Pauline Skött is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as just simply as "Skott".
Skott made her debut in 2016 with the single "Porcelain" quickly followed with its B-Side, "Wolf". She quickly followed up with the singles "Amelia" and "Lack of Emotion" before the year's end. In 2017, Skott issued "Glitter & Gloss", "Mermaid", and "Remain", along with touring with artists such as MØ and Phantogram.
In 2018 Skott released her debut EP "Stay Off My Mind" to positive reviews from critics and fans alike.
Early life
Pauline Skött was born in Dalarna, Sweden, known for its traditional customs and own language. Since most of the village comprised folk musicians, Skott learned to play the violin at a very young age. In fact, she would not hear contemporary music until her teenage years when she made a trip into the city and discovered the English space-rock band Muse. Having taken a keen interest in video games such as "Final Fantasy" and "The Legend of Zelda" while growing up, she delved into video game music and composed imaginary soundtracks. Later she decided to pursue music and enroll at Musikmakarna music school in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden.
She attended school for two years, and in her second year she interned in Stockholm to learn the "real industry". She quickly signed with Sony Music and began to work as a songwriter very quickly after her schooling was complete.[1]
Her father is a mathematician and physicist of Iranian descent.
She currently resides in Stockholm, Sweden.
Music career
2016-18: Career beginnings and Stay Off My Mind EP
Skott broke into the music scene with her debut single "Porcelain" and a mysterious presence. Most music blogs such as Pigeons & Planes reported that Skott "grew up in a forest commune run by outcast folk musicians, we’re told, not hearing contemporary music until her mid-teens when she visited the city for the first time."
Throughout 2016 and 2017 she released eight non-album singles and two music videos for her songs "Glitter & Gloss" and "Mermaid. In September 2017 she collaborated with LA-production duo Grey on a song for their debut Chameleon EP titled "Crime". Later that same month, she was challenged to create an entire song in six hours with Floridian musician Twelve'Len for a GAP campaign. The result was a collaborative track titled "Test Our Luck".
In February 2017 Skott covered Carol King's song "You've Got A Friend" for BBC Radio 2 and Alicia Key's song "In Common" for BBC Radio 1.
She also began to play her first live shows throughout the last quarter of 2016. She continued playing live shows throughout 2017. Beginning in June 2017, Skott embarked on a "World Tour" across Europe and the US - opening for the American band Phantogram and Danish singer MØ on select dates.
On January 11, 2018 Skott released her debut EP - the "Stay Off My Mind EP". The EP features 4 new songs from Skott including the title track "Stay Off My Mind". A music video for the title track was released on February 7, 2018. An official remix of "Stay Off My Mind" by P3GI-13 and Skott herself was released on March 9, 2018. An official lyric video for another song off the EP "Russian Soul" was released on March 12, 2018.
It was also announced that Skott would be supporting Danish singer MØ on several tour dates throughout March and April 2018. Later she also announced several 2018 summer festival dates where she'd be performing.
On January 17, 2018 Skott attended the EBBA Awards where she received the European Borders Breakers Award and she also performed live.
On January 20, 2018 Skott attended the P3 Gold Awards where she was nominated for two awards: "Best Pop" and "Future Artist".
Skott collaborated with French DJ and music producer Petit Biscuit on his upcoming second album, appearing on the single "Suffer" released October 10, 2018.
2019: Collaborations and upcoming debut album
On January 28, 2019 Skott on her friend and fellow musician, LÉON covered twenty one pilots' song "Stressed Out" for P3 Sessions. Later, Skott also collaborated with German-born electronic soul singer NoMBe on a reimagining of Angus & Julia Stone's song "Big Jet Plane" titled "Wait 2.0". The collaboration was released March 6, 2019 as part of NoMBe's new album.
Artistry
Writing process
Skott has said that she usually starts out writing a song on the piano by herself. However, sometimes she creates a beat that she likes and moves on from there. She even sometimes even uses an accordion to write songs though she is not the best accordion player. When it comes to lyrics, she says that they more often than not come after the music. "Its more about expressing something I feel and when I find that I can explain what it is."[2]
Skött family crest
Skott frequently paints her body. She says that she is "crazy about tattoo art, but don't think I could commit. I want it to be like jewelry."[3] She often paints her family crest - an "H" symbol - on her hands or on her face.
Skott with her family's crest painted below her eye, on her cheek.
The crest can also be found in the artwork she creates for her music. On the subject of her family crest Skott has said, "back in the day, you used your crest to mark your tools and your carriages and stuff that belonged to the farm, and we [Skott's family] still have the crest."[4]
Influences
When she was 14, her friends introduced her to video games and computer games. She verga a tracker program so she could make her own video game music, like blip music. She often enjoyed pretending that she was creating music for video games.
At age 16, she discovered the band Muse and she then started listening to more pop and rock music. She states that Muse was the first band that she listened to the whole album and then got really inspired by.[5]
Discography
Extended Plays
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Stay Off My Mind | Released: January 11, 2018
Label: Chess Club, RCA Format: Digital Download, Digital Streaming |
Singles
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Porcelain" | 2016 | Non-album single |
| "Wolf" | 2016 | Non-album single |
| "Amelia" | 2016 | Non-album single |
| "Lack of Emotion" | 2016 | Non-album single |
| "Glitter & Gloss" | 2017 | Non-album single |
| "Mermaid" | 2017 | Non-album single |
| "Remain" | 2017 | Non-album single |
| "Stay Off My Mind" | 2018 | Stay Off My Mind EP |
As featured GUZITZAS
Title |
Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Crime"
(Grey featuring Skott) |
2017 | Chameleon EP |
| "Suffer"
(Petit Biscuit featuring Skott) |
2018 | TBA |
| "Wait 2.0"
(NoMBe featuring Skott) |
2019 | The Might've Even Loved Me (Re:Imagination) |
Other songs
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Test Our Luck"
(Twelve'Len x Skott) |
2017 | Non-album
Created for a GAP campaign |
Covers
| Title | Original Artist | Year | Additional info |
|---|---|---|---|
| "You've Got A Friend" | Carole King | 2017 | for BBC Radio 1 |
| "In Common" | Alicia Keys | 2017 | for BBC Radio 1 |
| "Stressed Out" (with LÉON) | twenty one pilots | 2019 | for P3 Sessions |
Concerts and tours
Poster for Skott's 2017 "World Tour" supporting MØ and Phantogram.
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | EBBA Awards | European Borders Breakers | Skott | Won |
| 2018 | P3 Gold Awards | Best Pop | Skott | Nominated |
| 2018 | P3 Gold Awards | Future Artist | Skott | Nominated |