Reflections from Being in a Rock Band for 20 Years By Bob Ziegler

Bob Ziegler is the singer for Skyfactor.

It’s a sunny Friday afternoon as I sit in my Maplewood room and stare down at the unopened box on my lap. I’m about to see the records for my band’s brand new album, “Master Plan,” for the very first time. It contains songs we have written during the last six years and recorded the last year and a half. A feeling of gratitude and reflection passes over me as my eyes well up.

I have been fortunate enough to be the singer for the rock/pop band Skyfactor the last 20 years.

This is our fifth full-length album and the first time we are making vinyl, which has been a lifelong dream of mine. The band has become more than the musicians in it. Somewhere along our journey, they have become a family navigating the ups and downs together that life throws our way.

Skyfactor, L to R: Cliff Rubin (bass guitar), Bob Ziegler (vocals), Jason Taylor (drums) and Jon Rubin (guitar).

I started singing in sixth grade when my friends volunteered me to sing a solo for our graduation of Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All.” As I stepped up for my part with my heart beating out of my chest, my 12 year-old-voice (a few octaves higher) did its best not to crack. I got through it and after the ceremony was inundated with praise from my friends and their families. It was one of those moments you never forget. I wanted more. Since then I have sung in several bands including Brother Rabbit at the University of Michigan, where I met Jason Taylor (drums). We became close friends.

Through it all, I held on to music as my calm in the storm. When my father passed away from illness before my junior year, the music and playing shows got me through that heartbreaking time. After college I was in between bands. A mutual friend suggested I meet Jon Rubin (guitar), so we got together on my rooftop in the East Village in NYC. The chemistry was instantaneous. We wrote several songs on that crisp fall day. We both knew we were on to something, so we set out to conquer the world. We soon asked Jon’s brother, Cliff, to join on bass and recruited my friend Jason. Skyfactor was formed.

You always wonder what would happen if you write music that the world actually gets to hear. Throughout the 20 years we have some great highs – whether it was opening up for Soul Asylum in NYC, having our music on a finale episode of “Teen Mom,” on MTV, getting music on NBC’s “The Voice,” or having Jack Black come out dancing to our music on the “The Eric Andre Show.” We have gained a nice following of fans. As of last count on Spotify our music is being played in 71 countries. I often think about that stat and how lucky we are.

The part I didn’t realize are the moments in life when we all needed each other the most, the music was there to guide and lift us up. Band members were there for each other through divorce, the loss of parents, the pandemic and illness. We were also there for each other through wonderful times as well, such as the births of all of our kids, to the guys in the band playing music as I walked up the aisle for my second marriage and seeing the smiles on their faces because they knew I found happiness, to being on stage together at festivals such as Maplewoodstock last year, where I had the chance to play for my friends and family in this wonderful community I found.

Getting back to the box on my lap that represents so much hard work and hundreds of hours in the studio in Woodstock, NY, I smile because it’s our biggest album yet. It’s got songs that we wrote through the pandemic, songs of asking the big questions such as why we have to say goodbye to the ones we love, to songs of love, and of course just straight up rockers. I open the box and pull out the shiny black record and see my reflection as I place it on my record player. Here’s to the last 20 years and to the next 20 and the family I was so fortunate to find, and of course to the music … my calm in the storm.

Skyfactor’s new album, “Master Plan” is available now at Soma Sounds in Maplewood. To find out more about the band or upcoming shows visit skyfactormusic.com.

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Bob Ziegler is a SOMA resident, dad, husband, optimist and a self-proclaimed rock star.