I had a great conversation with my girl’s uncle a few hours before I first met Russell Marsden.

Her uncle was in town visiting. He’d planned the trip to last a week or two. But a family emergency, the kind that changes things, changed things. He was needed. So he was here.

We shared family stories, successes and failures. Things we liked; and didn’t. We talked about a new band he’d discovered, in middle age, that reminded him what he loved so much about music. A band whose sound had found him, somehow, across an ocean, in a north country town where the sun doesn’t rise ’til nine in winter. Where things don’t usually happen that easily. A band fronted by Russell Marsden.

Pardon the suspense. They are, of course, Band of Skulls. From Southampton, England.

My girl’s uncle heard their song “Light of The Morning” on TV one night in a Mustang ad. Next came album orders. Downloads. YouTube searches. I knew how that went. I’d done the same thing last summer after seeing them at Bonnaroo. He wondered where, exactly, was Marsden, a guitarist and singer, pulling from. How had voice grown so elegantly between 2009′s Baby Darling Doll Face Honey and spring’s Sweet Sour. How did this band’s three songwriters co-exist, delegate, survive? What motivated their edits? I wondered, too.

Forgive me for writing so few words about Marsden here. He is truly a lovely man. One of  ambitions both admirable and true. Indeed, you sense an inner honesty in him. I’d gladly buy him a pint (he prefers Belgian) anytime. And I wish him very well. His future is bright.

I shared these details with my girl’s uncle that night as we got ready to watch Band of Skulls. Me, my girl, her 50-something uncle and his sister. For a few hours, my family forgot the impossibly hard times awaiting us at home. We shared in the night and each other’s easy company. I hope one day Russell Marsden finds out his band’s hard work helped us arrive at that night. I think he’d feel good about it.

Here’s more of our conversation about life’s hard lessons and how to walk through the doors your work opens.

I want to start with a memory from the first time I saw you guys, at Bonnaroo, last summer. I understand that show left a lasting impression on you. There was something about it that you wanted to try and capture again. What was so memorable about it?

Technical details. Matt (Hayward, drums) got a real vibe off what was happening. I think a lot of people did. They were just going crazy. From the first hits. We opened with “Sweet Sour,” like we’ve been doing since, so it was defining it that sense as well. He was hitting the drums so hard that the stage was moving up and down, which was moving the amps, which was making the reverb tanks slap the insides of themselves and gives you that kind of lightning sound. We brought it home and watched it on video and thought, ‘Well, that’s cool.’ So we got back to Rockfield (Wales) and basically showed the videos to our producer and said, ‘We want the record to sound like this gig.’ He ended up jumping up and down on my far-too-overpriced-and-delicate amplifiers. That really was the connection. We’re back in Wales… and that’s on the album. It was one of those absurd details that became reality.

That’s brilliant when one of those little details ends up colouring an album. Sweet Sour can obviously apply to many things. One of the first that spoke to me was a focus on contrasts. I guess it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise coming from a band that’s touched on Patsy Cline and Led Zeppelin.

(Laughs).  It’s true! There you go!

I’m curious – when you first come together, at the beginning of the writing process, are those contrasts particularly apparent? Or is it easy to see what’s common?

If it’s a Patsy Cline-esque melody with a Led Zeppelin-esque whatever, we’re like ‘Throw that shit together!’

(Laughs).

That’s something that would make our ears perk up. Even if the bits to an idea seem weird, we want to see what happens. We have a very broad range of tastes – musical tastes, listening tastes – and we also have a broad range of stuff that we want to do. So it always favours the work. And this record is no exception, really. I think we continue to try to bring many different influences in. Sometimes it’s risky doing it. But I think if we weren’t fulfilling ourselves artistically, I think we’d be disappointed in the work. We’d be feeling repressed. Which we’re not.

When you take the album as a cohesive set – which, of course, people increasingly don’t do these days, though they ought to – I find it interesting that rather than a study in contrasts it feels it many ways like you guys have refined a lot of the elements you brought together on the first album; a distillation. Does it sound that way to you when you play the songs?

We don’t listen to it! We only play them. Listen to them to learn them, if you have to play them. (Laughs). I think for us it was making sure that everyone knew we were a real band. It wasn’t just a flash-in-the-pan thing. We’re a band on a journey writing music. We wanted it to open doors for us into the future rather than close them down and reduce our options. So, [there are] some interesting things. There are interesting time signatures that we did. We kind of got quite experimental, I think.

