Band Of Skulls Win Hearts With New Album

09/01/09 5:29pm

by Bianca Marcus (CHARTattack)

During NXNE in June, Toronto had the privilege of hosting Southampton, England's Band Of Skulls.

Baby Darling Doll Face Honey, their debut album, is a true gem, its Jack-White-meets-Kings-Of-Leon sound winning over audiences in the U.K., the U.S. and Canada.

Vocalist/guitarist Russell Marsden still seemed slightly in shock about it as he explained the emotional and musical journey the trio have taken so far.

The band, previously known as Fleeing New York, recorded Baby Darling Doll Face Honey in a tiny English village.

"Doing our first record in England, [we hoped] not to get too ahead of ourselves and as we make it, [to] remember who you are," says Marsden. "We were in this little village in Oxfordshire, and it's one shop, one pub, about five houses — one owned by [Tim Burton]. We were just on our own, making the record."

The album was mixed in Los Angeles. Spending time in two entirely different locations worked in the band's favour, allowing them to capture some of the zeitgeist of each place.

"It felt in the end like a combination of that small town, intimate recording, and then the L.A. studio which is — it's a pleasure for us to work there because the standards are so high in those [sorts] of studios," Marsden continues. "And the equipment's good, and our producer's happy, and it was just great. And it was really nice. It was sunny.

"They had lots of stuff like from the '50s. When our producer walked in, you could see his little geek eyes light up. We also mixed onto tape as well, rather than just keeping it all in Pro Tools. So we took the flavour of that place and stole it. Sometimes that late, 3:00 in the morning mix down in a studio in L.A. gives you that vibe —something sort of magical happens now and again."

Despite their international success, coming into their own hasn't been an effortless process for Marsden, bassist/vocalist Emma Richardson and drummer Matt Hayward. The final song on the album, "Cold Fame," reflects some of the struggles the band have gone through.

"There's a point in a band where if something doesn't happen, you might have to give up," explained Marsden. "It just, it doesn't become viable anymore. You've borrowed all the money off your friends you can do — it just gets to this point where people start questioning what you're up to, what you're doing. Lots of times you feel like that."

But such doubts were not enough to stop the Southampton trio. Baby Darling Doll Face Honey was released Sept. 1, and the band are on tour and playing for enthusiastic audiences across the continent.

"There's not been any lowlights, really. It's been incredible," muses Marsden. "We started from San Francisco. And it was great, there were quite a lot of people there. We came to realize that they had come to see us.

"It's really good, and such warm welcomes in places we've never been before. San Francisco, and Vancouver... But the biggest show we did was in L.A. — we played with Metric and Sebastien Grainger at the Wiltern Theater.

"It was Monday night in L.A., we were the first on, and no one [had] ever heard of us. And it just went really well. We started playing bigger venues in the places we had already done some shows at — starting off in new little pockets of interest. It's like a little garden, so every time you come back you have to tend to your little garden."

You can see Band Of Skulls tend to their gardens at the following gigs:

Sept. 1 Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre
Sept. 3 Vancouver, BC @ The Venue
Sept. 4 Calgary, AB @ The Den at MacEwan Hall at University Of Calgary
Sept. 5 Edmonton, AB @ The Brixx Bar & Grill
Sept. 7 Ottawa, ON @ Live Lounge
Sept. 9 Montreal, QC @ Le Petit Campus
Sept. 11 Toronto, ON @ The Opera House
Sept. 19 Southsea, England @ Southsea Festival
Sept. 22 London, England @ Barfly
Sept. 23 Brighton, England @ Latest 7 Bar
Sept. 25 Bristol, England @ Louisana
Sept. 26 Coventry, England @ Kasbah
Sept. 28 Nottingham, England @ Bodega
Sept. 29 Cambridge, England @ Portland Arms
Sept. 30 Cardiff, Wales @ 10 Feet Tall
Oct. 2 London, England @ Koko
Oct. 3 Liverpool, England @ Korova
Oct. 4 Leeds, England @ Faversham
Oct. 6 Sheffield, England @ The Plug
Oct. 7 Manchester, England @ Night And Day Cafe
Oct. 9 Sunderland, England @ Independent
Oct. 10 Glasgow, Scotland @ Captain's Rest
Oct. 11 Edinburgh, Scotland @ Sneaky Pete's
Oct. 15 Southampton, England @ Joiners Arms