Answers by Sherwood Webber.
Questions prepared - Jakub Asphyx.
Translated by Duzl, thank you!
Ave SKINLESS! I'm just sitting at work, listening to your new album "Savagery" and have an album cover open on my desktop. My colleague walked around me and normally began to scream for a whole lap that I am a deviant. She probably does not understand what is brutal death metal. I tried to explain to her, but it was not possible. So I ask you about what the new album is? What is main theme?
DEATH METAL and BARABARITY = SAVAGERY
I do not know if you will agree with me, but the new album is much darker and cooler than the previous albums. Maybe it's just my feeling, but some of my friends have a similar opinion. How do you perceive the news with the distance? I think now the overall impression. Personally, I'm really excited when I listen to it, so I feel like I'm closed overnight with dead people in the autopsy room.
I’m glad you get those glorious sensations, we must have done something right. I think it returns to some of our earliest records in some ways. It’s raw and ferocious.
You've been playing since 1992, you're a death metal legend, and I have not heard from you a really bad album yet. Maybe just "Foreshadowing our Demise" I got into my veins longer, but you're not like many others just a "one album" band. Asking you for a recipe would be probably bold, but how does SKINLESS create new material?
It usually starts with some beers, and then some darkness. Then the magic starts to happen, the thickness flows like lava. Noah writes a majority of the music and everyone contributes their chunks.
You play brutal death metal, rough and raw music. It also includes texts about evil and ugly things. Who writes them? And where do you get inspiration for them? Do you attach big importance to them or are they just an add-on to music? What are the lyrics on "Savagery" about?
Every song is different just mainly imagery of living in a cold and brutal world, not necessarily today’s world, but a more timeless approach, could be the past, could be the present, and could be the future.
Death metal is not a style that would be a great deal of interest of fans, it´s a reason why support is really important. In the old days, I have fixed that a favorite band is supported by buying CDs, T-shirts, going to a concert. But the time has changed. The internet rules the world, downloading music. How do you perceive these changes as a band? Did you have to change your strategy and adapt fro this? ? What about fans are there different than before?
We don’t have much of a strategy, we like to play as often as we are able and we create what we create. We aren’t bound to having to do it, so it’s fun for us. I think that’s what made Savagery so authentically SKINLESS, we just capture what comes out. We don’t really care if the internet likes it, we do however care that true fans of the band find something they like, but it’s not a driving factor for us.
You are considered a legend that stood at the birth of brutal death metal. Probably you have answered many times how you actually started to play this style of music, but I would you rather wonder if you are still following this direction? Do you like to find new bands?
Yes, I am a big fan and follower of all things underground. I’m continually seeking out new bands and celebrating the old ones. I consider it a great pleasure in life to be a part of the underground death metal scene.
And what do you think of the current trend to go with the music on the edge? As fast as possible, as loud as possible, as sophisticated as possible? Sometimes I feel that machines are playing instead of some death metallers. Personally, I do not like a lot of bands from technical death metal. what about you?
I’m not a technically death metal fan. Not to say I don’t appreciate the technicality of SUFFOCATION, I just don’t really listen to bands that are overly technically, for me there isn’t much soul to be had and it doesn’t grab me like the beef of heavy death metal written savagely and instinctively.
At the time you started, a lot of people listen to thrash, but also black metal, punk. Which bands have the most influence on you? Is there a musician who was your idol and thanks to him you start to enjoy the music? When I tell someone today that I have listened to a lot of RAMONES in their beginnings and I still love them, no one believes me :)).
For us it was the 90’s death metal greats, SUFFOCATION, BOLT THROWER, GRAVE, CANNIBAL CORPSE, GORGUTS, GUTTED, MALEVOLENT CREATION
My friend whispers to me to ask for some funny stories from SKINLESS history. Do you have some for us? What about the first underground gigs?
Like any band, at first we weren’t that good, we wanted to be badasses, but we just weren’t there yet. It came through determination. It took a couple years of proving ourselves, then when Progression Towards Evil came out, we had found our identity and follow it to this day.
Since the founding of SKINLESS, 26 years have passed. Honored you're on stage, you have loyal fans, acting in concert. Is there anything else you want to achieve as a band? What are your goals for the future?
We would like to just continue on the path we are on, not looking to break any speed records or top any charts. We appreciate who we are and love our place in the underground.
Finally, I have to ask - are you going to Europe? I would like to hear in the Czech Republic how the „Savagery“ album sounds live. Are you planning a tour with the new album?
We would love to make it back to the Czech Republic soon. It’s always been a special place for us, we started our first ever European tour there and I’ll never forget it.
Thank you very much for the interview. I wish you only sold out concerts, lots of enthusiastic fans. Wish you all the best as well in your personal life, and I'll be looking forward to be somewhere under the stage soon. SKINLESS FOREVER!
THANKS VERY MUCH!
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