When MTV’s adaptation of the acclaimed British teen drama “Skins” – an ensemble series that tackled drugs, sex, mental illness and divorce; think a grittier-if-just-as-absurd “Degrassi” – debuts on Jan. 17, it’s Austin musician Daniel Chavez Wright who will first usher American audiences into the program’s world.
Wright, who moved to Austin from San Antonio six months ago and performs under the moniker 3D Friends, beat out about 2400 applicants to have his song, “Lina Magic,” selected as the series’ opening theme. MTV started gathering submissions for the opening theme to “Skins” back in October via the music social networking platform OurStage. The choice to seek an unknown independent musician was, says MTV communications director Kurt Patat, inspired by the show’s ground-level style – like the British original, “Skins” will feature both young writers and amateur actors playing characters that correspond closely to their actual ages.
MTV flew Wright out to New York to record the theme in a studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn last month.
“It was my first time in New York, and it was actually the first time I’d been on a plane since I was a really young kid. It was a really overwhelming experience,” says Wright, 21. “I’d heard about some pretty popular acts had recorded albums there in the past and it was really cool to say that I was in the studio where Animal Collective or the All-American Rejects or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs recorded.”