That’s true of the time signatures you hear in “Wanderluster.” It’s an interesting jump to hear. Very cool.

We could’ve easily not done a song like that. Played it safe. But I like the risk. It’s exciting. We sort of write the idea, not as a ‘Band of Skulls’ thing, but then it has to go through these channels to be possible to do. It was very interesting to do. And very satisfying to finish and get on the record. I’m glad it made it. It gives the record some edge.

You actually met (Emma Richardson, bass) when you were in art school together. Considering what you do now, what would you say is the thing school most taught you?

I think that everyone has a personal experience but we meet in the centre when there’s an experimental and creative mood. It’s great to be around people that are doing so many things. At the time, [school] was very exciting. We try and retain that sense of creative processes. Any idea’s good enough because it’s an idea. That’s a powerful thing. We sort of do have an art-school way of working. We sit down, we throw ideas around. It’s just like coming in with a new idea. We have development days. I guess that’s what we learned from it, really. How to see through a creative project. And how to collaborate. Hopefully we learned to be a creative team in any sense. That’s what we try and do. It’s very strange that the front end of it is this rock band.

(Laughs).

We sort of look at it sometimes, like, ‘What the hell happened there?’ But we’ve always collaborated and it’s always exciting. Right now, it’s music. It’s raw, powerful music that’s exciting people. It is exciting. And in the future there’s lot of other things we want to do and it’ll be exciting where it takes us. We work with people in America and back in England as well. We’ve spent a lot of time in Canada, Montreal especially, and it keeps that slightly unusual way of doing things alive. That’s not the usual route. Which is always, for good or worse, the way we do things. We do things the other way of doing it. We’re very fortunate. And we’re hopeful of protecting that creative bubble that we have now. It works for us.

What do you think being in a band has taught you about yourself?

It’s great to bring something exciting into town. And hopefully make people’s week a bit better, you know? Tough times often need a bit of relaxation. A bit of escapism. Rock and roll’s always done that. So, if that’s the case, then we’re very happy to supply it. And also, we’ve been a band for a long time but we’ve been musicians for a longer time. We’ve come across many barriers and people have written us off left, right and centre. It’s a very English thing. There’s a lot of history there and it’s super tough to break through. Anyone that’s sort of said that we were shit…it’s sort of satisfying when you make it to a certain level. The same songs, the same band – with a bit of hard work. We had an opportunity to share our work. The rest of it’s the same. Once you’ve come around and you have a good show or a good audience, or whatever, even if one person’s a big fan, it’s worth it. All summed up in one moment. Crystallized.

The night we met Russell, his bandmate Emma Richardson was there, too.
You can find our full interview with Emma and Russell here.

Readers will be familiar with our fondness for Band of Skulls. But allow us a short refresher.

This is a band of two men and one woman. Their rock and roll is leather jackets and dark wash denim, heavy breathing and hushed lullabies. Contrasts and symmetries. Smart. But, more than that, savvy. You wonder how they got to be wise beyond their years. They belong in your car. But they are also a band worth getting out and seeing. This is a rock band for our time.

They hail from Southampton, England – the town the Titanic set sail from. They share with her a similar ambition. After releasing the excellent Baby Darling Doll Face Honey in 2009, they returned in February with Sweet Sour, their second album. We recommend it.

We also advise you to schedule date night the next time they come through your town. You’ll both go home happy. We recently caught up with Russell Marsden (vocals, guitar) and Emma Richardson (vocals, bass) before their show at the Phoenix in Toronto to talk about the finer details of collaboration, German surrealism and Belgian gnomes.

I want to start with a memory from the first time I saw you guys, at Bonnaroo, last summer. I understand that show left a lasting impression on you. There was something about it that you wanted to try and capture again. Maybe you could tell me what was so memorable about it.

Emma: Well, we’d been in the studio for a few weeks by then. Recording. And we got the chance to go out and play the festival. And we really didn’t expect how big the stage [would be] and the time slot we got. So we thought, ‘Oh, let’s put four or five new ones in the set and see how they go down.’ I remember walking out on stage and seeing 15 or 20,000 people getting it and singing along. It was kind of the most overwhelming experience. Especially coming out of the studio and not talking to anybody for a month. Just – some of the things that happened on stage – not mistakes, but technical… extras.

