Cavetown (musician)

Robin Daniel Skinner[6] (born 15 December 1998),[1] known professionally as Cavetown, is an English singer-songwriter, record producer, and YouTuber based in London. His style blends elements of indie rock, indie pop and bedroom pop with mellow, gentle ukulele ballads.[1] As of June 2020, he has amassed over 3.8 million monthly streamers on Spotify.[7] His YouTube channel, which he began in November 2012, sits at 1.41 million subscribers and 136.2 million video views as of August 2020.[8] Skinner released his fourth studio album, Sleepyhead, in March 2020.[9]

"Devil Town (song)" redirects here. For the Daniel Johnston song, see 1990 (Daniel Johnston album).

Cavetown
Cavetown in a Q&A video in 2018
Background information
Birth nameRobin Daniel Skinner
Born (1998-12-15) 15 December 1998
Oxford, England
OriginCambridge, England[1]
Genres
Occupation(s)
Instruments
Years active2012–present
Labels
Associated acts
YouTube information
Channel
Genre
Subscribers1.41 million
Total views136.2 million
100,000 subscribers
1,000,000 subscribers
Updated 9 August 2020

Early life

Skinner was born in Oxford on 15 December 1998, and relocated to Cambridge at the age of eight.[1] His interest in music was inspired by his father, David Skinner, a musicologist and choir director,[10] who taught him how to play the acoustic guitar at the age of eight.[11] His mother is a professional Baroque flautist and music teacher. He attended Parkside Community College from 2010 to 2015 and Hills Road Sixth Form College until 2017.[12]

Career

2012–2015: YouTube and Bandcamp

Skinner began his YouTube channel in November 2012 and uploaded his first video, an original song named Haunted Lullaby, in October 2013.[13][14] The first song Skinner wrote and recorded was Rain in 2013.[15] Soon after, Skinner began releasing music to Bandcamp with his first album, Everything Is Made of Clouds, at the age of 14.[16][17] Skinner released Gd Vibes, Nervous Friends // Pt. 1, Balance (as brother) and Everything is Made of Stars on Bandcamp over the following two years.[18][19][20][21] Critics expressed that they felt "the acceptance of ignorance" on Gd Vibes.[22] Skinner released his debut single "This Is Home" in August 2015,[23] before releasing his debut self-titled album in November 2015.[24] Critics described the album Cavetown as "an eclectic mix of acoustic and electronic".[25] Skinner continued to publish covers of songs onto his YouTube channel from artists such as Pinegrove, Twenty One Pilots and Joji.[11]

2016–2018: 16/04/16 and Lemon Boy

In 2016, Skinner released his second studio album, 16/04/16.[26] The album includes a mix of "warm, melodic bedroom pop" and "lo-fi indie rock".[1] The album was dedicated to Skinner's childhood friend, Jack Graham, who died of leukaemia on the album's titular date. 60% of the album's proceeds were donated to Cancer Research UK.[27]

In April 2017, whilst still at Sixth Form College, Skinner reached the final of the Cambridge Band Competition, winning both Best Acoustic Act and the Kimberley Rew Award for Songwriting, and went on to play at Strawberry Fair in June 2017. In 2018, he released his third album, Lemon Boy. As of June 2020, the album's title track has amassed 47 million streams on Spotify and 13 million views on YouTube.[28][29]

2019–present: Animal Kingdom and Sleepyhead
Cavetown in Vienna in August 2019

In 2019, Skinner released five split singles which were later compiled into Animal Kingdom, a mixtape of ten tracks including covers and original singles with guest appearances from Sidney Gish, Simi, Chloe Moriondo and Spookyghostboy.[30][31][32] He produced the single "prom dress" by mxmtoon, which has gained over 8 million streams on Spotify and has been used in over 100,000 videos on the video-sharing platform TikTok.[33][34][35] The single was featured on mxmtoon's debut album the masquerade, which was also fully produced by Skinner.[36] Skinner performed on the Acoustic Stage at Victorious Festival in August 2019.[37] He signed under Sire Records in 2019 where he released the single "Telescope" ahead of his upcoming album, later announced as Sleepyhead.[30] Skinner embarked on a series of sold-out worldwide headlining tours in October 2019. He played on tour at 31 venues in the US and 15 venues in the UK over the space of four months.[30] He was joined by Hunny and mxmtoon for a few shows in the UK tour,[38][39] as well as Field Medic and Chloe Moriondo for a few shows in the US tour.[30] In October 2019, Skinner announced his headlining tour along Australia's east coast which took place in January 2020.[40]

