Skunk-Anansie
Skin, Skunk Anansie’s iconic shaven-headed singer, raises a quizzical eye-brow and tackles head-on the cynicism that has greeted so many of the reunions of recent years. Then, comes a no-nonsense assessment of her own band’s return after an eight year absence…
“People seem to do these things for money. We can’t think like that. If we did, we wouldn’t be able to do this because it would be fake, and I’m too egotistical to do something that’s fake and that’s shit. What would be the point? We see this as the beginning of a new band. Older, wiser… but without necessarily looking older!”
Image-wise, time has indeed been kind to Skin, Cass, Ace and Mark since they split in 2001 following a six year career during which they emerged as one of the biggest, most confrontational and visceral British bands of their generation. Their return is, according to drummer Mark Richardson, down to “unfinished business”, the catalyst being a greatest hits set mooted by their label, One Little Indian, back in 2008.
“We knew that that was on the table and that the label could do it with or without us, so we met up to discuss it. Skunk was always about energy and excitement, and we realised that we still had that. Things began to happen step by step at that point,” explains Skin.
A low-key party gig in Lamu, Kenya, on January 29, 2009, added further fuel to the fire, allowing all four band members to rehearse, travel together and spent a week on the African island rekindling their friendship.
“When we got there we started having a laugh straight away,” says guitarist Ace. “That’s when we remembered just how much fun things had been in the early days. There was a genuine buzz about what we were doing and a lot that came out of that experience.”
Returning to London, the rejuvenated foursome found themselves enthused about the prospect of collaborating on new material together again. A month of solid writing followed, leading to a veritable stockpile of new tracks.
“I don’t think any of us really thought that doing the greatest hits and a greatest hits tour was too exciting,” admits Skin. “If we were going to do this at all, we knew we had to have some new material to play for us to be interested in what we were doing.”
“To be honest we found the songwriting standards in the band have grown in the time we’ve been apart,” adds Mark. “I think we’ve all improved as writers and we all know when a song’s working very quickly.”
According to Skin, “one in five” songs made it through the band’s own self-vetting process. As a result two new tracks – Because Of You and Squander – have been added to the greatest hits package, Smashes And Trashes, both being epic numbers that sit comfortably alongside the likes of Hedonism, Selling Jesus, Weak, Secretly and Charlie Big Potato (the latter five being the band’s own firm favourites).
“The new songs just seem to emphasise the good things about the band: great lyrics, great choruses, great playing, and some weirdness thrown in there too,” says Skin about the recently penned material.
“That’s the difference between a reformation and what we’re doing,” adds bassist Cass. “Most bands that reform trade on their past. To us that might be a starting point, but there’s more to it than that. What’s exciting to us is really the future that’s out there.”
Despite the band’s own forward-looking vision, Skunk’s illustrious past is of course reflected on Smashes And Trashes – the majority of the tracks culled from Paranoid And Sunburnt, Stoosh and Post-Orgasmic Chill, the three albums that saw the band sell in excess of four million albums the first time around. Tellingly, though, the four-piece have their eyes firmly set on the next album.
“It’s hard to say what that’s going to be like but we’ve written about half of it,” says Skin. “ There will be a strong pop element to the songs, but it’ll be sparky and it will be loud.”
“There will definitely be some really weird stuff in there because that’s how we write,” adds Ace. “There are some songs that are easier to get a hold of and they’re often the singles, but there is an in-built strangeness in what we do and we’ve retained that. To me it’s what defines the band.”
Skunk Anansie’s next studio album is loosely pencilled in for mid-2010. But first there’s the small issue of a worldwide tour to truly announce their return. The live arena is, of course, Skunk’s natural habitat – the band’s personal live highlights include a show-stopping appearance at Glastonbury in 1999, playing Nelson Mandela’s 80th Birthday Party and playing in front of the Dalai Lama.
