SKAM Talk New Album, Single And More

Hard rock power trio band SKAM will release their new album ‘From The Depths’ on Friday 29th November 2024. Drummer Neal spoke to JLTT about the new record, single and more: 

Who is in SKAM, what do they play and how did you meet?
SKAM are Steve Hill on Guitar and Vocals, Matthew Gilmore on Bass, and Neal Hill on Drums. We are a hard rock band from Leicester UK.

When did you begin songwriting?
Although the band has been going from the start of the millennium trying to write songs, the band really starting writing decent songs in 2010 and we released our first album ‘It’s Come To This’ in 2011.

What is your earliest musical memory?
Neal – I can remember listening to loads of Music at home. Mostly Motown, Michael Jackson from my Mum and some Eagles from my Dad. I used to love it when the vinyl’s would make an appearance on a Sunday and some tunes would be blasted out in the house.

Your new single ‘Rising Fever’ is out now. What was the inspiration/story behind the track?

This track is about all the ‘advice’ we have had over the years from ‘industry experts’. Mostly those who have tried to change us. We have been doing this for a long time, and the band has always written Music that we love first and foremost. The song Rising Fever is a bit of a f*** you to those who just want to mould us into something we are not.

Your new album ‘From The Depths’ is released on Friday 29th November 2024. How did you want to approach the making of the album?

We always try to have a bit of a theme or a concept with the albums nowadays, but mainly we just take our time and try to write the best songs we can. Usually around 100 riff ideas are sent between me (Neal) and Steve and we work on the very cream of the crop. Eventually they become instrumentals and only when we are 100% happy with the Music do we write lyrics. There is a bit of a Viking theme on this album, so songs about Viking longboat captains, and the Viking Goddess of Hell. But we also have more ‘normal’ songs about being selfish, love, and the usual stuff!

Where did you record the album and who produced it?
We have been recording the album on and off for the last 2 years with the amazing Matt Ellis at Axis Studios Doncaster.

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the recording sessions?
The running joke in the studio is how harsh our producer Matt can be. He really does kick us in to shape. We will go in thinking everything is great, record what we think is a great take, and he will come over the microphone and say ‘What was that?’ or ‘Did you mean to do that?!’. Also just watching our bassist Matthew record is funny because he likes to record in ‘gig mode’ so he stands up pretends he’s on stage.

Did you use any particular instruments, microphones, recording equipment to help you get a particular sound/tone for the record?
We trust almost all of that to our producer Matt. For drums we use hit Tama kit that he has recorded many great bands on, and the drum sound is always amazing. We will use our own cymbals for the session, Matthew our bassist will use his trusty Stingray bass as we believe this is part of our sound.
For guitars, we will use whatever the producer thinks is best and leave the sound up to him. We have done 5 albums with him now, so there is a good understanding between us and him with regard to sound.

Which of your new album tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?
Happiest is a track called ‘Clouds’. It’s all about positivity.
Angriest is ‘Rising Fever’ for the reasons we said earlier.
Most reflective is hard to pick. We have a few tracks that would fit this one but I’ll go for a track called ‘Die For You’ which is just about the ups and downs of being with your better half.

What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?
We have always talked about playing one arena or stadium show. Even if we are on at 3pm for 20 minutes, it would be great to get the call.
Secondly we just want more people to hear our Music. We would love to get to more ears.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?
We are very traditional and old school. We are a three piece and we have used the same gear for years. For Steve on Guitar, Gibson Guitars and Marshall Stack, Bass is Musicman Stingrays and Ampeg SVT. For Drums I have to be a bit more flexible as we often share gear when gigging at our level.

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?
We live in Leicester, in the Midlands. Five words to describe Leicester are Foxes, Tigers, Multicultural, Musical, and Chavs

How do you look after your voices?
We don’t! We should but we are bad. We drink lots of beer, does that help?

You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why?
I’m going to cheat a little bit here and say we already have an album that is primed to be made into a film. In 2017 we released ‘The Amazing Memoirs of Geoffrey Goddard’. It is a concept album about a time travelling spitfire pilot and each song is about one of the times he visited. We are just waiting for the call from Hollywood….

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?
We are children of the 80’s and 90’s so Guns N Roses, ACDC, Rage Against The Machine, Foo Fighters, Green Day, Audioslave, Depeche Mode, Terrorvision are just a few. Nowadays we can take influence from more modern bands also like Mammoth WVH for example.

Do you have any live dates planned in the UK/Europe in 2024/2025?
We are on tour throughout November in the lead up to our album being released on Nov 29th. All the gig dates can be found at www.skamuk.com/gigs 

Who created/designed the album artwork?
The artwork was design by a friend of ours called Jack. He has done our last 3 albums and he rocks!

Was it a difficult album to write?
Yes! They all are because we try to have high standards. Writing an album takes a load of arguments and disagreements, all while working full times jobs and looking after our families. It always comes together in the end, but it takes time!

What makes SKAM happy and what makes you unhappy?
Playing Live makes us happy. When people come to see us and have a bounce to our riffs, that is the best thing ever. That is what keeps us going. What makes us unhappy is all the other bullshit that comes with being in a band such as the wankers in the industry and the people who are just out there to put bands down. Music shouldn’t be a competition.