In 2020, Skinner released his major label debut album Sleepyhead,[9] and appeared on the Recording Academy's Sessions series in support of MusiCares.[41][42] He cancelled the tour in support of Sleepyhead due to the COVID-19 pandemic in June 2020.[43] In July 2020, Skinner collaborated with Tessa Violet on "Smoke Signals (ft. Tessa Violet)" and announced the launch of his unisex clothing line Cave Collective.[44]

Artistry

Musical style and songwriting

Skinner is known for his "gentle ukulele ballads" and "melodic bedroom pop".[45]

Personal life

As of July 2019, Skinner lives in London, England.[46] He has identified himself as "somewhere on the Ace and Aro spectrums" in an autobiographical Tumblr post.[47] Skinner publicly dated Avery Vernon from September 2019 to March 2020.[48] In an interview with Urban Outfitters, he stated, "I got a boyfriend recently, I'm very excited about it and I like him and I'm going to write a song about him sometime".[49] In early March 2020, Vernon confirmed that he and Skinner were no longer in a relationship.[50]

Discography

Studio albums
Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales
UK
[51]		 US
Heat
[52]		 US
Folk
[53]
Cavetown[24]
  • Released: 9 November 2015
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
 — — —
16/04/16[26]
  • Released: 15 August 2016
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
 — — —
Lemon Boy[54]
  • Released: 1 January 2018
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: CD, digital download, streaming, vinyl
 — — —
Sleepyhead[9]
  • Released: 27 March 2020
  • Label: Sire Records[9]
  • Format: CD, cassette, digital download, streaming, vinyl
 52 12 16
  • US: 3,000 (first week)[55]

Extended plays
Title Details Peak chart positions
US
Heat.
ENC
[56]
Dear.[57]
6

Mixtapes
Title Details
Animal Kingdom[58]
  • Released: 12 April 2019
  • Label: Oat Milk
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming, CD, vinyl

Singles

As lead artist[59]

Year Title Album/EP
2015 "This is Home" Non-album singles
2018 "Just Add Water"
Dear.
"Juliet" Animal Kingdom: Sandy[upper-alpha 1]
"Boys Will Be Bugs" Animal Kingdom: Comet[upper-alpha 1]
2019 "Advice" Animal Kingdom: Ash[upper-alpha 1]
"Self Control" (Frank Ocean cover) Animal Kingdom: Shells[upper-alpha 1]
"Hug All Ur Friends" Animal Kingdom: Jackson[upper-alpha 1]
"Home" Non-album singles
"Feb 14"
Sleepyhead
"Telescope"
"Things That Make It Warm"
"You've Got a Friend in Me" (Randy Newman cover)[60] Non-album singles
2020 "Sweet Tooth"
Sleepyhead
"I Miss My Mum"
"Smoke Signals (feat. Tessa Violet)" Non-album singles

As featured artist[59]

Year Title Album/EP
2018 "Devil Town"
(with Kevin Devine)		 Devinyl Splits No. 11

Bandcamp releases
  • Everything Is Made of Clouds (2013)[17]
  • Gd Vibes (2014)[18]
  • Nervous Friends // Pt. 1 (2015)[19]
  • Balance (2015)[20][61]
  • Everything Is Made of Stars (2015)[21]

Notes
  1. The full mixtape album Animal Kingdom was released in a series of 5 single sets over the space of 4 months, starting with Animal Kingdom: Sandy which was released on 28 November 2018 and ending with Animal Kingdom: Jackson which was released on 28 March 2019.
gollark: Maybe only 60 or so.
gollark: osmarks.tkcraft™ would be somewhere between PB2 and SC and be designed with somewhat fewer mods.
gollark: So we can blame Java for PB2's failure?
gollark: I think that was because of poor performance.
gollark: A few with varying levels of moddedness might, though.

