Skindred

Skindred
Skindred performing at LT's Bar and Grill in Rockford, Illinois on June 15, 2009.
Background information
Origin	Newport, Wales
Genres	Alternative metal, reggae
Years active	1998 (1998)–present
Labels	BMG, Warner Bros., MCA, Bieler Bros., Lava, Atlantic
Associated acts	Dub War, Mass Mental
Website	skindred.net
Members
Benji Webbe Mikeydemus Dan Pugsley Arya Goggin Dan Sturgess (live)
Past members
Jeff "Death" Rose Martyn "Ginge" Ford

Skindred is a Welsh rock band from Newport. The band was formed in 1998 following the disbandment of vocalist Benji Webbe's previous band, Dub War. Skindred's musical style mixes alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and reggae. The band also integrate elements of dancehall, jungle, hardcore, ska, hip hop, drum and bass, dubstep and various other influences into their music.

History

See also: Dub War

Dub War was formed in Newport, South Wales in 1993, and eventually signed with Earache Records. According to vocalist Benji Webbe, "They would not let us record and just wouldn't give us money to live on, this made us fight internally till we had no option other than to go our separate ways or kill someone or each other."^[1] Dub War disbanded in 1998, and Webbe formed Skindred with bassist Daniel Pugsley, guitarist Mikey Demus, and drummer Dirty Arya Goggin after Webbe was unable to put together a new project featuring other members of Dub War.^[2] In 2002, Skindred released its debut album, Babylon. After being reissued in 2003 by RCA Records, the album was re-released by Lava Records on August 14, 2004. Allmusic writer Johnny Loftus wrote that "Skindred doesn't seem to consciously want the reinvention tag; it has simply tapped into the same lack of pretension that fueled Korn and Living Colour's Vivid -- records that were made visionary by an unadulterated honesty in both delivery and craft. [...] highly recommended for fans of literate genre jumpers like Soulfly and System of a Down, or any heshers looking for some heavy-hitting firepower that hasn't fallen victim to the anvil of corporate assimilation."^[3]

In the United States, Babylon charted at #1 on the Billboard Top Reggae Albums chart, #5 on the Top Heatseekers chart and at #189 on the Billboard 200, and the single "Nobody" peaked at #14 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and at #23 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in 2004.^[4] In 2005, the single "Pressure" peaked at #30 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.^[4] In 2006, Babylon once again charted at #1 on the Top Reggae Albums chart.^[4] On October 23, 2007, Skindred released its second album, Roots Rock Riot on Bieler Bros. Records. In the United States, the album peaked at #6 on the Top Heatseekers chart and at #22 on the Top Independent Albums chart.^[5] The album Shark Bites and Dog Fights was released in September 2009.

In 2011, Dan Sturgess was added to Skindred's live lineup (it's still unconfirmed whether or not he will be a full time member although he has appeared in almost all of Skindred's publicity shots since his addition). The band's fourth studio album, Union Black, was released April 25, 2011 exclusively to the UK & Europe. On July 1, it was released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The band promoted this with a UK tour, supported by American post-hardcore group Chiodos and Blackpool band Me Vs Hero. The London show was filmed for Scuzz TV in the UK. Skindred also played at several major European festivals including Download Festival on the Acoustic Stage (Friday) and Main Stage (Saturday), Boardmasters Festival, Wacken Open Air, Przystanek Woodstock, and Sonisphere Festival in Italy and Switzerland,^[6] the Swiss leg of Sonisphere being notable for the first live performance of Warning with Jacoby Shaddix, who's band Papa Roach was also performing at Sonisphere in Switzerland.

Musical style

Skindred fuses heavy metal, punk rock and reggae influences. The band refers to this style as "Ragga metal".^[7][8] Benji Webbe has also jokingly referred to the band's musical style as "nu-reggae", in reference to the term nu metal.^[9] Although Skindred has sometimes been compared to Bad Brains,^[10] Webbe states that "To someone who doesn't know anything about reggae music, of course we're going to sound like Bad Brains. It's like someone who doesn't know anything about opera might say that Pavarotti sounds just like Mario Lanza. But when your ears are trained and you know what you're looking for, you're going to say, 'Shit no, Mario Lanza don't sound nothing like Pavarotti.'"^[9]

Band members

• Benji Webbe — Vocals, Electronics (1998–present)
• Daniel Pugsley — Bass (1998–present)
• Michael Fry (a.k.a. Mikeydemus) — Guitar, Backing vocals (2002–present)
• Arya Goggin (a.k.a. Dirty Arya) — Drums (2002–present)

Former members

• Jeff "Death" Rose — Guitar (1998–2002)^[11]
• Martyn "Ginge" Ford — Drums (1998–2002) ^[11]

Touring Members

• Dan Sturgess (a.k.a. Gubbins, Bruno, Brixton, Arthur, Sanchez) - DJ, samples, electronics (2011-present)

Discography

For a more comprehensive list, see Skindred discography.

Year Album 2002 Babylon 2007 Roots Rock Riot 2009 Shark Bites and Dog Fights 2011 Union Black References [12] ^ "Biography of Dub War". Dub War. http://www.dubwar.co.uk/biography/. Retrieved 28 December 2008.  ^ Loftus, Johnny. "Biography of Skindred". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p558003. Retrieved 28 December 2008.  ^ Loftus, Johnny. "Review of Babylon". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r705685. Retrieved 28 December 2008.  ^ a b c "Charts and awards for Babylon". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r705685. Retrieved 28 December 2008.  ^ "Charts and awards for Roots Rock Riot". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1211493. Retrieved 28 December 2008.  ^ "Skindred Return to Download and add more European Festivals". Skindred.net. 2011-04-08. http://www.skindred.net/skindred-return-to-download-and-add-more-european-festivals/. Retrieved 2011-05-03.  ^ "Last chance to catch Skindred". Express and Echo. December 15, 2006. http://results.factiva.com/index/index.aspx?ref=EXPECH0020061216e2cf0002c. Retrieved 2008-09-25.  ^ "Skindred set to storm into action". South Wales Evening Post. April 5, 2006. http://results.factiva.com/index/index.aspx?ref=SWEPOS0020060406e24500043. Retrieved 2008-09-25.  ^ a b Briggs, Newt (September 9, 2004). "Dread head". Las Vegas Mercury. http://www.lasvegasmercury.com/2004/MERC-Sep-09-Thu-2004/24714307.html. Retrieved 28 December 2008.  ^ "Mon-Skindred". Idaho Statesman. February 25, 2005. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=IDSB&s_site=idahostatesman&p_multi=IDSB&p_theme=gannett&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=10883001A64B7B3F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved 28 December 2008.  ^ a b "Jeff / Ginge Statement upon leaving Skindred". Dub War. http://www.dubwar.co.uk/articles/statement.php. Retrieved 28 December 2008.  ^ Skindred Interview, Alternative Vision, 29th April 2011. Retrieved 7th May 2011. External links Official Skindred Website Skindred biography from BBC Wales Interview With Benji Webbe at UK Sonisphere Festival 2009 Interview with Benji Webbe, Rocksins.com