Russell: Technical details. Matt [Hayward, drums] got a real vibe off of what was happening. I think a lot of people did. They were just going crazy. From the first hits. We opened with “Sweet Sour,” like we’ve been doing since. So it was defining it that sense as well. He was hitting the drums so hard that the stage was moving up and down, which was moving the amps, which was making the reverb tanks slap the insides of themselves and gives you that kind of lightning sound. We brought it home and watched it on video and thought, ‘Well, that’s cool.’ So we got back to Rockfield (Wales) and basically showed the videos to our producer and said, ‘We want the record to sound like this gig.’ He ended up jumping up and down on my far-too-overpriced and delicate amplifiers. That really was the connection. We’re back in Wales… and that’s on the album. It was one of those absurd details that became reality.

Emma: And that sound opens the album.

That’s brilliant when one of those little details ends up colouring an album.

Emma: It’s good for us for the memories.

Russell: Yeah, it’s a good trigger for those.

I can imagine. Sweet Sour, obviously, can apply to many things. One of the first that spoke to me was a focus on contrasts. I guess it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise coming from a band that’s touched on Patsy Cline and Led Zeppelin.

Emma: (Laughs).

Russell: (Laughs). It’s true! There you go!

I’m curious – when you first come together, at the beginning of the writing process, are those contrasts, particularly apparent? Or is it easy to see what’s common?

Emma: It’s strange because sometimes Matt could come up with the most beautiful guitar riff – on a guitar - that he wants to show us. Or I’ll come up with a big, heavy bass lick.

Russell: Or the opposite.

Emma: Everyone works on everything. So it’s a real combination of everyone coming together. And a good idea wins.

Russell: Basically.

Emma: Everyone agrees on certain classic bands but, at the end of the day, if you have a good idea and everyone likes it, everyone agrees to work on it. That might become a song.

Russell: If it’s a Patsy Cline-esque melody with a Led Zeppelin-esque whatever, we’re like ‘Throw that shit together!’

(Laughs).

Russell: That’s something that would make our ears perk up. Even if the bits to an idea seem weird, we want to see what happens. We have a very broad range of tastes – musical tastes, listening tastes – and also we have a broad range of stuff that we want to do, I think. So it always favours the work. And this record is no exception, really. I think we continue to try to bring many different influences in. Sometimes it’s risky doing it. But I think if we weren’t fulfilling ourselves artistically, we’d be disappointed in the work. We’d be feeling repressed. Which we’re not.

When you take the album as a cohesive set – which, of course, people increasingly don’t do these days, though they ought to – I find it interesting that rather than a study in contrasts it feels it many ways like you guys have refined a lot of the elements you brought together on the first album; a distillation. Does it sound that way to you when you play the songs?

Russell: We don’t listen to it! We only play them.

Emma: We only play them live.

Russell: Listen to them to learn them, if you have to play them. (Laughs). I think for us it was making sure that everyone knew we were a real band. It wasn’t just a ‘flash in the pan’ thing. We’re a band on a journey writing music. We wanted it to open doors for us into the future rather than close them and reduce our options. So there are some interesting things that we did. There are interesting time signatures. We kind of got quite experimental, I think.

That’s true of the time signatures you hear in “Wanderluster.” It’s an interesting jump to hear. Very cool.

Russell: We could’ve easily not done a song like that. Played it safe. But I like the risk. It’s exciting.

Emma: I like being able to, too. I like how sometimes we write things that we can’t physically play. We have to re-learn them and get to become better musicians to actually play the song. With “Wanderluster,” that was an example of everyone trying to figure out this crazy time signature that Matt had and then putting our own ideas onto it. It’s exciting, you know. You can kind of see what it might become. And that’s the point where everybody goes, ‘Wow, we should really work on this some more.’

Russell: Yeah! It was good. We sort of write the idea. Not as a ‘Band of Skulls’ thing. But then it has to go through these channels to be possible to do.

Emma: Three people. Three instruments. And two vocals. It has to fit into that mold.

Russell: It was very interesting to do. And very satisfying to finish and get on the record. I’m glad it made it. It gives the record some edge.

Absolutely. Emma, your artwork certainly forms the aesthetic of the band. I want to congratulate you on the opening of your first solo exhibition, Cruisin’ For A Bruisin’, back in England…

Emma: Thank you.

