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Artist Interviews
Q&A: Skindred
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 28 April 2011
Welsh metallers Skindred were formed in 1998 by vocalist Benji Webbe, who recruited bassist Daniel Pugsley, axe-man Mikey Demus, and drummer Arya Goggin when his previous outfit Dub War failed to take off.
The band’s first album ‘Babylon’ was released in 2002 via RCA Records, debuting a fusion of alt-rock and reggae that has since become their trademark sound. In 2007, the band upped sticks to to move to US indie label Bieler Bros for the release of their second LP ‘Roots Rock Riot’, staying put for third album ‘Shark Bites And Dog Fights’ which came out in 2009.
Having roped in Papa Roach frontman Jacoby Shaddix on lead single ‘Warning’, Skindred released their new long player ‘Union Black’ on Monday. Their current UK tour continues this evening with a stop at The Waterfront in Norwich, culminating after a string of further dates at London’s HMV Forum on 7 May. As the band prepare to tear things up at tonight’s show, we took aside bassist Daniel to get his thoughts on our Same Six Questions.
Q1 How did you start out making music?
I started out making music pretty much like everybody does, playing in school. My older sister was always very musical so throughout primary and first school I had a lot of pressure from teachers to play, specifically wind instruments as that was what my sister had played, I guess they thought I’d be good at it as that’s what my sister did. It wasn’t until I was 11-12 when I got into Hendrix and Guns n’ Roses that I realised I could learn an instrument that was on records I was into. That was when I started playing bass guitar. A school friend brought his older brother’s bass into school, plugged it into an overly distorted guitar amp and played ‘Wild Thing’. I immediately got him to show me how to play that tune and that was it really, totally hooked. From then I played in different bands through school and college until I met Benji.
Q2 What inspired your latest album?
Our latest album is largely inspired by the fact it’s the first record we’ve ever recorded in the UK. Up until now everything we’ve done has been recorded in America, and as important as that’s been to us as far as crafting our sound and our songs goes, recording and writing in the UK was very important to us at this time. There have been situations in the past where we’ve had song ideas or concepts that American producers haven’t really got because they were based around music that is quintessentially British, such as the grime and the drum & bass scene, and the feeling was that it wouldn’t necessarily work on American radio. We feel like the result of recording in the UK is that we’ve made the album that is truest to us.
Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
We create our music in lots of different ways, sometimes it starts with a guitar riff, drum loop, a concept or even something that we’ve programmed on a computer, but whatever way it starts we always translate those ideas to the rehearsal room and spend a long time jamming through them with the four of us. Balance is really important to us.
Q4 Which artists influence your work?
There are a ton of artists I/we love. When we started the band we said we wanted to make dancehall with Helmet style guitars, so they were a huge influence. Other bands we’re really into are Faith No More, QOTSA, Refused and Slipknot. Also we’re into a lot of 70’s/80’s dancehall, artists like Barrington Levy, Gregory Isaacs, more contemporary dancehall artists like Sizzla, Anthony B, Turbulence. Then there’s all the drum and bass, grime and dubstep. I’ve been listening to lots of the artists on Hospital Records lately, all those guys produce these amazing tracks, but the arrangements almost work as songs, they’re just brilliant.
Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Sounds a bit pretentious but I wouldn’t say anything, I’d just want therm to listen with an open mind, no preconceptions. We’ve always been this band where rock/metal fans have said to us “I’ve never really liked dance music or reggae but I love you guys”, or people that don’t like rock say “I’ve never liked thrasher music but that was wicked”. No need to validate anything, I just want the music to speak for itself.
Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
Well our aspirations are really high for this record, so much has gone into it. I’d like to be able to tour round the world and expose as many people to the sound we’re making as possible. Just being able to play music as my full-time job for the last few years is totally a privilege, I’d love to be able to do this for as long as possible
MORE>> www.skindred.net
