Five Times August, aka, Brad Skistimas: Interview with a Successful MySpace Artist

As the No. 1 unsigned acoustic and pop artist worldwide on MySpace, Brad Skistimas, otherwise known as Five Times August (FTA), is much more than a handsome face and captivating voice; Brad Skistimas is the brains and energetic drive behind his own amazing success story.

What's in a Name?

He chose early on to go with the name Five Times August rather than his given name in his singing career because he realized the problems his last name could present in fan searches online for him as well as in pronunciation. He explained about his last name, "It's pronounced "Skiss Te Mass". It's actually Lithuanian, which no one ever really gets. (Laugh)

Usually when people ask me about my last name and I tell them where it came from they don't really know where Lithuania is (near Poland by the way). I was actually surprised one time where somebody immediately said "Is that Lithuanian?" which was hilarious because nobody in their right mind would make that their first guess. (Laugh)"

His Inspiration

FTA admits that the inspiration behind the lyrics for his songs come mainly from personal experiences. He writes all of his own music and for now plans on keeping it that way.

"I think I really just have to get out there with my own material for a while before I consider working with others. There are a lot of artists out there right now that don't write their own material, or co-write with specific songwriters to get that 'hit song'. I guess it's just something I have to prove to myself . . . and to show people that there is somebody out there that actually knows how to play guitar, write their own songs, and can manage their own career without the help of anyone else."

Living the Dream

Five Times August, one of the first musical talents to sign on with MySpace, attributes the social networking site with some of his success.

"It's helped out a lot for sure. I've been on MySpace since 2004, so I got on it pretty early and had the chance to develop a reputation on the site before a lot of other bands."

He then gives a recommendation about how to best use MySpace in conjunction with promoting a career.