AVATARI Embraces His Own Mortality in Powerful New Track ‘My Skin’
Indie rock frontman AVATARI is a different kind of artist, on a mission create unity and hope in a divided world through the power of music.
After moving to Hollywood to pursue his musical dreams, he came face to face with his own inner demons before overcoming them and finding the light—alongside a new sound and a message he's working to spread to the world. That's evident on his new single, "My Skin," a rousing, glam-rock infused contemplation on mortality. It's got a stadium-worthy sound as he reflects on the idea of death and lets go of fear in order to live his most fulfilling life. The narrative further comes to life through a music video depicting AVATARI as a shapeshifter of sorts, progressively wearing more and more "skins" before finally settling into his authentic self. For even more on the track, read on to find out what AVATARI had to say about "My Skin" below.
On Exploring Mortality and Identity With 'My Skin'
AVATARI: Death. It waits for all of us. Right? Who the F isn't scared of death? I mean, isn't it built into the fabric of being a human?
Bears, car wrecks, poisoning, cancer, snakes, freak accidents, etc. etc. etc. All things to have a healthy fear of and to try and avoid as much as possible, right? And then of course, there's plain old aging…
My new song coming out at the end of the month is called "My Skin." It's an exploration of mortality. And identity I suppose.
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The Meaning of 'My Skin'
AVATARI: It starts like this:
"My skin
It's holding me in
The source of my pain
My pleasure my sin"
"My skin" being a symbol of my mortality—one of the things that all of us humans have in common. Our outward layering of skin. The thing in which we place so much importance and identification. After all, what would we do without that layer? We'd be… so exposed. Yikes!
It's also a bit of a metaphor for the ways in which we protect ourselves Protect ourselves from what? Well, ultimately from the feelings we experience from human interactions. Our sensitivities to conflict (or perceived conflict). The fear of being disliked or judged. And ultimately—the fear of death. That place of darkness we are all headed to. One way or another.
Just so you know, this thought process is not meant to be morbid. Au contraire. The idea is that most of us (myself included) walk around consciously or unconsciously terrified of death a fair amount of the time. Whether it's the death of my ego, or the literal death of my body. And it's this fear of death that keeps me in a cage of paralysis and prevents me from living my fullest life's purpose. Whatever that might be.
('My Skin' via Avatari Records)
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On Changing Our Views on Mortality
AVATARI: What if we could make friends with death? Embrace it. Accept it Celebrate it, even. Yikes!
Does that mean we'd need to invite it? No, not necessarily. I love life, after all. But who really knows what waits on the other side? Who's to say it's all that bad? And if the universe (or God or whatever you believe in) has created it as the next step from this existence, then why not choose to believe that it is at the very least "meant to be"?
Food for thought.
Today I will love my life. Whilst embracing my temporary physical existence on this plane. It's worth an experiment, anyway…
(Photo credit: Welkom Photography)
For more on our favorite new music out this week, click HERE to read our interview with Moody Joody on their debut EP, Dream Girl.