The Skinner Brothers are a four piece band from London comprised of Lead singer/songwriter and producer, Zachary Skinner, Alfie Clayton on Drums, Chris Humpries on Bass and Bennie Hawkins on Guitar.

The band was formed in 2018 and gained pretty much instant notoriety after being invited by none other than The Libertines to join them on their UK tour.

Its been quite a whirlwind for The Skinner Brothers not only being invited on tour with The Libertines, but also with their debut song “Watchu” seeing them being catapulted forward into the limelight and securing them a loyal fan-base from the get-go.

The Skinner Brothers music is unique and intoxicating in its sound, mixing and blending together in perfect harmony many different styles including Rock, Hip-Hop and Jazz.

The band are also undoubtedly well known for their crazy, energetic live shows, for their stage diving antics as well as for their magnificently sublime rock n roll tunes.

The Skinner Brothers recently announced they were putting on a London headline show and we weren’t surprised that the same sold out completely within a matter of mere hours.

Well, it’s fair to say that we at The Songbird absolutely adore The Skinner Brothers and we were thrilled to be able to catch up with legendary front man, Zachary, recently for a little chat where he also settled us straight on the rumour on everyone’s lips right now, that the bands song “Sally” was indeed inspired by our very own Songbird Sally 😉 😉

Hello and welcome! Please tell us a little bit about yourselves. Who are you, what’s your role within the band and how did you all meet/form? 

Hi, my name is Zachary. I lead The Skinner Brothers, and we formed in 2018 in London!

Is it true to say that you are entirely self sufficient as a band at the moment in that you aren’t managed or signed to a label and that you’re producing all of your own music and putting it out there completely off your own backs?

Yeah, that is true. We live off the money we earn from our records and live shows. We don’t rely on a label or manager, and we own all our music!

Is this something that you’d recommend to other bands to do?

Stop wasting money going into the studio, even the cheapest home studio gear these days works pretty good. Why would you pay some so called producer you don’t know to ruin your song.. I’ve been in some major label studios over the years and they’ve completely butchered my music!

You know how much we at The Songbird love your music. Your sound is very unique as such who/what are your musical influences? 

I like G Love & Special Sauce, I also like to listen to Crass at the moment, a little bit of Slipknot, I like all that Latin salsa type music as well. 

So, we know you were asked by The Libertines to join them on tour. That’s quite the honour isn’t it! How exactly did that come about?

Well, yeah it was quite an honour as we all listened to The Libertines growing up, but to dispel the myth, it actually came about as we were with the same management at the time and it was a management pair up type thing really haha!

Is your song writing a collective input? Or are you more of a let’s see where this goes type of approach to producing your music?

Yeah, I get bored quite quickly so I record things fast. I used to be more rigid with the production of the records, but over the years as my confidence grew I started to do whatever I wanted. If it sounds good, that’s the sound.

What’s your favourite song of yours and why?

Soho Joe – paints a really clear picture of what i was feeling at the time. Paints London at night for me.

What do you consider the best lyric you’ve ever written to be?

Ah i don’t know. Quite like the line in Sally “She used to be sad when she was sober, now shes sad when shes high”

What’s your favourite song of all time by any other band/artist and why?

Kiss – Strutter. Love Kiss, always have always will!

What are you listening to at the moment?

Tried out some of that Uk Jazz playlist on Spotify but didn’t fancy it! I bang Slipknot all the time right now!

Things seem to be moving at a whirlwind pace for you right now, as such what’s going on with you at the moment? Do you have any gigs planed or upcoming events you can tell us about?

We sold out the London show in February in about 4 hours. So we’re gonna announce a much bigger london show really soon. Birmingham, Notts, Glasgow – are a few on the list this year.

What’s been the best gig you’ve played so far and what would be your dream gig to play?

I liked playing 5 bells in new cross last year that was mental. I dont really fancy sharing a bill with someone bigger, i’m looking forward to our london show in feb!

Who would you most like to share a stage with (past or present)?

I wouldn’t becuause i’d probably ruin the show, ahah. 

What’s the best thing and worst thing about being in a band?

Not having to work a shit job is the best thing. Worst thing is people in bands are temperamental, and that gets on my nerves. 

What three words best sum you up as a band?

Real cool fellas

FOLLOW THE SKINNER BROTHERS HERE

Instagram www.instagram.com/theskinnerbrothers

Facebook  www.facebook.com/theskinnerbrothers

Twitter https://twitter.com/theskinnerbros

Finally, we like to say a massive thank you to The Skinner Brothers for talking to The Songbird xxx