Skylark

Eddy Antonini founded Skylark in Milan in 1994, and from the start he and bassist Roberto “Brodo” Potenti wrote and arranged the music together, built around Antonini’s keyboards and piano. The debut, The Horizon and the Storm, was self-released in 1995 with Fabio Dozzo on vocals. A year later the band moved to the Italian label Underground Symphony, which released the Waiting for the Princess EP in 1996 and the second album, Dragon’s Secrets, in 1997.

The Divine Gates concept took shape over the next years. Divine Gates Part I: Gate of Hell came out in 1999 and Divine Gates Part II: Gate of Heaven in 2000, followed by The Princess’ Day in 2001. Skylark then switched to Scarlet Records for Wings (2004), the first album with singer Kiara Laetitia, and Fairytales (2005). Both records were also licensed in Japan, where the band had a steady following.

Back on Underground Symphony, Skylark released Divine Gates Part III: The Last Gate in 2007. It reached No. 3 on the HMV Japan rock and pop chart. In May 2008 the band played its first show in the United States, in Phoenix, Arizona, and that concert was filmed for the live release Divine Gates Part IV: The Live Gate, which came out in 2009.

Twilights of Sand appeared in 2012 with Ashley Watson as the new official vocalist; bassist Potenti said at the time that nine different singers appear on the record, the others as guests. The most recent studio album is The Storm and the Horizon from 2015, and a further chapter of the saga, Divine Gates Part V: Chapter 2, followed in 2017. No newer release or news has surfaced since then, though Antonini, Potenti and Watson are still listed as the band’s line-up.

Current line-up: Eddy Antonini (keyboards, piano), Roberto “Brodo” Potenti (bass, guitar), Ashley Watson (vocals)