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by Siesta 1369
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If every band were as dedicated to putting out great records and great live performances as The Skulls are, the mainstream wouldn’t settle for all the second rate bands that record companies sign and promote based on their so-called credentials and what they see as nothing more than something marketable.  Is mainstream a word that shouldn’t be spoken when referring to a band with as much true Punk Rock creditability as The Skulls?  Well, I used to wonder the about that one myself.  I asked Billy Bones if it were possible for his band to achieve mainstream success on their own terms, would they want it?  Or, would they prefer to remain the Punk Rock underdogs?  His answer indicates to me in every way that although mainstream success on his own terms isn’t something he’d be totally against, it’s not on his list of reasons for putting together the current line-up of his legendary ‘77-‘78 Masque era band The Skulls.  

The original ‘77-‘78 line-up of The Skulls was a short lived one that included founding member Michael Stenn Gun Wallace, Marc Morbid Moreland and Chas T.Gray.  The band was short lived and only ever recorded two songs.  The band re-formed and played a series of reunion shows with original members Bones on vocals and Moreland on guitar, along with Keith Miller on bass and drum-whore-for-hire Sean Geronimo Antillion on drums.  Around the time of those reunion shows Billy told Hardslug who was playing keyboards with The Adicts and drums in Famous Tea at the time that Keith was unable to play some of the scheduled shows.  Hardslug said “give me a week.”  He went out and bought a bass and learned The Skulls songs in a couple of weeks and has been with the band ever since. 

In 1993 after original guitarist Marc Moreland took off to go tour with Wall of Voodoo they decided to call it quits.  Billy was almost finished with music for good when he learned of a band called Left Out Triple X who had planned on covering The Skulls song “Kill Me Kill Me Kill.”  Left Out Triple X featured a young Punk Rock guitar prodigy by the name of Kevin The Kid Gorman, whom Billy says was the catalyst for him starting up the band again.  The Kid’s persistence in wanting to collaborate musically was all Billy needed to want to play again.  It was fun and the situation just felt right for Billy.  Since the current line-ups inception, which has been together almost two years now and includes Billy Bones on vocals, James Hardslug Harding on bass, Sean Geronimo Antillion on drums, and Kevin The Kid Gorman on guitar, the band has been busy playing consistently killer live shows from San Francisco to San Diego and everywhere in-between.  The Skulls will play a small number of European dates from January 2003 thru mid February, 2003.  

November 11th, 2002 saw the release of their full-length release on Dr. Strange Records.  It was a long time in waiting for the fans, but the time is here and this record was one that was worth the wait.  I know it’s a stretch to compare, so all I can say is go buy it and see for yourself.  Billy looks at the band’s past history with fond memories and misses his good friends and former bandmates Michael Stenn Gun Wallace, and Marc Morbid Moreland who have since passed-on.  He also looks forward to the future, and the future of The Skulls is now.