References
  1. Monger, Timothy. "Cavetown | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  2. Perlow, Lexie (19 April 2018). "Cavetown Debuts with 'Lemon Boy'". The Hill News. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  3. "Cavetown – Juliet (Live)". YouTube. Event occurs at 3:50. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  4. "Cavetown". Sire Records.
  5. "Dear. – Cavetown | Release Credits". AllMusic.
  6. Skinner, Robin Daniel. "ASCAP Ace Search". American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  7. "Cavetown". Spotify.
  8. "cavetown". YouTube. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  9. "Cavetown Releases Highly-Anticipated New Album SLEEPYHEAD". BroadwayWorld.com. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  10. "David Skinner | Alamire". www.alamire.co.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  11. "Cavetown". Cambridge Live. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  12. "About". Cavetown.co.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  13. Ta, Kacie (26 September 2017). "a chat with youtuber and artist, cavetown". Tmrw magazine. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  14. - Haunted Lullaby -, retrieved 13 December 2019
  15. Jenkins, Holly Tabatha. "CAVETOWN|ROBIN SKINNER INTERVIEW". Mixcloud. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  16. Minaeva, Mariia (12 December 2018). "The Music of Cavetown: A Helping Hand for Mental Health Issues | Re:Views Magazine". Reviews Magazine. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  17. "Everything is Made of Clouds – cavetown". BandCamp.
  18. "Gd vibes – cavetown". Bandcamp.
  19. "Nervous Friends // Pt. 1 – cavetown". Bandcamp.
  20. "Album Information". Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  21. "Everything is Made of Stars – cavetown". Bandcamp.
  22. Rogen, Ted (15 January 2015). "cavetown – Gd vibes". Insight & Critique. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  23. "This Is Home – Single by Cavetown". Apple Music.
  24. "Cavetown – Cavetown". Apple Music.
  25. "Listen to Cavetown's latest EP". Bad Luck. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  26. "16/04/06 – Cavetown". Apple Music.
  27. "16/04/16, by cavetown". cavetown. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  28. "Lemon Boy". Spotify.
  29. "Cavetown – Lemon Boy (Official Music Video)". YouTube.
  30. "Cavetown Releases New Song via Sire Records". BroadwayWorld. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  31. Rettig, James (28 March 2018). "Sidney Gish Covers Jackson Browne's "Somebody's (Jackson Baby Browne Cover)". Stereogum.
  32. "Cavetown Can't Stop". Closed Captioned. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  33. Thioubou, Ndeye (25 June 2019). "Mxmtoon Breaks Down The Meaning of 'Prom Dress'". Genius. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  34. "mxmtoon Gives Personal Insight in New Single 'seasonal depression'". BroadwayWorld. Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019. mxmtoon is a 19-year-old bourgeoning artist
  35. Wells, Madeline (4 August 2019). "Meet mxmtoon, the Oakland Teen Who Launched Her Music Career on TikTok". The Bold Italic. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  36. "the masquerade / mxmtoon". Tidal. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  37. "Victorious Festival: Stage Times, Line-Up & More". Radio X. 25 August 2019.
  38. "Hunny and Cavetown are teaming up for a UK tour early next year". Upset Magazine. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  39. Murray, Robin (4 June 2019). "mxmtoon Confirms First UK Appearances". Clash. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  40. "CAVETOWN ANNOUNCES 2020 AUSTRALIA TOUR". Warner Music Australasia. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  41. Ford, Sam (11 May 2020). "Recording Academy Sessions Series Announce This Wednesday's Lineup". V Magazine. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  42. Wasylak, Victoria (13 May 2020). "This Stream is Today: Allie X, Empress Of, and more on SESSIONS". Vanyaland. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  43. "Cavetown has cancelled his upcoming headline tour". Dork. 26 June 2020.
  44. "Cavetown and Tessa Violet ponder distance in tender acoustic video". Alternative Press. 10 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  45. "Cavetown – Singer-Songwriter". Ones To Watch. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  46. "Hello". YouTube. 4 July 2019.
  47. cavetown. "frequently asked questions". Tumblr. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  48. cavetown [@CAVETOWN] (17 September 2019). "Yeah him my Boyfriend now but my point still stands that boys can be affectionate without being in a relationship :)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  49. "Cavetown Talks About His Cursed Furby — Open Up", Urban Outfitters Television, 25 October 2019, retrieved 1 November 2019
  50. Vernon, Avery [@lil__benadryl] (8 March 2020). "robin and i are no longer dating and i'm only announcing this because it's been exhausting seeing us both tagged in things. we are still very close and always will be, we both just need time to heal :) thank u for understanding" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  51. "Cavetown | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  52. "Cavetown Chart History: Heatseeker Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  53. "Cavetown Chart History: Americana/Folk Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  54. "Lemon Boy – Cavetown". Apple Music.
  55. Zellner, Xander (9 April 2020). "Cavetown 'Sleepyhead' Interview: Emerging Artists Spotlight". Billboard. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  56. "Heatseeker Albums: East North Central – Week of Dec 8, 2018". Billboard.
  57. "Dear. – EP – Cavetown". Apple Music.
  58. "Animal Kingdom – Various Artists". Apple Music.
  59. "Cavetown – Singles & EPs". Apple Music.
  60. "You've Got a Friend In Me". Spotify. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  61. "balance, by brother". Ohbrother.bandcamp.com. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
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