The Skints | |
---|---|
![]() The Skints at Guilfest 2011 | |
Background information | |
Origin | London, England |
Genres | Reggae fusion, reggae, ska, dub, punk |
Years active | 2007–present |
Labels | Penny Drop Recordings (imprint) Easy Star Records Mr Bongo Records Bomber Music |
Members | Marcia Richards Joshua Waters Rudge Jamie Kyriakides Jonathan Doyle |
Website | www |
The Skints are an English reggae punk band from London, described by Clash Music as "the torchbearers for modern British reggae music." The Skints mix reggae, ska, dub, punk rock, dancehall, soul, and rap, touring extensively across the UK, Europe and the United States. Their album Swimming Lessons (2019) debuted at number 1 on the Billboard reggae chart. Their original style of music has been described as "tropical punk".
The Skints formed as school friends at Woodbridge High School (London). The band hail from the Leyton/Walthamstow and South Woodford/Woodford areas of northeast London. They settled on the current line-up in May 2007. [1] The Skints relentlessly gigged all over London's punk rock and squat party circuit before venturing out of the M25 to play their first self-booked DIY tour, alongside fellow east Londoners ClayPigeon in summer 2008. The band then released a six-track ska-punk/reggae EP on Do The Dog Music and were subsequently offered their first UK tour, as main support to The King Blues. This was extremely successful and allowed them to start making a name for themselves in the UK underground punk scene.[ citation needed ]
Over the next year the band toured with the likes of The Slackers, Sonic Boom Six, The Aggrolites and Random Hand. Recorded by Peter Miles, the debut album Live.Breathe.Build.Believe was initially released on 9 November 2009 and contains 10 tracks (plus one hidden track) mixing reggae, ska and dub with a thrash of hardcore punk rock. Recording was done in 5 days, with an extra 2 days allowed for mixing. [2] The band's first headline UK run started with a sold out show at Camden Barfly. In January 2010 the band were featured on the BBC Radio 1 Punk Show with Mike Davies and toured the UK with Random Hand, Chris Murray and Mouthwash as the "Rebel Alliance Tour". [3] [4] [5] Live.Breathe.Build.Believe was re-released through their publisher, Bomber Music, in June 2010. They then toured Germany for the first time with The Slackers and played extensively across the UK that summer, culminating in their first appearance on The Lock Up Stage at Reading and Leeds Festivals. A seven-inch picture disc vinyl single, "Up Against The Wall" was released on Seven Inch Records in October 2010, featuring a dub version by prolific dub producer Mad Professor. Shortly afterwards the band embarked on a 5 week tour of the UK consisting of headline shows (including a sell out at the Camden Underworld) and two separate support runs with Bedouin Soundclash and Sublime with Rome, respectively. February 2011, The Skints supported Reel Big Fish on a 28-date tour of the UK and Europe. [6]
In April 2011 The Skints started a successful campaign through Pledgemusic to crowdfund their second album. That summer they recorded with Mike "Prince Fatty" Pelanconi as producer, as well as a host of festival appearances including Slam Dunk Festival and their first Boomtown Fair. Autumn 2011, The Skints toured the UK supporting Gym Class Heroes. In January 2012, The Skints announced the title and release date of the album to be "Part & Parcel", released officially by Bomber Music on 12 March 2012. The Skints collaborated with British dancehall MC Parly B on the album. They opened for British rock band You Me at Six on their UK tour in March 2012, which also had sets played by Mayday Parade and Kids In Glass Houses. In May 2012, the band’s splitter van was stolen on a day off between shows from outside guitarist Josh Waters Rudge’s home, containing all their equipment. Banquet Records helped the band out by putting on a benefit show for the band to play in Kingston, with all proceeds going towards new equipment. [7] In October 2012 The Skints did a 10 headline date tour of the UK, in support of Part & Parcel, selling out every show and ending at an oversold Scala in London. [8] May 2013 they followed this up with a 21-show-in-19-day headline run which so them headline London's KOKO (music venue) with new single "Out My Mind". Part & Parcel was released in France on 29 January 2013 on Soulbeats Records. This launched the band into 2 years of heavy touring across France, including a main stage performance at Reggae Sun Ska Festival replacing Chronixx, who was delayed due to tour bus problems. 2014 saw the release of the "Short Change EP" on their own label, Penny Drop Recordings, a heavy festival summer and support slots with Fat Freddy’s Drop in Utrecht and Berlin and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes in the UK. [9] The Skints then entered the studio with Prince Fatty to begin work on their third LP.
