And one - by yourself - which holds special significance
> I really love the song we just wrote, 'We Live'. It's a bit of a departure from our usual drop tunes madness, but it's still very much a Skindred song. It's a beautiful song we wrote with Russ Ballard (who wrote 'Since You've Been Gone' 'God Gave Rock & Roll To You' etc) and Benji really nails it.
It's kind of this big, heartfelt power ballad, one of the most anthemic songs we've done I think
If you could step into the shoes of another musician, living or dead, who would it be and what would you do?
> I am always massively in awe of those guys who are the driving force in a band or sounds. Josh Homme, Jack White, Trent Reznor, guys like that. Those guys who 'make' the band, who have a real clear vision, and execute it brilliantly with killer production.
Guys like that who are top of their game
Are there any current musical influences you might look to
> I like a lot of 'alternative music' - a lot of blues, punk rock, rock, metal, country, reggae, electronic stuff, all kinds. I couldn't imagine looking to a small handful of bands in a genre or scene to be my 'go-to' for inspiration or influence. I think metal can suffer from that sort of stuff going on. There is a few great bands then just van-loads of dross
And any genre of music that you simply can't stand?
> I like things that jam, things that rock, things you can tap your foot along to or sing the riff, or the words. I was always a 'song' kinda guy. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy and appreciate complex, intelligent and interesting music but I'm a sucker for a hook and a beat.
I'm pretty fussy about most genres to be honest.
Some electronic music is great, some I just can't stand. I can list the metal bands I like on one hand, probably. I think in most genres, there's one or two stand-out bands and a bunch of great copycat stuff that doesn't cut it for me.
Finally, for those yet to listen to Kill The Power, plug the record
> We're stoked with how it turned out. It's a varied album with lots of different songs and sounds. We pull from a wide pool of influence.
It has been hard to cram it all in sometimes in the past, but I feel like KTP is the closest we've come to summing up the Skindred sound.
We really wanted to make a good 'whole' album rather than just a few singles with a bunch of forgettable album tracks. I really feel we achieved that.
> Kill The Power, the band's fifth album, is out now
Get more on Facebook at Skindredofficial
ON TRACK: SKINDRED ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS
This evening (Fri) Skindred wowed The Craufurd Arms with a decidedly hot and sweaty pre-festival warm-up.
The ragga-metal aces sold out the venue in record time too - every last ticket was snapped up in less than two days.
We asked Skindred guitarist Mikey to tackle our On Track questions and he obliged - sharing his musical likes, dislikes, and the odd dodgy stage memory with us...
WERE YOU AT THE CRAUFURD ARMS SHOW?
TELL US WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THE GIG - EMAIL US: info@totalmk.co.uk
The song that first awakened your musical senses
> Wow, lots of songs. Guitar just sort of went to me 'Hey, this is a bit of you I reckon matey.' I was a pretty geeky kid (still am) and guitars sort of woke me up.
Sixties and 70s rock and blues stuff mainly.
Probably Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix? I remember hearing that for the first time and being compelled to get every bit of music I could by him. I borrowed cassette tapes from the local library, that sort of thing.
It just grew from there.
Physical or digital. How do you take your music?
> Digital. I move around a lot and got tired of hauling a load of CDs and DVDs around, so I got rid of everything. Did my bit for the old carbon footprint, I guess. It's kinda sad because I miss the ritual of music that's been lost over the years.
I used to have a sh*t ton of vinyl and a great old record player, but it's all god knows where now. Too many house moves.
It is good having endless music on one little hard drive though, it just seems a bit less sentimental. I miss the tactile 'product', the artwork, the liner notes, that sort of thing.
You lose a lot of that with digital.
The first time you thought - 'Music - this is the job for me'
> It's hard to think of one thing that made me think that, I think that all the time.
I look back at a lot of what we've accomplished and it seems like a whirlpool. I still have plenty of moments when I think 'this is the best'.
Seeing our name go up the line-up at festivals feels pretty good, seeing the venues get bigger and the crowds knowing more and more of the words.
We love what we do but it feels pretty special when more and more people are lining up to show us how much they love it too. Today the sun is out , I'll go for a walk and feel the sun on my skin and just feel amazed that I'm not stuck indoors at a building society or bank, working for some a**hole company. I'm a really lucky guy
Your best on-stage memory
> There are too many! Headlining Polish Woodstock in front of about 400,000 people was completely nuts. More people than you can fathom.
The Brixton 02 Academy show on the Jagermeister Tour a couple of years ago was pretty 'bloody hell' too. A real moment for us all.
You've got this weird little band from Wales and England who went from playing The Barfly, to the Borderline, Underworld, ULU and Forum to Brixton.
Things just keep getting bigger for us, it's unbelievable
And the worst gig you've ever done
> There's been a couple of crappy ones, not too bad for over a decade though. Metal Hammer Golden Gods in 200....9 I think? I got beyond hammered (no pun intended) on red wine and practically fell off the stage a few times. A bit of a train wreck, that one.
There's been a few of those in the past. I'm not proud of it. I've got my act together since then
What made you take up the guitar?
> My Dad got me started really. I just woke up one day and wanted to learn. I think originally it was to get girls, ha! Playing in a band is how I met my wife so it worked out!