But, Russell, I think you’ll have something to say to this as well. Do you think that there are common themes within the artwork and the music?

Emma:  It’s quite a similar process for sure. I think that the process of actually creating a painting and a song is very similar. As in definite influences you could talk about…it’s a psychological thing. They’re all Rorschach tests. People bring different things to the paintings. A song, you could say the same thing. They could bring something emotionally to it.

Russell: They make their own thing of it.

Emma: Yeah. There is a definite crossover with the artwork and the music. It’s nice to have that continuity running through both records, I think.

For me – just to project myself onto it a touch – I feel that there’s a certain symmetry to both. But, at the same time, a certain fluidity. Something raw as well. Carnal, almost. Like an animalism.

Russell: It’s nice. The two sets of work remind me of the time we made the work. Which is what I see. It’s also great that everything we do creatively is from within the band. Musically and artistically. There’s no outside. We had some help to realize our ideas. But it’s always our ideas. And the fact that Emma’s work is beautiful and sort of hardcore at the same time is a great match for the band. I think this album cover – this is the first time we’ve ever seen it on a billboard and that kind of stuff – and it’s like, ‘Well, that looks pretty sick!’ And it does! It’s not just a picture that’s got us on it. Or whatever. Something really tired and done. And I think that it’s a really recognizable look. We hope that if anyone was waiting for the record to come out and they went into the store, or they went online or whatever, and that was the first time they saw the image, they’d go, ‘Oh, that’s the new Band of Skulls record.’ It’s a very complex and beautiful branding. But it’s us. It’s how we feel. It completely sums up how we feel the music would look if you could see it.

Well said. I was doing some reading and I came across an article where you mentioned, Emma, the German artist Hans Bellmer as a touchstone, a reference point. What is it about his artwork that you’re drawn to?

Emma: First off, his draftsmanship. The line he uses. For “The Story of the Eye” it’s amazing. It blows me away, his skills. And also that real visceral, slightly explicit, kind of raw… it’s evil, you know? (Laughs). Some of the images… he’s quite twisted. And he made that Doll thing which is so messed up.

It’s a touch vulgar.

Emma: Yeah. But he’s not afraid to go there. I kind of like his brash openness. That he’s able just to draw stuff like that and he makes it look so beautiful at the same time. I find myself kind of influenced by it. But also censoring myself with paint quite a bit. I do start with that kind of visceral, vicious line and then end up covering it up with oil paint and being a little coy. Revealing parts. He’s had a big influence on my work, for sure.

The two of you, if I’m not mistaken, actually met when you were in art school together.
Is that right?

Emma:  Pretty much, yeah.

Russell: Mmhmm.

Considering what you do now, what would you say is the thing school most taught you?

Russell:  They’ll probably be different! You go first.

Emma: (Laughs). It had a massive effect on my social life, first off. Also it teaches you to try out a lot of different ideas. Especially artistically when there are three of you. You figure out what you’re good at and what you’re not good at. And just not being afraid to try different things out and experiment.

Russell: Yeah, I think that everyone has a personal experience but we meet in the centre when there’s an experimental and creative mood. It’s great to be around people that are doing so many things. At the time, [school] was very exciting. We try and retain that sense of creative processes. Any idea’s good enough because it’s an idea. That’s a powerful thing. We sort of do have an art-school way of working. We sit down, we throw ideas around. We have development days. I guess that’s what we learned from it, really. How to see through a creative project. And how to collaborate.

Emma: How to move forward and how to talk about it and actually realize where it ends.

Russell:  Hopefully we learned to be a creative team in any sense. That’s what we try and do. It’s very strange that the front end of it is this rock band.

(Laughs).

Russell: We sort of look at it sometimes, like, ‘What the hell happened there?’ But we’ve always collaborated and it’s always exciting. Right now, it’s music. It’s raw, powerful music that’s exciting people. It is exciting. And in the future there’s lot of other things we want to do and it’ll be exciting where it takes us.

From a Canadian perspective, it’s exciting some of the collaborations you’ve done with the [PHI] collective out of Montreal. It’s a very cool way of making art a business.

Russell: It makes it more interesting for us. The fact that we work with people in America and back in England as well. We’ve spent a lot of time in Canada, and Montreal especially, and it keeps that slightly unusual way of doing things alive. That’s not the usual route. Which is always, for good or worse, the way we do things. We do things the other way of doing it.

Emma: It keeps options open. It leaves you free to experiment. And maybe we wouldn’t get that if we were signed up to a major [label]. It might not happen in the same way. We’re grateful for having it.

Russell: We’re very fortunate. And we’re hopeful of protecting that creative bubble that we have now. It works for us.

What do you think being in a band has taught you about yourselves?

Emma: I think to grab hold of any opportunity that comes and to take hold of it, and not be scared of it, and see what happens. I think everyone’s grown in confidence as players. I know I have. Just being able to travel so much and see the world. I know it gets repeated and a lot of bands say it but you do get to experience a hell of a lot of the world. You meet a lot of people.

Russell: That’s the biggest thing.

Emma: It kind of puts your life into context. There’s a lot of other things going on. It’s not just all about music. For me, that’s it. And seeing a lot of people rock out every night. (Laughs).

Russell: Yeah. It’s great to bring something exciting into town. And hopefully make people’s week a bit better, you know? Tough times often need a bit of relaxation. A bit of escapism. Rock and roll’s always done that. So, if that’s the case, then we’re very happy to supply it. And also we’ve been a band for a long time. But we’ve been musicians for longer. We’ve come across many barriers and people have written us off left, right and centre. It’s a very English thing. There’s a lot of history there and it’s super tough to break through. Anyone that’s sort of said that we were shit… it’s sort of satisfying when you make it to a certain level.

Emma: “You’ll never make it…”

Russell: I would never say that to anyone. But they used to say that to us. It’s satisfying when it’s the same songs, the same band, with a bit of hard work. We had an opportunity to share our work. The rest of it’s the same. Once you’ve come around and you have a good show or a good audience, or whatever, even if one person’s a big fan, it’s worth it. All summed up in one moment. Crystallized.

Well said. A couple of quick departures then. In your opinion, what’s one beer that no one should ever underestimate?

Emma: Beer?

Russell: Can we go Belgian on this?

You don’t have to be united.

Emma: I’d say Erdinger.

Interesting.

Emma: It’s taken me by surprise many times!

Russell: We’re quite partial, when we’re in Europe, especially when we’re in Belgium, to the Belgian beers. And there’s this one. It’s called La Chouffe. It has this little guy on the front. This little cartoon.

Emma: Yes, that one!

Russell: He’s like a little smurf or whatever, right? And that beer is strong. We drank it in Japan once. I think for the Japanese that might be like the mother load. It’s in a glass box. We had four and that was their entire stock. They were very impressed that we could hold our booze. But we’re British. So, there you go. La Chouffe. He’s not a smurf. He’s a…

Emma: He’s a gnome.

Russell: He’s a gnome! And they make him very friendly, like a kid’s thing.

Emma: Sort of lulls you into a false sense of security.

One more thing. About a week ago, my hair was almost as long as yours…

Emma: Really?

Russell: It’s early in the year, man. You must be feeling fresh.

Well, last week it was about 20 degrees warmer here than it is now. Who in the band uses the best shampoo? And the most of it?

Russell: (pauses) Emma.

Emma: It could be me. I know it’s a cop-out because I’m the girl in the band. But everyone’s got long locks, it’s true.

Russell:  It’s one of those things, isn’t it? We’re all turning into each other. Apart from the beards.

(Laughs).

Emma: But when it comes to shampoo you take what you get. We’re on a bus at the moment so [it’s] whatever you’re given in the day room. A bottle of who-knows-what.

Russell: We’re pretty clean. We’re a pretty clean band.

Absolutely. I can tell.

Russell: We do have a lady with us on the road. If it was a bunch of boys…

Emma: I dread to think.

Russell: The standard of acceptability could be a lot lower.

(Laughs).

Russell: All the bros could easily be like, ‘Yeah…whatever.’

Emma: It gives you something to keep up for.

Russell: You do! All of us are like, ‘Well, we’d better not stink.’ Even the crew! It’s a sweet-smelling bus.

I was close enough last time, at The Garrison. I thought, “My God, for how long their hair is,
it looks way too good.’

Emma (Laughs). That’s grand.

Russell: We probably had a hotel that night.

Emma: We’d washed that day.

Russell: We were at the Metropolitan rocking out with the pilots. Nice one.