A fantastic gig with a surreal ending!

On Saturday night we played at the Streetfighter Riff Raff rally, held at MFN in Nottingham. we had an amazing time, thanks guys for inviting us along! A fantastic venue, brilliant sound, great atmosphere, lots of stunning bikes for us all to drool over, and the nicest people you could possibly want to meet on the live circuit (or anywhere for that matter. Including the supermarket, salon or outward-bound activity courses)

Our evening was concluded in atypical style with an impromptu jam featuring 3 members of the band, one of the founding members of Showaddywaddy and the legend that shall be known to us all forever simply as George, who heckled us lovingly and mercilessly throughout and who made the evening complete. And it turns out, plays a mean blues harp, especially when its in the same key as the rest of the band! The number we performed, I am reliably informed, is called "P*ss All Over Yer Shoes Blues" (aka "You Ain't Comin' Ere Next Year You F*$!in' B*5t4rd"), and the video is below. I warn you though, there really is some frightfully fruity language involved so proceed with caution!

One of our best nights. Thank you so much for having us, guys - hope to see you again in the near future!

SCrew X

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A couple of new live videos ...

Hi everyone!

A couple more live videos have made it onto YouTube - this time from our performance at Wildside, Nottingham on the 1st August 2009. Unfortunately we were apparently just too damn loud for the camera ... ;)

ik0

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Hard at work on new songs ...

Well, its been a busy time since the launch of the CD ... we have been out gigging, rocking the Pirate Night at the Salutation in Nottingham, and playing the August edition of Wildside at Nottingham's Seven Bar. Thanks to everyone who has come and given us their support, and to the bands Headrush and Killing with Style who we have played with.

We've also managed to add some new promo pics (see below!) some of which meant running about in fields and, rather less energetically, sitting on a gate. And in a corner.

We have also been busy writing new songs. We have some great new music coming up; these will be the first songs written with the new lineup and the music Lyndon is bringing has really energized us again - we just can't wait for everyone to hear it!



Lyndon demos new songs to a - frankly awed! - other 80% of Skeleton Crew Read more!

Promo pics 2009

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Photos from the launch gig

Hi to all ... just a quickie to say we have posted some pictures from the CD launch gig - you can fill yer boots at http://gallery.me.com/rob.holsman#100025&bgcolor=black&view=grid Read more!

New CD "Bring It On" now available to buy online!

Our debut CD Bring It On is now available! We have just about recovered from our launch night (!) and we're delighted to announce that for those that couldn't make it, Bring It On is now available to buy mail order. The price is £7.00 with a 50p worldwide postage charge, and it really is the perfect way to spend that annoying "money" that keeps cluttering up your PayPal account. Alternatively you can email us if you would rather send us crinkly bits of paper, and we'll give you the address to send it to!

Bring It On
1. All Or Nothing
2. If This Is It
3. My Life, My Rules
4. How Come I'm Never Around
5. I Know Your Name
6. Bring It On
7. Tempting Fate
8. Driving Me Crazy
9. Soul
10. World Turns Upside Down

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New songs on the website and free download track !

With the album finished and in our grubby little hands, we have added a bunch of new tracks to the player and also added "World Turns Upside Down" as a free mp3 to download! Read more!

Contact Skeleton Crew!

If you want to get in touch with us for bookings, to tell us how glorious we are or simply to request some gardening tips, you can reach us via email or you can send us a message via Facebook or MySpace (see the links on the left). Read more!

New Album "Bring It On" Out in 3 days!

Yes, its finally time boys and girls! Our CD Bring It On will be out on Saturday 27th June. All 10 tracks are now mixed, we are just awaiting the delivery of the CDs and the artwork!

To coincide with the release, we are gigging that night at the Salutation Inn in Nottingham. To coincide even more, this happens to be their 3rd annual Pirate Night event (which is nice!) so it all seems rather timely! So it'll be a great chance to get wrecked and get rocked! (And dress like a pirate too.)

For those of you who can't get to the gig but want a copy of the CD, it will be available to order online from Saturday. We'll also be adding the new tracks to the player as soon as the CD is done!

See y'all soon ...

S-Crew Read more!

