The Skids come from that corner of the musical landscape where loud rock, big hair, sleaze and punk rock good times rule. A corner that has Thin Lizzy posters on the wall and the sound of trampled beer cans and plastic cups fills the air. A magical world where everyone has access to the rider and Monday morning is always two sleeps away.The Melbourne based band have only been playing a short time but have already marked their spot on the festival circuit with an appearance at Adelaide's Half Strange last month as well as spot on this weekend's Maggot Fest in Melbourne. They play a music that is the antithesis of Radiohead and for that we are thankful.We caught up with vocalist Zeke to get the gist and some hair spray mist.Noisey: "Hard Candy" sounds like it could have have come off a 90s grunge album - and that's a good thing! Do you all come from different musical backgrounds/interests?
Zeke: Interesting take… as far as interests go; Joel likes to write raps on his day off, Sophie edits JUS zine with Harriet Hudson of Miss Destiny and Steph is pretty determined to make senior executive officer at her current job at the Public Transport Victoria call centre by the end of 2016 - it all comes together when we get a groove happening though.. and that's what matters.Is everyone except Sophie from Adelaide? Did you all you know each other before living in Melbourne?
We hadn't met until we moved here to Melbourne. In fact we all met when the others responded to my 'members wanted' flyers for a comedy-sports-journalism themed prog-rock band called the Alan Partridge Project; it never really got off the ground. We also tried being a cybercrime focused political punk band called Google Chrome Motherfuckers but ran into legal problems with the name before we'd gotten very far. In the end we decided to just be a rock band and steal the name of an old Scottish postpunk act. It's working out pretty good so far.What is "Deepest Grave" about? It sounds angry.
It's actually a love song.You are playing Maggot Fest this weekend. What can people expect from the SKIDS?
The punters or 'maggots' can expect* a classic, slightly wild rock show with the possible inclusion of an espresso martini, a magic trick, some big hair and a bit of shredding…..
*I'm expecting that we wont live up to any of those expectationsWhat are you expecting from the weekend?
To play to an extremely small crowd, first slot on a Friday night (we have a 14 minute set) and maybe to be a little stressed having just biked in from work in Williamstown - but besides that we're excited to see a bunch of sick bands and knock the froth off some tall ones.
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Zeke: Interesting take… as far as interests go; Joel likes to write raps on his day off, Sophie edits JUS zine with Harriet Hudson of Miss Destiny and Steph is pretty determined to make senior executive officer at her current job at the Public Transport Victoria call centre by the end of 2016 - it all comes together when we get a groove happening though.. and that's what matters.Is everyone except Sophie from Adelaide? Did you all you know each other before living in Melbourne?
We hadn't met until we moved here to Melbourne. In fact we all met when the others responded to my 'members wanted' flyers for a comedy-sports-journalism themed prog-rock band called the Alan Partridge Project; it never really got off the ground. We also tried being a cybercrime focused political punk band called Google Chrome Motherfuckers but ran into legal problems with the name before we'd gotten very far. In the end we decided to just be a rock band and steal the name of an old Scottish postpunk act. It's working out pretty good so far.What is "Deepest Grave" about? It sounds angry.
It's actually a love song.You are playing Maggot Fest this weekend. What can people expect from the SKIDS?
The punters or 'maggots' can expect* a classic, slightly wild rock show with the possible inclusion of an espresso martini, a magic trick, some big hair and a bit of shredding…..
*I'm expecting that we wont live up to any of those expectationsWhat are you expecting from the weekend?
To play to an extremely small crowd, first slot on a Friday night (we have a 14 minute set) and maybe to be a little stressed having just biked in from work in Williamstown - but besides that we're excited to see a bunch of sick bands and knock the froth off some tall ones.
Catch The Skids in Melbourne Oct 28 at Maggot Fest.Image: Jae-Bowie