments in his bedroom and Skateland was born. Drawing from a wide variety of musical influences, he combines melancholy lyricism and new wave instrumentation with pop production techniques to create a sound that is equal parts past, present, and future.
In the past year Skateland has made quite a mark on the indie-pop scene. On the live circuit, he’s played the esteemed We Found New Music Showcase in Los Angeles, multiple showcases at SXSW ’24, and opened for indie scene staples like NY-based Strange Ranger and South Korean darlings Say Sue Me. In January his single “Autobahn!”, a highly relatable and important narrative on the highs and lows of love in the modern age, garnered national attention from several music platforms and publications. Just a few months later, his single “Postcards!” also caught national attention, landing multiple-week stays on Spotify Fresh Finds and Fresh Finds Indie as well as a number of other playlists, opening his thoughtful prose to an entirely new audience.
Now fresh off of a LiveNation show sharing a bill with indie legends Two Door Cinema Club and Day Wave in June, the momentum for Skateland continues as he gears up to play the iconic ACL Festival this fall. This week he’ll will play his largest show to date, opening for Foster the People to a sold-out crowd at Emo’s in Austin for ACL Nights presented by American Express.
His new single “Sunset Cinema” is a song about saying goodbye. He confides, “I wrestle a lot with the tension of letting go and moving on, and that can be for something as big as ending a relationship, or as simple as throwing away a beat up old t-shirt. There’s a romanticism to that idea which can be great, but the downside is that you can sometimes stay in something for longer than you should because you’re hyper-aware that when it’s over it’ll be gone for good”.
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Image/source Mora May
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