Waxing lyrical about content

With the release of Skeleton Crew's first album "Bring It On" less than a fortnight away, Graham shared some band insights recently on the hidden depths - or lack thereof - of the songs on the record:

ALL OR NOTHING
Some days in the Langar scout hut , where we used to practice, were pretty special. On this particular day we had nothing planned or even ready to start on. Rob wasn't around that day and the rest of us just hit on an idea whilst jamming that felt great and the song practically wrote itself in a very short time. Chris was fairly active and single back then (see Bring It On!) and he quickly penned the lyrics about his...erm...lifestyle. One of the few to be written by us whilst we were an actual functioning band and it pretty much ... became our mission statement-both musically and lyrically.

IF THIS IS IT
One of the songs that Chris opened our song writing sessions with long before the band remotely existed. Chris wrote most of the song on an acoustic guitar and the stabs in the music are a deliberate exaggeration of his playing style. He'd just gone through a particularly painful break up and this song was his goodbye note. Chris and I didnt want this song to be a true ballad however, and we had trouble turning it into a rock song. Eventually we found the right balance after what seemed like months of constant re-writes. One of the best vocal hooks we have!

MY LIFE MY RULES
Another of the original session songs. Chris was fairly p****d about how everyone was telling him what he should be doing differently. The original riffs were very Cult-esque but they gradually evolved once the band actually started playing the song (in fact only the original chord progressions remain the same now) The mad drums in the middle were originally my idea that became a drummer oneupmanship exercise as the time passed and drummers came and went. That is until Drew came along and finally made sense of the chaos!

HOW COME I'M NEVER AROUND
When Rob origially wrote the song he had the music plus the 1st and 3rd lines of the chorus. I fell in love with the song the instant I heard the demo. Its about manipulative exes - I had particular fun writing the lyrics for this one (especially the 2nd verse!!)
The obvious first single the second it was finished How Come was recorded long before it was ever played live and was also the last song to be written for the album.btw: See if you can hear the moment that i fell over whilst soloing (i had a torn LCL in my knee) and carried on-it IS on the record. oh, how the others did laugh!

I KNOW YOUR NAME
i originally wrote the music for this extremely late one night whilst Rob and i were still in KickBack. i love the slower heavier feel to the song and i re wrote the lyrics when Skeleton Crew was formed. Written a few years after the fact the song represents the total anger and upset that , rightly or wrongly, I felt about the people and actions I perceived to be responsible for the untimely death of one of my closest friends...and is my personal message to "them".The idea for the incredible intro drums were one of Drews first contributions to the band shortly after he joined us. One of the few songs we currently have that give Rob a chance to play with his organ ;)

BRING IT ON
About a year into the songwriting sessions Chris and I actually had a praticing version of the band. Our good friend Tony Garrett , who actually gave Skeleton Crew it's name, was helping out on drums and he'd brought Steve into the fold. Rob joined us on occasions and there seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel. This was when the song Bring It On was written and it's a raise your fist (steady now!) salute to the "values" of 80's rock. Chris actually wrote the lyrics based on his typical saturday nights out in Nottingham...or what he can remember of them. It became our early rally cry and was the obvious title for the album itself from day one

TEMPTING FATE
I think I was listening to alot of early Crue at the time and the main riff seems to confirm this!! I also wanted to put a huge harmonised solo into a song and this was the perfect opportunity. The song is about people's total slavery to whatever it says in their daily horrorscope. Unfortunately i know many like this and i wanted to have a little fun at their expense (btw I do have 3 kids and a red car that i suppose was probably nice a decade or so ago!) The hamonised chorus has given us all a sleepless night or two as we figure out what each of us should sing and where but we're finally happy with it now...aren't we guys!...guys?

DRIVING ME CRAZY
The first song written by us after Drew joined the band and, like All Or Nothing, was the result of a good night down the "hut" (but this time Rob was around-he wrote the chorus) It started out as a fairly heavy angry riff of mine that everyone jumped on. Before long it was done. It's a fave to play for all the band but I myself have never made total sense of the lyrics...but i think that's the point!

