Interviews

IMRO.ie - Skindive - December 2001

Justin Dowling Dives In And Catches Up On a Band Making Waves

Any band whose music instantly captures the imagination and indeed catapults the mind in to an overload of fanciful invention have to be considered as exceptionally special in terms of their artistry. Enter Skindive and within seconds of listening to the merger of bruising industrial rock and shivering saccharine vocals fused with cinematic orchestration, I won't be the only one around here thinking I'm the guy in the tuxedo with the concealed special edition pistol who always gets the girl! This vast expanse of creativity begs further investigation regarding Skindive's inroad into musical distinction.

Comprising of three Irish musicians, Gerry Owens (guitar), Alan Lee (bass), Ger Farrell (drums) and an American singer, Danielle Harrison, Skindive's formation is principally the design of Owens, the vision for the band coming together after having spent three years in London playing with various bands around the charmingly titled 'toilet' circuit, a musical apprenticeship perhaps?

'Yeah!, yeah!, he replies instantly, 'you make all your mistakes, you learn everything you need to learn and then focus in a different direction'. Returning to Ireland, Owens recruited Lee, Farrell and finally Harrison, having tried out a number of vocalists, to make the journey with him up the road marked 'Illustrious Heights Ahead'. Along the way Owens composed the songs, the band played a number of gigs and a self financed trip to the United States with the specific intent of attracting the attention of Chris Blackwell, the former MD of Island Records and now in charge at his own label Palm Pictures, succeeded with Blackwell flying into Dublin and personally signing the band. Phew! Highly impressive stuff and albeit a condensed portrayal of Skindive's formation and advancement in the battleground of the music industry, surely this is the substance of fairytales, 'The Guide To Getting That Desired First Recording Contract' by Gerry Owens et al? He disagrees and it soon becomes apparent to me just how patient Owens was in the execution of his design, 'if it happened over the period of eight months then yeah! but when it happens over the period of five years, it's very much a different thing because it's not a case where you're just falling luckily into a certain situation, we held out an awful lot of times for that specific thing to happen, just engineering it really, it took a long time, a lot of concentration'.

What was the attraction to Chris Blackwell over any other music industry figure?
'He's probably one of the figures in the music business that actually loves music, he fights for the artist I think and he has signed so many great artists that I have grown up listening to', Lee offers in obvious reference to such great music icons as Bob Marley and U2. It must have been quite flattering to have initially sought his attention and then have him fly into Dublin specifically to catch you live? 'Yeah, he brought Daniel Lanois with him as well so that was cool', Owens comments but it wasn't without its complications as he cringingly remembers, 'during the first song the power went so we were really embarrassed but we recovered very quickly and played the rest of the gig!'

Blackwell must have liked what he saw and Skindive were promptly signed to his Palm Pictures label during the negotiations of which, the band were quickly introduced to the world of rock 'n' roll as such high profile industry figures are only used to as Harrison uncovers, 'when we were pretty much done with our meeting, Daniel gets up to go and he says so Chris, are you going to Bono's house for brunch tomorrow and we were like, we are so not in this circle, we're not going for brunch tomorrow!'

So far so good but in essence this was where the real work would begin for the band with the recording of the album. Instead of diving into a colossus of a studio, Owens, as the band's foremost songwriter, opted to set up shop in the exalting environment of the Irish countryside piecing the album together gradually with the rest of the band coming down to learn their parts every week. The final result, the eponymously titled 'Skindive' produced by Owens with assistance from such names as Adrian Sherwood, Alan Branch and Skip MacDonald, is a sweeping wall of sound equally tumultuous and graceful with the capacity to enchant the flitting consciousness. I suggest to the band that with songs like 'Confession' and 'Swallow', I get the impression of being stuck in the middle of an anarchic industrial concert whereas with songs such as 'Space Age Lullaby' and 'No More Good Guys', my persona alters to that of the black clad secret agent in my similarly coloured salon manoeuvring my early morning exit out of any particular east European capital! They in turn suggest that I start making their videos!, but more important to unearth are the wealth of influences that went into making the album?

'Musically I grew up listening to all the old stuff either John Barry or Henry Mancini, in my teens I listened to a lot of electronic music and a lot of heavy stuff', Owens rolls off suggestive that he has been asked this many times before. When I name specifics such as Nine Inch Nails, Ministry or KMFDM, he is more responsive revealing via such influences his intentions and passions behind the music of Skindive, 'the idea with Skindive was to get a band together with a strong vocal line that gives you great range to work because you can literally in one song go from cheesy emotion to hard, cold edge so that's one of the reasons why I like this band because musically it allows me to do what I want so I can almost get away with anything but always with the right depth'.

Live, the band are awesome. Their entrance on stage is preceded by a murmuring hum suggestive that something great is about to befall the expectant throng. They certainly don't disappoint reproducing their complex and layered sound with professional precision. Owens stands as a giant onstage, his Rockstar Red® hair swaying to the intensive and inflamed pulses of Farrell's and Lee's rhythm section while in the midst of all this chaos, Harrison seems totally unfazed preferring to approach her vocal duties with all the style and sophistication of a renowned West End singer.

'It's when we are really together absolutely, it's a bit of an ear bashing but in a good way', Owens remarks.

The doors keep on opening for Skindive. American college radio stations are embracing the band's music, 'Confession' and 'No More Good Guys' are to appear on the soundtrack to the new James Caan movie 'This Thing Of Ours' and the album is soon to receive its UK release.
Pretty soon they can expect that phonecall, 'Hello? Hello? Skindive? It's Bono here, do you guys fancy grabbing some brunch chez moi?'

claus.com - October 2003

Lead singer Danielle Harrison dives in with the skin on their return...

The young raven-haired woman sitting opposite me in the bar, her feet tucked under her slight body as she squirms to find comfort in the armchair, is Skindive’s Danielle Harrison. And you would be forgiven for asking “Who?”  Read the interview

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