...What I m : SKINFLICKS

Questa intervista mi riporta indietro di oltre 20 anni, quindi senza tergiversare ulteriormente andiamo subito dal buon Patrick... Let's Go

RTC) Hi Patrick, how and when was the band born and the members, tell us the hystory of band

SFS) I (Patrick, Bass player) wasn’t part of the original line-up, I was asked to join after the departure of their original bass player Muck in the summer of 1999. But what I gather from what the boys said they got together with the intent of playing street-punk music in November 1997. The line-up was Jerome on vocals and drums, Tom on guitar and backing vocals and Mookie on Bass and backing vocals. They all knew each other, since they were in school together. I think the boys were into punk rock,  skinheads and street punk as well and this name had the word “skin” in it, as well as it meant something naughty (i.e. Porn films), so I reckon the Punk and skinhead agenda was equally well served by such a name.

I was a fan of the band and a skinhead at the time and I always went to all their gigs and soon I knew all of their repertoire by heart and sang along….

And, nope, there was no other street punk/Oi band before THE SKINFLICKS over here, there were a couple of punk bands, but never an Oi! Band. And there hasn’t been, since…strangely enough.

RTC) How can we call your style of playing? which are your musical influences?

SFS) Real fucking Oi music/Street Punk! No frills, no gimmicks, no watering down... Just a 90-ies update of the classic early 80-ies british sounds in that genre! No political agenda, either , just the music, thank you! 

As far as influences go….. Of course all the classic bands…COCK SPARRER, 4SKINS, maybe THE BUSINESS in some incarnation?, THE ADICTS, THE LAST RESORT, INFA RIOT, etc….but also some of the new, young talent, great bands who came out in recent years: BISHOPS GREEN, ALTERNATE ACTION, EMERGENCY (if they’d get active again?), CROWN COURT (we already had the pleasure in Brighton, cheers, lads!) and THE CHISEL!

So many new bands from Spain, the Basque country, the US and Canada and France! The scene is alive and well! More diversified than ever before!

RTC) What are your lyrics about? what do you stand for?

SFS) We mostly sing about things that matter to us, from a working man’s perspective. The modern world is rather incomprehensible at times and it rarely makes any kind of sense to us, so we address that a lot. Songs like “Woke as fuck”, “Mob Mentality”, “Not Like You”, “Gentrified for your sins”, “New Media Men”, “Won’t bend the knee”, “Fuck the Punk Police”, and many more, deal with our disagreement and frustration with the modern world. People mistake that for politics often. But we consciously avoid politics in our music. That is the biggest mistake many bands keep repeating, and we will not fall into the same trap. So our lyrics are socially critical, but not political. Basically meaning that we bitch and moan a lot, but offer no solutions, hahaha!

RTC) Speak about the Oi! scene in your Area and Country

SFS) There is none. At all. Unfortunately. Luxembourg is so small and there are no young newcomer kids any more. Quite sad, really.

RTC) Do you suggest us other bands in your country ?

SFS) Well, depends. There are some punk bands…like American-style skate-type melodic punk. There’s VERSUS YOU, local veterans PETROGRAD, THE ADOPTEES and THE BAR CODES  among my personal favourites. All the other good bands are non punk, so that might be a subject for another time, another place.

RTC) How much works (CD,LP Etc.) have you released ?

SFS) So far we have four albums (Lies, damned lies…(2001), Beyond Good and Evil (2002),  and two e.p.-s (Cider Lane 77/aka EARLY DAYS (1998), STEEL-TOE ANTHEMS (2000) ) four singles (Won’t bend the Knee (2021), Fuck the Punk Police (2022), Not like you (2022), Gentrified for your sins (2023) ) and two compilation albums (Luxembourg’s most hated (2017) and The Cream of the Cropped (2023) ).

The Albums, e.p. s and compilations also came out on CD.

Everything is available on the digital platforms (Spotify, YouTube, Apple music, Amazon music, Deezer,….and countless others.

There is also a LIVE album (51 minutes of toxic masculinity (2024) ) which is ONLY available on the digital platforms, mentioned above.

Check em out. Our releases are still available at www.fantotal.de and some over www.oi-the-shop.de 

RTC) Do you go to Stadium ? is yes, which team you support ?

SFS) Not really. The football scene is not really  grandiose here in one of the smallest countries in the world. Some of my mates were supporting JEUNESSE ESCH at some point in time, a football club from the second-largest town in Luxembourg, Esch/Alzette, near the French border, a former steelmining town. But nowadays no one really goes  anywhere any more. Only for international matches, sometimes, which is fun, especially when we win….for once. Which is rather rare. Personally I like WEST HAM UNITED from London, keeping true to the steel mining union teams…I see a pattern, there, hahaha!

RTC) Would you like to play in Italy

SFS) Oh, YES! Most definitely! Whenever we played in “bella italia” with other bands, as musicians, we always had a great time…some nice clubs in your country…we really hope some promoters read this and might think: Yes, I could see myself doing THAT show! If that is the case, hit us up by writing to our e-mail, and we will work something out!

RTC) So, the interview is Over, say something to ?

SFS) Well, thank you, Max, for giving us an opportunity to talk to the scene in Italy. If I had any closing statement to convey: don’t believe the hype and lies of political fanatics of any side! Sod them all and their dividing shit! They all just want to keep us apart so we can be ruled over more comfortably by the rich. Take the time to form your own opinion…almost a luxury nowadays, but definitely worth it! You will not die a brainless sheep, running after the herd. Don’t be a puppet for ANY side! They all just use you, play you like an instrument and drop you in a heartbeat, so fuck that and fuck them all! Censorship sucks! We are grown people and should be able do decide for ourselves. Punks and Skins united, worldwide!

Grazie a te Patrick, oltre che per l'intervista anche per avermi fatto riaffiorare dei bellissimi ricordi che quando ero poco più di un ragazzino in Boots e Bretelle in quel del Nord Europa e lo si girava per concerti in lungo e in largo. In ogni caso CREDO che ci si vedrà presto nella "bella Italia" come l'hai sempre chiamata.

Ovviamente vi lasciamo un video anche se credo che gli Skinflicks non abbiano bisogno di presentazioni e noi ci vediamo Venerdì per la seconda parte dell'intervista a Ivano e alla storia della scena e dell' Oi! Made in Italy