SOUL
i remember Rob having a few riffs that i thought were in the wrong order and once jigged around a little became the basis for the music in Soul. Hailing from the time when Tony was drumming it was pretty much Rob's baby apart from the odd bit of musical sticking tape by me. It's a very thoughtful song that people always love when they first hear it but love more once they know the lyrics. The out solo is a little homage to Bang Tango, a band that we all saw many times at Nottingham's Rock-City in the 90's. A song that truly shows off the entire bands singing ability it also happens to be the song we usually song check with as it has a little bit of everything.

WORLD TURNS UPSIDE DOWN
By most standards I'd been through a pretty rough time in almost every aspect of my life and once everything had eventually settled down i was delighted to find out that i had come out relatively okay and had only gone slightly mad. The song is very "up" , almost punky in feel and represents the "NA NA NANA NA - CANT CATCH ME!" attitude that I had developed. This song was the first complete song that i wrote for Skeleton Crew. if you notice, the key for the first chorus' are different to the ones at the end. World is the perfect song to end the album with a bang! Read more!

Broken Logic Photoshoot

These pictures were taken by Laura Spires of brokenlogicphotography. You can check out more of her amazing work at www.brokenlogicphotography.co.uk

Broken Logic Photography photoshoot

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Soul - Lyrics

This foolish heart once fell from grace to dust
To lay unwanted at your feet
It took a little time to heal the scars you gave to me back then
No other wound has run so deep

Feeling like a stranger
Standing on the outside looking in

You took my soul, yeah
And left me with the memory
You took my dreams
Stripped me to the bone
You fed my fears, yeah
Crucified my weakness
Laid me down in my soul to drown
In tears and all alone

If you had held my hand you'd have saved my soul
But you twist the knife 'til I feel it slipping all away
A brush of memories makes me wonder
Can we relight the flame, but there's no going back, never going back

Trying to find the answer
Losing all the pieces one by one

Falling comes so easy Read more!

My Life, My Rules - lyrics

I don't care what people say
No one ever listens to me anyway
The man you knew has gone away
Gone away, gone away now

Sometimes you forget just who I am
What I was, my life and all my plans
Always known what I could have been
It's my dream, it's my dream now

I always knew my life was wrong
Its like I'm dancing to the same damn song

My life, my rules
Life's a game but I always lose

I've always been on my own
It's the only life I've ever known
You know my heart has turned to stone
I'm alone, I'm alone now

Don't want to be part of a crowd
Individual thought is not allowed
I'm the one that turns around
Stand my ground, stand my ground now

The things you wanted I could never be
The thing I hated you turned out to be
What I wanted you could never give
What I wanted was a reason,
A reason to live Read more!

All Or Nothing - lyrics

I'm heading off to the city, those neon lights are my guiding star
Who'd have thought that i'd find you the girl of my dreams walking in this bar
Thought i'd loved you forever, kinda strange cos i'd never met you before
You're like something from heaven you're a wish upon a star

Never ever been a sucker for a pretty face
Never went out of my way for a flash of lace
But if I dont act now, I dont know how I'll ever see you again

So, is this my lucky day, here I go, time to make my play

Take a chance , take a risk I cant resist
This could be the start of something
Get a taste of your lips this is something i've missed
Gonna go for it all or nothing

You, were a vision that night and i thought i might stand a chance
Of getting next to you, what's a boy supposed to do
When his venus is really made of stone

You are on the dance floor, the room watches you
Everyone wants you but i want you more
You have the power, I'm hypnotised
You take my hand yeah I win the prize Read more!

World Turns Upside Down - lyrics

I thought my life was going right
I thought my life was going well
And then the day turned into night
And then my life turned into hell
It got me thinking 'bout the
Who, what, why, when
I did not know anything
So what on earth do I do?
I did the
Up, down, left, right
Tunnel never had a light
I need to find something new

No point, in dwelling on the past
No point, I knew it'd never last
No point, in going nowhere fast
Not me, not now, not ever

When the world turns upside down
When the world turns upside down
You'd better stand on your head

It's like they put you in a box
And you get a little shake
Then they mess up all you've got
And give you all that you can take
I never needed all the
Lying, cheating, stealing, dealing
Or yet another mistake
'Cos with the
One, two, three, four
Never needed anymore
I'll show you what we can make

This time, I've landed on my feet
This time, I'll never miss a beat
This time, I know I'll take the heat
This time I know it's better

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