This Monday, October 14th, catch SKATERS at Barboza (8 p.m., $15, 21+).
On their debut EP Schemers, SKATERS was able to spread thick what so many other artists fail at achieving — a saturation of the sounds of New York City. However, ask these guys about their lyrics with any serious analysis, and expect a shrug of indifference in return. The primitive nature of rock & roll wasn’t mean to be scrutinized, it was meant to be heard.
It’s rock, punk, punk-pop — whatever you want to call it — without any pretense or perversity. Rather, SKATERS’ music gives straight raw, fresh and intense energy. While their songs aren’t burning with fury, the potent riffs and unforced vocals make a statement without being deliberately obvious. They genuinely don’t sound like they’re trying, which is exactly what makes them so good.
After their summer-turned-fall-turned-winter release date, SKATERS has finally made it official. On February 25, 2014, mark your calendars for the release of their LP Manhattan via Warner Bros.
I spoke over the phone with lead singer and guitarist Michael Ian Cummings (MIC) while he walked the streets of NYC. The vibrating sirens and piercing car horns provided the appropriate background noise to our conversation.
I saw on your Instagram that you guys were working on the video for Deadbolt. And from what little I can tell, it looks like this video may actually show your faces. Is that the plan?
Yeah, it’s supposed to be people’s first glimpse of the band. I think that people are really overexposed because of Instagram and Twitter…. To let people in a little bit is cool, but it’s still weird to me. I don’t think it really helps people. If people want to know about us they can come to our shows.
I want to ask you about “Armed.” In some ways, punk rock started as a subculture of this anti-establishment mentality. Did you have that in mind while creating this song?
No, not really. I guess I share those views loosely, but I don’t let it affect my songwriting too much. I don’t really think it’s time for me to share my political views. (Laughs)
You’ve described SKATERS as “New York centric.” What does that mean to you? What does New York sound like?
New York is my home. It’s fast. It’s fast-paced. It’s full of weird, dark corners and hidden doorways and shit. And that’s kind of the vibe of the record. We were all working in bars when we were making the songs, so a lot of them are tales from the city. Stories of things that occurred between us and other people we knew.
It seems like there’s this indescribable energy that runs through New York.
Yeah, totally. That’s what we tried to capture. It’s slightly frantic, but once you get used to it, you love it. And we all kind of live in Chinatown. Everything stems from that neighborhood.
You initially chose the name SKATERS because it reminded you of youth. How have you guys grown on this upcoming LP?
Hopefully we don’t really have to think about it too much and we’re just growing naturally. I think we learned a lot making this record about just making good records. There are little things you pick up along the way — things you would do again or wouldn’t do again. Sometimes a home recording is better than studio recording. We also learned “well, if it sounds good — use it.” It doesn’t really matter the quality of it. On the flip side, we also worked with John Hill (Santigold, M.I.A.). He is awesome and taught us a lot about certain things you can do to make the process go more pro and more smoothly.
On your EP, we heard the sax on “Good Weird Woman” and reggae elements on “Fear of the Knife.” Did you explore other genres or sounds on this album?
Yeah, there are a couple of songs on the new record with reggae elements. It’s like white boy reggae — but NOT like Sublime. Also, the whole record was totally inspired by the way hip hop records sound. A lot of heavy, low-end…a lot of driving low end. We gave the record to a guy who is familiar with rock and hip hop and he mastered the record in that way. I think that’s an exciting modern element to a rock record that you don’t get a lot.
I wanted to ask you about Yonks. Why make a print magazine versus, like, a Tumblr or some shit?
We like physical things. It’s fun to collect things. And you have to have been to a show and bought it from us directly. We make it, you buy it — it’s fucking simple. It’s a thing that we all enjoy making and wish bands would have done when we were younger. Tumblrs don’t excite me.
So: a year ago, you were buffing the floor at the bar you worked at. Is that still true?
I was! But I don’t do that anymore. I’m big time now. (Laughs) Real big time.
MOAR? Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more stories like this. And to, you know, be friends.
