The Skints are an English

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, described by Clash Music as "the torchbearers for modern British reggae music." The Skints mix

, ska, dub,

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

, and rap, touring extensively across the UK,

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

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".

History

Early years

The Skints formed as school friends at Woodbridge High School (London). The band hail from the

Leyton Leyton ( ) is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Ri ...

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

and

South Woodford South Woodford is an area of East London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Woodford Green to the north, Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. T ...

/ Woodford areas of northeast

. They settled on the current line-up in May 2007. 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.

2009-2011: ''Live. Breathe. Build. Believe.''

Over the next year the band toured with the likes of The Slackers, Sonic Boom Six,

The Aggrolites The Aggrolites are an American reggae band from Los Angeles, California, United States, which formed in 2002. Overview The Aggrolites are an amalgamation of two previous Los Angeles reggae and ska bands, the Vessels and the Rhythm Doctors. Th ...

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. 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 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

Punk Show with Mike Davies and toured the UK with Random Hand, Chris Murray and

Mouthwash Mouthwash, mouth rinse, oral rinse, or mouth bath is a liquid which is held in the mouth passively or swirled around the mouth by contraction of the perioral muscles and/or movement of the head, and may be gargled, where the head is tilted back ...

as the "Rebel Alliance Tour". ''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 The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Fest ...

. A seven-inch picture disc vinyl single, "Up Against The Wall" was released on Seven Inch Records in October 2010, featuring a

dub version Dub is a musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style.Dub: soundscapes and shattered songs in Jamaican reggae, p.&nb ...

by prolific dub producer

Mad Professor Neil Joseph Stephen Fraser (born 27 March 1955, Georgetown, Guyana) known by his stage-name Mad Professor, is a British dub music producer, engineer and remixer. He has collaborated with reggae artists Lee "Scratch" Perry, Sly and Robbie, ...

. 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 Camden Underworld is a music venue in Camden Town, London, England. The venue is a part of the World's End pub, situated in the basement of the building. It has a capacity of 500 people. History Over the years The Underworld has become t ...

) and two separate support runs with

Bedouin Soundclash Bedouin Soundclash is a Canadian band based in Toronto and consisting of vocalist and guitarist Jay Malinowski, bass player Eon Sinclair, and various session musicians. Their sound has been described as a combination of reggae and ska. Bedouin ...

and Sublime with Rome, respectively. February 2011, The Skints supported Reel Big Fish on a 28-date tour of the UK and Europe.

2012-2014: ''Part & Parcel''

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 Gym Class Heroes was an American rap rock band from Geneva, New York. The group formed in 1997 when Travie McCoy met drummer Matt McGinley during their high school gym class. The band's music displays a wide variety of influences, including h ...

. 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 Banquet Records is a record shop in Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. Formerly part of the Beggars Banquet Records retail chain, it became fully independent in 2002. It stocks a broad range of music on both vinyl and CD. The establishment ...

helped the band out by putting on a benefit show for the band to play in Kingston, with all proceeds going towards new equipment. 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. May 2013 they followed this up with a 21-show-in-19-day headline run which so them headline London's

KOKO (music venue) Koko (stylised as KOKO, previously called The Music Machine and Camden Palace) is a concert venue and former theatre in Camden Town, London. The building was known as Camden Palace from 1982 until its 2004 purchase and extensive restoration, le ...

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 Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes in the UK. The Skints then entered the studio with Prince Fatty to begin work on their third LP.

2015-2017: ''FM''

The Skints released "FM" on 9 March 2015 after signing a one-album deal with

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

independent reggae label Easy Star Records. A

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

of sorts (virtually unheard of in the reggae/ska genre), FM is set on a fictional

pirate radio Pirate radio is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license, whether an invalid license or no license at all. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are rec ...

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 Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated as QOTSA or QotSA) is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1996. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme shortly before he returned to his native Palm Desert, California. ...

and the

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...

movie, Do The Right Thing in regards to the album’s audio-theatrical concept.
''FM'' reached number 5 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Reggae Albums chart and number 7 on the Independent Albums Chart in the UK.
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 Fishbone is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1979, the band plays a fusion of ska, punk, funk, metal, reggae, and soul. AllMusic has described the group as "one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative ...