I was a geeky kid and guitars just became cool to me overnight.
Still, now I'm a total geek about guitars too. I never really thought I could be successful or even influential as a player. I just knew I wanted to be in a band. I think probably it was avoidance, I mean how many kids really give a sh*t about school or what they want to be when they grow up?
I was under a relatively normal amount of pressure in that sense, and had all kinds of bullsh*t stuff going on with my family growing up. I just threw myself into the guitar.
Burying my head in the sand from reality, it became my reality. Weird how things work out
Which one song by another artist do you wish you'd have written
> I think Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes...It's like our generations' Smoke on the Water. Such a simple riff that was under everyone's noses, and now it's incendiary.
Catchy and infectious...it's crazy. I went to an Orioles game (Baltimore baseball team) last year and the crowd would sing the riff, you know?
Like a football chant. I love those sort of riffs you can hum
And one - by yourself - which holds special significance
> I really love the song we just wrote, 'We Live'. It's a bit of a departure from our usual drop tunes madness, but it's still very much a Skindred song. It's a beautiful song we wrote with Russ Ballard (who wrote 'Since You've Been Gone' 'God Gave Rock & Roll To You' etc) and Benji really nails it.
It's kind of this big, heartfelt power ballad, one of the most anthemic songs we've done I think
If you could step into the shoes of another musician, living or dead, who would it be and what would you do?
> I am always massively in awe of those guys who are the driving force in a band or sounds. Josh Homme, Jack White, Trent Reznor, guys like that. Those guys who 'make' the band, who have a real clear vision, and execute it brilliantly with killer production.
Guys like that who are top of their game
Are there any current musical influences you might look to
> I like a lot of 'alternative music' - a lot of blues, punk rock, rock, metal, country, reggae, electronic stuff, all kinds. I couldn't imagine looking to a small handful of bands in a genre or scene to be my 'go-to' for inspiration or influence. I think metal can suffer from that sort of stuff going on. There is a few great bands then just van-loads of dross
And any genre of music that you simply can't stand?
> I like things that jam, things that rock, things you can tap your foot along to or sing the riff, or the words. I was always a 'song' kinda guy. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy and appreciate complex, intelligent and interesting music but I'm a sucker for a hook and a beat.
I'm pretty fussy about most genres to be honest.
Some electronic music is great, some I just can't stand. I can list the metal bands I like on one hand, probably. I think in most genres, there's one or two stand-out bands and a bunch of great copycat stuff that doesn't cut it for me.
Finally, for those yet to listen to Kill The Power, plug the record
> We're stoked with how it turned out. It's a varied album with lots of different songs and sounds. We pull from a wide pool of influence.
It has been hard to cram it all in sometimes in the past, but I feel like KTP is the closest we've come to summing up the Skindred sound.
We really wanted to make a good 'whole' album rather than just a few singles with a bunch of forgettable album tracks. I really feel we achieved that.
> Kill The Power, the band's fifth album, is out now
Get more on Facebook at Skindredofficial
And one - by yourself - which holds special significance
> I really love the song we just wrote, 'We Live'. It's a bit of a departure from our usual drop tunes madness, but it's still very much a Skindred song. It's a beautiful song we wrote with Russ Ballard (who wrote 'Since You've Been Gone' 'God Gave Rock & Roll To You' etc) and Benji really nails it.
It's kind of this big, heartfelt power ballad, one of the most anthemic songs we've done I think
If you could step into the shoes of another musician, living or dead, who would it be and what would you do?
> I am always massively in awe of those guys who are the driving force in a band or sounds. Josh Homme, Jack White, Trent Reznor, guys like that. Those guys who 'make' the band, who have a real clear vision, and execute it brilliantly with killer production.
Guys like that who are top of their game
Are there any current musical influences you might look to
> I like a lot of 'alternative music' - a lot of blues, punk rock, rock, metal, country, reggae, electronic stuff, all kinds. I couldn't imagine looking to a small handful of bands in a genre or scene to be my 'go-to' for inspiration or influence. I think metal can suffer from that sort of stuff going on. There is a few great bands then just van-loads of dross
And any genre of music that you simply can't stand?
> I like things that jam, things that rock, things you can tap your foot along to or sing the riff, or the words. I was always a 'song' kinda guy. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy and appreciate complex, intelligent and interesting music but I'm a sucker for a hook and a beat.
I'm pretty fussy about most genres to be honest.
Some electronic music is great, some I just can't stand. I can list the metal bands I like on one hand, probably. I think in most genres, there's one or two stand-out bands and a bunch of great copycat stuff that doesn't cut it for me.
Finally, for those yet to listen to Kill The Power, plug the record
> We're stoked with how it turned out. It's a varied album with lots of different songs and sounds. We pull from a wide pool of influence.
It has been hard to cram it all in sometimes in the past, but I feel like KTP is the closest we've come to summing up the Skindred sound.
We really wanted to make a good 'whole' album rather than just a few singles with a bunch of forgettable album tracks. I really feel we achieved that.
> Kill The Power, the band's fifth album, is out now
Get more on Facebook at Skindredofficial
