The U.K.’s Reggae/Punk Band Skints at California Roots Festival;By Shelah Moody
Who:
Tastemaker Live & King of Kings Reggae present the Skints with
2015 Grammy winners Morgan Heritage, Jamere & Laza Morgan, Saane
& Delight, Mellow Movement, King I-Vier, DJ Green B, 1 Blood,
hosts Spliff Skankin and Show Nuff Entertainment Deecee's Soul
Shakedown.
When:
Sunday June 12, 8 p.m.
Where:
1015 Folsom Dance Club, San Francisco, CA
The
Skints have a lot to celebrate this year. Since I first interviewed
them at the 2015 California Roots Festival, the innovative, east
London reggae/punk band embarked on an international tour in support
of their latest album, “FM” on Easy Star records. They’ve hit
the European festival circuit this year and in the U.S., they’ve
opened for the likes of southern California roots band Tribal Seeds
and Grammy winners Stephen “Ragga” Marley and Morgan Heritage.
The Skints’ sound is a fusion of roots reggae, dancehall, dub, R&B,
punk and garage. “FM” has been described as a fitting tribute to
the diverse radio culture in the UK that influenced them.
During
Memorial Day weekend, (May 27-29), the Skints returned to the wildly
popular California Roots festival, held at Monterey County
Fairgrounds.
I
caught up with the Skints-Marcia Richards (keyboards, melodica,
vocals), Josh Waters Rudge (lead guitar, vocals), Jamie Kryiakides
(drums, vocals) and John Doyle (bass) in the media lounge after their
high energy performance on Saturday afternoon. I asked the Skints,
who played the smaller OG stage at Caliroots last year, how it felt
to be “upgraded” to the Bowl—the main stage-- which exposed
them to a wider audience. Josh said that the upgrade felt “quite
luxurious” and an added perk was having a posh dressing room across
from Stephen and Damian Marley and the VIP Lounge.
The
Skints’ one-hour set in the Caliroots Bowl, thick with smoke from
at least 10 strains of sensimilla, consisted of original songs such
as “Cost of Living,” “Culture Vulture,” “Rat-A-Tat,”
“Laser Beam,” “Forest for the Trees” and “Eyes in the Back
of My Head.” Given the Skints’ tight rapport with each other and
the audience and their collective quick British wit, I asked them if
they’ve considered a venturing into reality television.
“This
is the first time anyone has seriously mentioned it,” said Josh.
“Keeping up with the Skint-ashians… We should look into it.”
The
Skints are advocates of live music and serious instrumentation.
Marcia’s ebullient melodica solos are one of the highlights of a
Skints show.
“When
you play the piano, you can play the melodica,” Marcia explained.
“It’s a direct mix between the flute and the piano, which are my
two main instruments. I’m very influenced by Augustus Pablo. We
used to listen to him in the car when we were driving to shows.”
In
closing, I asked each member of the Skints to sum up the California
Roots festival experience in a few words.
“It
is the most friendly and warm place, both in weather and the vibe,”
said Marcia. “These are some of the nicest members of the audience
I’ve met during my career.”
“Glorious
sunshine,” said Josh.
“Free
edibles,” said Jamie.
John
chose to be ambiguous in his response. “Sexuality!”
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the Skints on:
