DIFFERENT SKELETONS Interview

Different Skeletons dare to dream a little deeper.
Secret Admirer dared them to answer some questions.
They were more than up to the challenge.

Their ramshackle D.I.Y will have you dancing.
Their free album will have you downloading.

 

Where did the name Different Skeletons come from?

It was actually quite systematic. We wrote down a bunch of words that we felt reflected the meaning/imagery/connotations of what we wanted to be as a band, tried some various combinations and eventually arrived at Different Skeletons. The thing I like most about the name is that I think we all interpret it’s meaning in our own way.

When and why was the band formed?

We started playing together last November. I think our foremost motivation for having a band is to experience the joy of playing music. The opportunity to express ourselves creatively is also deeply satisfying.

Do you feel like you are rebelling against anything with your music?

Not in any overt way.

How do you go about writing songs?

Most of the songs on this album are attempts to express recollections of how we’ve all felt or imagined others to feel at various points of our lives. From there we try and find the appropriate chord progressions, melodies, tempos, guitar tones, words etc. that are able to communicate these feelings to best of our ability. As a band we enjoy the challenge of communicating this emotion and establishing a groove as well as generating and resolving musical tension within a song.

What do you want people to get from your music?

 

We hope that everyone will engage with the music in his or her own personal way. Our album was recently described (by the super cool and talented Waylon Thornton, check him out) as songs that will make you “move, feel and think” so any combination of those reactions is just great.

Is there anything that inspires your sound?

We love all types of music and try to take inspiration from everything we hear. Some clear influences on this album’s overall sound are 60’s rock bands and late 70’s punk. We also love the rhythms and riffs of old surf tunes so that definitely pops up too. Our aesthetic and DIY philosophy owes a lot to bands like the Buzzcocks, Dead Moon, Guided by Voices and Eric’s Trip (who we have frequently covered at our live shows.)

Do you think it's important to release music for free these days?

I do think that there is an honesty and integrity to music that is free of commercial ambitions and created primarily for personal expression. We feel incredibly honored, humbled and privileged that people are interested in listening to and connecting with our music. As a result we will always hope to distribute it with as little cost to the listener as possible.

What's the best gig you have played so far?

We’ve had a lot of really fun ones. Our favorites are always less formal settings, we recently played with some friends at their loft and had a blast. We are especially stoked when people meet each other and hook up at our shows, which seems to happen. If people are dancing we are happy, if they are making out, we’re even happier!

Are you ever going to come over to the UK to play some shows?

We would love to! I think we’d need some help with logistics and financing to pull it off though. We are still a pretty DIY operation at this point.

What bands are you currently listening to at the moment?

We are really into a lot of amazing local bands from Toronto: The Speaking Tongues, Pow Wows, Azores, Army Girls, Quest for Fire, The Bleed Whites, The Schomberg Fair… so much great stuff. We are very lucky to live in a sometimes-underappreciated music town.  I also spend a good amount of time online digging up new DIY music from other cities. Some bands whose music I’ve really connected with recently are Wavepool Abortion, Pipsqueak, Swimsuit, Shapes Have Fangs and Bad Indians. If you like us you’ll probably like all of them too.

If Different Skeletons could soundtrack a film, which one would you choose?

Cool question, especially considering that part of our concept for Secret Jeers was imagining that it was the soundtrack to a (non-existent) film. I always figured that if this fictitious movie existed it would be along the lines of “Dazed and Confused” if it was directed by Gus Van Sant.

What are the future plans for the band?

One of our current priorities is to develop and explore some of Danny’s songs and ideas further because the focus of the debut album was primarily on tunes that I wrote (the Album’s closer “Samsonite” was the lone Danny song). His songs are gritty, frantic and awesome. I also have a sequel LP to Secret Jeers written so we look forward to the process of recording those songs as well. It is a bit more musically ambitious than our debut so we will likely take a bit more time on the recordings/production. Of course we will also continue to practice and play shows and eventually organize a little tour to Eastern Canada, which is where our beast drummer Danger Dean originally hails from.

Grab their album "Secret Jeers" here:

http://differentskeletons.bandcamp.com/