This time around, the tour follows on from two life-affirming performances at London’s Water Rats Theatre – the tiny 220-capacity venue where the band played their first gig in 1994 and to which they returned under the acronym S.C.A.M. to play two secret shows on April 2 and 3 of this year.
“What became blatantly obvious when we played The Water Rats was that this wasn’t a nostalgic thing,” says Skin. “There were so many people there that weren’t around when we were going originally, it was incredible.”
The band’s return to the scene of their very first live shows in close to a decade also provided food for thought in terms of the musical climate.
“ When we first came out it was all Britpop – Oasis, Blur and people like that. We didn’t fit at all then, and, looking around, I don’t see why we should fit now,” says Skin. “No one’s really sounded like us since we’ve been away. But we’ve enjoyed being the outsiders. It’s a good place to be. I also think that people are ready for a bit of in-yer-face tuneful rock music again. I see us in competition with every band that’s out there and I think we’re better than we were before. If we didn’t feel like that, it would be sad and pathetic. And, like I said, I don’t have time for that…”
Skunk Anansie 2009: Not so much reformed, as re-born….
November
Saturday 21st O2 Academy Leeds
Tuesday 24th Manchester Academy
Thursday 26th O2 Academy Brixton
Skin, Skunk Anansie’s iconic shaven-headed singer, raises a quizzical eye-brow and tackles head-on the cynicism that has greeted so many of the reunions of recent years. Then, comes a no-nonsense assessment of her own band’s return after an eight year absence…
“People seem to do these things for money. We can’t think like that. If we did, we wouldn’t be able to do this because it would be fake, and I’m too egotistical to do something that’s fake and that’s shit. What would be the point? We see this as the beginning of a new band. Older, wiser… but without necessarily looking older!”
Image-wise, time has indeed been kind to Skin, Cass, Ace and Mark since they split in 2001 following a six year career during which they emerged as one of the biggest, most confrontational and visceral British bands of their generation. Their return is, according to drummer Mark Richardson, down to “unfinished business”, the catalyst being a greatest hits set mooted by their label, One Little Indian, back in 2008.
“We knew that that was on the table and that the label could do it with or without us, so we met up to discuss it. Skunk was always about energy and excitement, and we realised that we still had that. Things began to happen step by step at that point,” explains Skin.
A low-key party gig in Lamu, Kenya, on January 29, 2009, added further fuel to the fire, allowing all four band members to rehearse, travel together and spent a week on the African island rekindling their friendship.
“When we got there we started having a laugh straight away,” says guitarist Ace. “That’s when we remembered just how much fun things had been in the early days. There was a genuine buzz about what we were doing and a lot that came out of that experience.”
Returning to London, the rejuvenated foursome found themselves enthused about the prospect of collaborating on new material together again. A month of solid writing followed, leading to a veritable stockpile of new tracks.
“I don’t think any of us really thought that doing the greatest hits and a greatest hits tour was too exciting,” admits Skin. “If we were going to do this at all, we knew we had to have some new material to play for us to be interested in what we were doing.”
“To be honest we found the songwriting standards in the band have grown in the time we’ve been apart,” adds Mark. “I think we’ve all improved as writers and we all know when a song’s working very quickly.”
According to Skin, “one in five” songs made it through the band’s own self-vetting process. As a result two new tracks – Because Of You and Squander – have been added to the greatest hits package, Smashes And Trashes, both being epic numbers that sit comfortably alongside the likes of Hedonism, Selling Jesus, Weak, Secretly and Charlie Big Potato (the latter five being the band’s own firm favourites).
“The new songs just seem to emphasise the good things about the band: great lyrics, great choruses, great playing, and some weirdness thrown in there too,” says Skin about the recently penned material.
“That’s the difference between a reformation and what we’re doing,” adds bassist Cass. “Most bands that reform trade on their past. To us that might be a starting point, but there’s more to it than that. What’s exciting to us is really the future that’s out there.”
Tagged in Skunk Anansie