The Skints released "FM" on 9 March 2015 after signing a one-album deal with New York City independent reggae label Easy Star Records. A concept album of sorts (virtually unheard of in the reggae/ska genre), FM is set on a fictional pirate radio station on the "hottest day of the year" in London, the three featured MCs across the album (Tippa Irie, Horseman and Rival) play the station’s DJs in the album’s skits, as well as an appearance from English comedian Rufus Hound. The Skints have said they were inspired by Songs For The Deaf by Queens Of The Stone Age and the Spike Lee movie, Do The Right Thing in regards to the album’s audio-theatrical concept.
FM reached number 5 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart and number 7 on the Independent Albums Chart in the UK. [10]
Touring was kicked off with a 4 week headline run in Europe and the UK with support from Hollie Cook, culminating in a headline show at Shepherd’s Bush Empire. The band then flew to the USA for their first ever American tour which including supporting Easy Star All-Stars and Fishbone on the East Coast and flying to the West for their first Cali Roots and a Punk Rock Bowling side show supporting The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and The English Beat. In 2016 The Skints travelled the USA a further 4 times, Tribal Seeds ‘Winter Reggae Land’ Tour in January/February, a May/June tour featuring West Coast dates with The Expanders and Morgan Heritage and an October East Coast tour supporting Sublime With Rome, taking them to Canada for the first time. They ended the year with a sold out headline show at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones Hometown Throwdown in Boston and a New Year’s Eve show with Sublime With Rome in Pennsylvania. [11] [12] [13] [14] 2016 saw the band host their own pop-up party/mini festival "Nice Time London" in Hackney which featured live performances from Jamaican rising star Jesse Royal and New Kingston and full sound system session on the other side of the room from Reggae Roast. [15] That year The Skints also joined the Fireball "Fuelling The Fire" tour alongside Less Than Jake and Mariachi El Bronx across the UK’s O2 Academy venues. [16] In 2017 they collaborated with Signature Brew to produce "Nice Time" pale ale, stocking it in venues across the UK which they subsequently sold out with their own shows. [17] The band flew back to North America for Victoria Ska Fest in Canada and a USA summer tour opening for 311. Autumn saw them tour Japan with Asian Man Records legends Kemuri and Bruce Lee Band before coming home to write their next full length record. [18]
In 2018, The Skints entered the Fish Factory in Harlesden, London to begin work on the follow-up to "FM". With a view to "push all ends of the spectrum of what The Skints music is and can be", the band headed production and creative vision and enlisted engineer Ben Lamdin (Nostalgia 77) to record the majority of the instrumentation, with Jack Longman covering additional vocal recording and production. During sessions, the band went to their first album producer Peter Miles in Devon to record the "heavier rock moments" of the album, before delivering the project to Prince Fatty who mixed the album at Jah Dub Studios in Si Racha District, Thailand. Spending the majority of 2018 in the studio, the band emerged to play a handful of festivals including Slam Dunk Festival, Summerjam, Boomtown Fair and a sold out O2 Brixton Academy as main support to Californian punk legends NOFX. [19]
‘Learning To Swim’ was the first new single, accompanied by a video directed by Tom Sykes at Drop Drop Clothing’s warehouse in Sheffield. A song about Marcia Richards coping with the loss of her younger sister Roanna, the verses see the band playing in a steppers lovers rock reggae style, before breaking out into a heavy guitar-driven rock chorus. [20]
Before flying out to Florida for the 311 Caribbean Cruise 2019, it was announced that The Skints fourth album would be titled "Swimming Lessons" and released 10 May 2019 on Easy Star Records (North/South America) and Brighton-based label Mr Bongo Records (Rest of World). [21]
Lyrically their darkest and most introspective release to date, Swimming Lessons sees The Skints go from heavy rubadub, to blistering punk, to chiptune-influenced dancehall beats, to harmony laden soul. Whilst the band experimented with more guitar driven styles of music, all three featured artists across the album were from Jamaica; Runkus, Jesse Royal and Grammy-nominated vocalist, Protoje.
‘Restless’ featuring Protoje was the next video, released the same week as Swimming Lessons, and saw the band acting as "the world’s worst news station", a single non-breaking, all-in-one shot with Protoje appearing as the "foreign correspondent." [22]
"Swimming Lessons" has proved to be the band’s best received record to date, debuted at number 1 on the reggae Billboard charts in the USA, number 1 Independent Album Breakers Chart, number 4 Independent Record Store Sales Chart and number 6 on Vinyl Album Chart in the UK. [23]
Shortly after release, The Skints were invited by legendary British reggae DJ legend David Rodigan to be interviewed on his BBC Radio 1xtra, who praised the songwriting and diversity of Swimming Lessons, as well as the band’s journey and work ethic, which was followed up with a live session at BBC Maida Vale Studios. [24] BBC Radio 6 Music also showed support for Swimming Lessons, making it ‘Album Of The Day’ upon release and playlisting ‘Armageddon’ ft. Runkus that summer. [25]
May and June 2019 the band returned to Cali Roots Festival and made their main stage debut at Punk Rock Bowling before embarking on their first headline tour of the American West Coast, including shows at Los Angeles’ Echoplex and The Casbah in San Diego. [26]
The Skints headed out for a month on the road across Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK for their biggest headlining tour to date, including a 1500-capacity sold out hometown show at Electric Brixton. Support on the UK dates came from long time friends of the band Bedouin Soundclash from Toronto. [27]
January 2020 the band made their debut UK TV appearance as guests on CBeebies show "YolanDa’s Band Jam". Hosted by YolanDa Brown, the show consists of YolanDa inviting musical guests to play along with a live audience of children aged five to seven. [28]
The Skints were invited as special guests to tour with Hellcat Records LA band The Interrupters UK tour throughout January/February, before releasing an animated music video for their controversial anti-Brexit song, "The Island". [29]
The Skints are renowned for their heavy touring ethic and despite a lack of attention from mainstream media outlets, have gained a sizeable cult following over time.
To date, The Skints have toured in the United Kingdom, The United States, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Finland, Réunion, Japan and Thailand.
The band have also never signed with a major record label and have instead opted to do one-album licensing deals with independent record companies in order to retain rights and creative freedom.
The Skints are known for their stylistic diversity across genres and tempos, and have the unique feature of three different lead vocalists in the group. While the very early inception of the band was rooted in a ska-punk style, The Skints have evolved to envelop the full range of influences from Jamaica from traditional ska, to rubadub, dub and dancehall plus British grime music, soul, pop and hardcore punk.
Influences for Swimming Lessons have been cited as far reaching as Bad Brains, Popcaan, No Doubt, Alton Ellis, Michael Prophet, Wiley and Weezer.
Their style has been referred to as "East London Reggae" and "music from Jamaica in a London style."
More recently they have used the term "tropical punk" to describe their sound which started as a joke in the studio with Prince Fatty in reference to friend Hollie Cook; "if Hollie’s tropical pop then this album is tropical punk!" [30]
Year | Title | Label |
---|---|---|
2009 2010 (re-release) | Live.Breathe.Build.Believe | Rebel Alliance Bomber Music (re-release) |
2012 | Part & Parcel | Bomber Music/Penny Drop Recordings/asbestos records |
2015 | FM | Easy Star Records |
2019 | Swimming Lessons | Mr Bongo / Easy Star Records |
Year | Title | Label |
---|---|---|
2008 | The Skints EP | Do The Dog |
2014 | Short Change EP | Penny Drop Recordings/Soulbeats Records |
The Clash were an English rock band that formed in London in 1976 and were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. The band were billed as "The Only Band That Matters"; they contributed to the post-punk and new wave movements that followed punk. The Clash used elements of a variety of genres, including reggae, dub, funk, ska, and rockabilly. For most of their recording career, The Clash consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Joe Strummer, lead guitarist and vocalist Mick Jones, bassist Paul Simonon, and drummer Nicky "Topper" Headon.
Rancid is an American punk rock band formed in Berkeley, California in 1991. Founded by Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman, former members of the band Operation Ivy, Rancid is often credited as being among the wave of bands that revived mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States during the mid-1990s. Over its 33-year career, Rancid has retained much of its original fan-base, most of which was connected to its underground musical roots.
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting, Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland, and remained unchanged for the rest of the band's history. The Police became globally popular in the late 1970s and early to mid 1980s. Emerging in the British new wave scene, they played a style of rock influenced by punk, reggae, and jazz.
Ska punk is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. Ska punk tends to feature brass instruments, especially horns such as trumpets, trombones and woodwind instruments like saxophones, making the genre distinct from other forms of punk rock. It is closely tied to third wave ska which reached its zenith in the mid-1990s.
The Selecter is an English 2 tone ska revival band, formed in Coventry, England, in 1979.
The Beat are a British band formed in Birmingham, England, in 1978. Their music fuses Latin, ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock.
The Suicide Machines are an American punk rock band formed in March 1991 in Detroit, Michigan. During the course of their career, the band has released seven full-length albums on the labels Hollywood Records, Side One Dummy Records and Fat Wreck Chords, as well as several EPs and singles. They have experienced lineup changes over the years, all with founding member Jason Navarro as lead singer and front man. The contemporary lineup includes Ryan Vandeberghe on drums, Rich Tschirhart on bass and Justin Malek on guitar.
Capdown is an English punk rock band from Milton Keynes. Originally known as Soap, their songs have political themes as alluded to by their name, which is short for Capitalist Downfall. Mixing ska, punk, hardcore, dub, drum and bass, and reggae, Capdown built a reputation around their independent releases and numerous tours.
