The Skangers were formed in late 1990 and their first live appearance soon followed. The Chapter centre entertainments guide described it as ‘the best set seen here on a first gig in many a year’.
The summer of 1991 saw the completion of the band’s first demo which attracted interest from several independent record companies, including SBS Records, who discovered the Manic Street Preachers.
The group consist of Darren Lewis from Bargoed, Adam Evans from Ystrad Mynach, Mark Kiltie from Caerffili and Chris Dickson from Glasgow. Some people have remarked on Chris’s insistence on singing in his own Scottish accent. “This is not a gimmick”’ he says, “Nor some kind of statement, but simply a refusal to sing in an outdated, fake, American accent. Glaswegian musicians have been especially prominent in the last decade, why should I use any accent other than my own?”
That’s the background, this is the interview:
I believe the name ‘Skangers’ is derived from Irish slang, why name the band after it and what does it mean?
Mark: “No, actually that was a lie. ‘Skanger’ is Norwegian for a small cottage.”
There are several different styles on the first demo, did you set out to sound that way?
Darren: “We have several different influences and two main songwriters, and at the time we were still searching for our own sound; but with the new tape which we’ve just recorded, I think we’ve achieved that.”
Tell us about the new tape?
Chris: “It’s the first time we’ve captured our live sound on tape. It’s got two new songs, ‘Control’, ‘Good Life’ and an older one we’ve rearranged called, ‘Let yourself go’. If you liked the last tape this will blow your head off. When we were recording it we broke 11 strings in 12 hours.”
What are the main influences behind the Skangers’s lyrics?
Chris: “Life and death. As for the meaning of those lyrics, you’re a bright guy, work it out.”
How would you describe your music to anybody who doesn’t speak English?
Darren: “Que piablo ces Skangero unes sianno!”
Adan: “Power pop.”
Chris: “Why bother? How can you explain the Skangers music to anyone who comes from a country where everyone under the age of thirty wears a bum-bag?”
What’s the best gig you’ve played to date?
Mark: “Every single one.”
Chris: “ The Four Bars, June ’92. We did for nothing and it wasn’t advertised at all, but we had loads of people coming in who had heard us from the street. Darren blew his bass speaker and I went mad – it was great!”
What are the best and worst things about being a Cardiff-based band – the worst first?
Adam: People outside of south Wales seem to be ignorant of the good bands that are coming out of Cardiff”
Mark: The Cardiff scene is crap!”
Chris: “Too far from London”
And the best?
Mark: “Plenty of small venues for new bands to start out.”
Chris: “There are only a handful of decent bands, so there’s no competition for us.”
Adam: “We’re the only band that are doing anything remotely original and not selling out by copying the latest fads ie. Dance last year and grunge this year. So that sets us apart as well.”
You were recently earmarked to support the Belltower at Newport’s TJ’s. How did the support slot come about?
“The Belltower chose their own supports on that tour based on the tapes held by the venue. Our tape was the one they chose for TJ’s.”
You only play one cover in your set?
Chris: “Yes, we cover ‘The One I Love’ by REM. Why waste 4 minutes doing someone else’s song when your own songs are better? We just do the REM one because we like it.”
What are The Skangers going to do immediately after this interview?
Darren: “Worry about the future of the planet and the social and economic decay of today’s Britain.”
Adam: “Get off our faces and listen to the new tape.”
Interview by Darren Jones