With total musical experience exceeding 60 years, Skunkbone dove headlong into the midst of the Brisbane Grunge Revival with their debut release “Infirmity”, an album that touches on love, loss, mental illness, and drug abuse.
Hey! How did you get to know each other? Under what conditions did the formation of the band take place?
Corey (guitar/vocals) and Zac (drums) knew each other as teenagers growing up in Brisbane. Zac moved to Sydney for several years, which is where Raff met him through his band Acid Nymph. Raff joined Acid Nymph for a time, however Zac moved back to Brisbane in the late 2010’s. In June of 2020 Raff moved to Brisbane and Zac immediately floated the idea of me joining a band with himself and Corey. And so it began.
Are there any musicians who inspire you? What qualities do you admire about them?
We’re inspired by artists from all across the musical spectrum. Everything from global juggernauts like the Foo Fighters and Alice In Chains down to the local bands we play with in our own scene like Regular Gonzales or Tailor Made Rejects. Anyone who gets up on stage and performs with passion, baring themselves for the world to see, inspires us.
Congrats on the release of ‘Infirmity’, the album sounds great. How was the recording process – any studio meltdowns or unexpected dramas?
The recording process was a different approach for us. Raff has a studio at his place, and we did everything in-house for this. Raff oversaw the recording process from start, all the way through mixing and even attempted Mastering too. We didn’t hit any unexpected struggles, but we didn’t exactly go in with a plan. We just sort of started recording things and a solid approach didn’t really come together until we were about half way through. That did mean we had to go back and re-record some elements, but ultimately the quality of the release speaks to that being worthwhile. Plus, this approach really allowed us to work on a budget, which helped in terms of getting it out sooner.
How can you describe the music you make?
Musically, most of what we do is crafted after the broad spectrum of 90’s alt rock. Listening across the album, you’ll hear elements from bands like The Smashing Pumpkins, Placebo, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, etc. To sum it up in a word, we’d have to say “Grunge”, but it’s really much broader than that.
Do you have common hobbies beyond music?
We all enjoy gaming, and are massive geeks for comics and movies as well.
What are the strongest attributes of the three of you?
Raff is usually the one to come at things with a clear plan (even if that sometimes means overthinking haha). Zac brings mountains of intensity and charisma, so much so that people often comment on how entertaining he is to watch as a drummer. Corey’s talent is really impressive, and his ability to just come up with a song on the spot is wild.
What is the biggest decision you’ve had to make?
Thankfully we’ve not had too many major decisions to worry about thus-far. I think most of it has been fairly standard stuff (where our limited budget will be spent, deciding on gig offers, etc). It helps that we are all on the same page about things more often than not.
What are your achievements to the moment?
Releasing the album is probably the biggest. None of us has released a full length album with previous projects, so that has definitely been a highlight for us.
How do you feel the Internet has impacted the music business?
It’s definitely been a double edged sword. On the one hand it has enabled anybody and everybody the opportunity to get their music out there and to the listeners all across the world, where previously it was significantly harder to reach that point. However, on the flip side that also means the market is flooded and nobody has time to listen to everything they would like. And “the algorithm” doesn’t help much either. Imagine how many cool bands you’ve missed out on because the algorithm didn’t opt to put it in your random list.
What are your plans for the future?
Currently we are writing songs and recording demos in preparation for our second album. We have probably a dozen songs ready to go, but we want to ensure we get the best release possible, so we hope to write as many as is needed to ensure everything is a banger.