Skindred is a Welsh band that fuses heavy metal with other genres, most notably reggae. Formed in Newport in 1998, they are well known for their energetic and involving live performances and have won several awards including "Best Live Band" at the 2011 UK Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards and the "Devotion Award" at the 2011 Kerrang! Awards.
Pepper is a three-piece reggae rock band originally from Hawaii, now based in San Diego. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Kaleo Wassman, vocalist/bassist Bret Bollinger, and drummer Yesod Williams. Since the band's formation they have released eight studio albums, as well as two live albums.
Roger Charlery, known professionally as Ranking Roger, was an English musician. He was a vocalist in the 1980s ska band the Beat and later new wave band General Public. He subsequently was the frontman for a reformed Beat lineup.
Mayday Parade is an American rock band from Tallahassee, Florida. Formed in 2005, the band was a result of a merger between two local Tallahassee bands, Kid Named Chicago and Defining Moment. Their debut EP Tales Told by Dead Friends, was released in 2006, and sold over 50,000 copies without any label support. In July 2007, Mayday Parade released their debut album A Lesson in Romantics. Having been signed to Fearless Records since 2006, the band also signed onto a major label with Atlantic Records in 2009. Their second studio album, Anywhere but Here was released in October 2009 and their third album, entitled Mayday Parade, was released in October 2011. Mayday Parade's fourth album, titled Monsters in the Closet, was released in October 2013. Their fifth album, titled Black Lines, was released October 2015. In April 2018, the band signed to Rise Records and released their sixth studio album Sunnyland on June 15, 2018. Their seventh studio album, What It Means to Fall Apart, was released on November 19, 2021.
Paul Richard Fox was a British singer and guitarist, best known from his work with the UK punk band, The Ruts. The Ruts' style combined punk with dub reggae, a sound that owed much to Fox's guitar skills and earned him respect and admiration. The Guardian noted in his obituary: "Fox played a pivotal songwriting role, and quickly became a model punk guitarist at a time when the three-chord thrash was the height of many of his contemporaries' ambitions". Unlike many of his peers, Fox had been playing guitar since the mid-1960s, citing Hendrix as an influence.
Random Hand is a British ska band, formed in Keighley in 2002. Their sound fuses influences from many genres, including ska, reggae, punk rock, metal, hip hop and dub. The band is typically associated with the punk subculture, due to its ethics and lyrical content. Their lyrical themes are mostly of a sociopolitical nature, however recent albums Inhale/Exhale and Seething Is Believing, feature more personal lyrics and subject matter.
Wha'ppen? is the second studio album by British ska band the Beat, released in 1981 via Go-Feet Records in the United Kingdom and Sire Records in the United States. After the critical and commercial success of I Just Can't Stop It (1980), which mixed ska, reggae and punk rock with social lyrics, the band changed direction on Wha'ppen?, taking influence from many other musical styles which were intriguing the band, including African, steel band and dub music, while keeping reggae at its core. The fast pace of the band's previous work is also exchanged for a slower, mid-tempo pace. Accompanying the music is the socially conscious and political lyrics. The band recorded the record at Roundhouse Studios with producer Bob Sargeant.
Sublime is an American rock band from Long Beach, California, formed in 1988. The band's original lineup consisted of Bradley Nowell, Eric Wilson (bass), and Bud Gaugh (drums). Lou Dog, Nowell's dalmatian, was the mascot of the band. Nowell died of a heroin overdose in 1996, resulting in the band's breakup. In 1997, songs such as "What I Got", "Santeria", "Wrong Way", "Doin' Time", and "April 29, 1992 (Miami)" were released to U.S. radio.
Young Guns are an English alternative rock band from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The members, working with each other in various musical interests throughout the 2000s, formally formed the band in 2008, and rose to prominence after their debut EP, Mirrors, earned them spots opening live shows for Bon Jovi and Guns N' Roses. Their debut album, All Our Kings Are Dead, on 12 July 2010. Their second album, Bones, was released in February 2012. Their single "Bones" reached no. 1 on the Billboard Active Rock charts in the US in May 2013. Their third album, Ones and Zeros, was released on 9 June 2015. The band's fourth album, Echoes, was released on 16 September 2016.
The Dead 60s were an English ska punk band from Liverpool. The band's sound is a mixture of punk rock, ska, dub and reggae. They have taken influences from artists such as King Tubby, Jackie Mittoo, Gang of Four and A Certain Ratio.
Don Broco are a British rock band formed in Bedford, England, in 2008. The band consists of Rob Damiani, Simon Delaney (guitar), Tom Doyle and Matt Donnelly. The band have released four studio albums, including Priorities (2012), Automatic (2015) and Technology (2018). Their most recent album Amazing Things (2021) was their first to reach No.1 in the UK Album Charts.
Easy Star Records is an American independent record label founded in 1996. Based in New York City, the label primarily produces and releases albums in the genres of reggae and dub.