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 The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (informally referred to as The Bosstones and often stylized as The Mighty Mighty BossToneS) were an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. From the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky ...

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

for the first time. They ended the year with a sold out headline show at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn,

Hometown Throwdown in Boston and a New Year’s Eve show with Sublime With Rome in Pennsylvania. 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. That year The Skints also joined the Fireball "Fuelling The Fire" tour alongside

Less Than Jake Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida, formed in 1992. The band consists of Chris DeMakes (guitars, vocals), Roger Lima (bass, vocals), Buddy Schaub (trombone), Peter "JR" Wasilewski (saxophone) and Matt Yonker ...

and Mariachi El Bronx across the UK’s O2 Academy venues. 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. 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 Asian Man Records is a DIY record label run by Mike Park in Monte Sereno, California. Park started a record label and began releasing music in 1989 under the name Dill Records, with the Asian Man label established in May 1996. History Asian Man ...

legends Kemuri and Bruce Lee Band before coming home to write their next full length record.

2018-present: ''Swimming Lessons''

In 2018, The Skints entered the Fish Factory in

Harlesden Harlesden is a district in the London Borough of Brent, north-west London. Located north of the Grand Union Canal and Wormwood Scrubs, the Harrow Road flows through the centre of the area which goes eastwards to Central London and west towar ...

, 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 Summerjam is a European reggae festival. It takes places annually in July at the ''Fühlinger See'', which is a lake located in Cologne, Germany. The event usually attracts an audience of between 25,000 and 30,000 people. Two stages and two tents ...

, Boomtown Fair and a sold out O2 Brixton Academy as main support to Californian punk legends

NOFX NOFX () was an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983. Bassist/lead vocalist Fat Mike, rhythm guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin were original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on every ...

. ‘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. 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). Lyrically their darkest and most introspective release to date, Swimming Lessons sees The Skints go from heavy rubadub, to blistering punk, to

chiptune Chiptune, also called 8-bit music (although not all chiptune is 8-bit music), is a style of electronic music made using the programmable sound generator (PSG) sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers and video gam ...

-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." "Swimming Lessons" has proved to be the band’s best received record to date, debuted at number 1 on the reggae

Billboard charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ' ...

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. Shortly after release, The Skints were invited by legendary British reggae DJ legend

David Rodigan David Michael "Ram Jam" Rodigan MBE OD (born 24 June 1951) is a British radio DJ who also performs as a disc jockey. Known for his selections of reggae and dancehall music, he has played on stations including Radio London, Capital 95.8, K ...

to be interviewed on his

BBC Radio 1xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts Black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been ...

, 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 Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC sound studios, of which five are in regular use, in Delaware Road, Maida Vale, west London. It has been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions for BBC Radio 1, ...

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...

also showed support for Swimming Lessons, making it ‘Album Of The Day’ upon release and playlisting ‘Armageddon’ ft. Runkus that summer. 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. 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

from Toronto. January 2020 the band made their debut UK TV appearance as guests on

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content targeted for children aged six year ...

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. 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".

Touring and work ethic

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 , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, Belgium, Switzerland, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. 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.

Musical style and influences

The Skints are known for their stylistic diversity across genres and tempos, and have the unique feature of three different

lead vocalist The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

s 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 Bad Brains are an American punk rock band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1976. They are widely regarded as pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members have objected to the use of this term to describe their music. They are also an ade ...

, Popcaan,

No Doubt No Doubt is an American rock band formed in Anaheim, California in 1986. For most of its career, the band has consisted of vocalist and founding member Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young. Keyboar ...

, Alton Ellis, Michael Prophet, Wiley and

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards, backing ...

. 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!"

Band members

*Jamie Kyriakides – vocals, drums, guitar *Joshua Waters Rudge – vocals, guitar *Jonathan Doyle – bass guitar *Marcia Richards – vocals, keyboards,

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usu ...

, flute, guitar, sampler, harp

Discography

Albums

EPs

References

External links

The Skints - HomeLive: Tribal Seeds, The Skints & The Steppas (1-21-16) « The Pier Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skints, The English reggae musical groups English punk rock groups Punk rock groups from London Reggae fusion groups Easy Star Records artists