After Skegss released their stellar debut album 'My Own Mess' in 2018, it almost felt harder to avoid a Skegss show than it was to find one. From small venues to festivals, the surf-rock indie chargers have played almost every stage across the country.
Then COVID hit. And, with every other band, Skegss had to swap touring for takeout on the couch. It didn't deter their work ethic, though, with their follow-up album 'Rehearsal' released in March last year.Lead vocalist and guitraist Benny Reed laughs at the fact the band's second studio effort made an ARIA #1 debut, besting their previous peak at #2 and cementing their place as a commercial success. "It's funny, I don't know," he says. "It's just kind of amazing when that happens."
Reed says working with producer Catherine Marks, who previously mixed 2019 non-album single 'Save It For The Weekend', was an eye-opening experience as she had some quirky ways of interpreting what the guys were trying to achieve by reading between the lines.
"I like the way that she respected that sort of thing, and even just said funny little things – like when you're going through the vocal track she's just like, 'What colour are you thinking of in this song?' And you're like, 'Woah. . . I'm pretty sure blue. . . How did you know that? What do you mean?'" Reed laughs.
"And it was so random, but it was just little things like that that's pretty memorable, it made you feel a bit more comfortable. . . Like, how did she know that I was thinking of a colour?"
'Rehearsal' is undoubtedly much more refined than 'My Own Mess'; showcasing a band far more sure of themselves. Reed has been quoted describing the album as 'being born into the world without a choice and riding it out until the very end,' which is quite profound for a fun, rock record.
"I just think about that stuff a bit, and it seems to keep coming through in the lyrics sometimes, even though they're all sort of about different things," Benny says.
"It's kind of funny when you're making a batch and you're like, well I'm almost saying the same thing as the other songs, I'm just using different words. "So it must just be your frame of mind sometimes in periods of your life or something."
Although creating a body of work is a form of catharsis for Reed, he says once the album is complete he likes to "lock it up and move to the next thing"; and most of the time when an album is released he is "over" whatever he was pondering at the time.
"It's definitely an outlet in that regard, like making songs up all the time," he says, "and it's kind of funny too, when you actually set the album in stone, you do lock it up and move on to the next kind of thing.
"It's like you're in a different stage or you're over whatever it was you were kind of pondering before."
Reed says "playing the [live] show is the fun part", so when it comes to revisiting fan favourites time after time, it isn't a tedious task. "The best part about it is just making the songs and then playing the shows," he explains.
"Then there's just a bit of lingering in between sometimes on tour, or waiting for things to come out and stuff. But I think when you're just doing it and playing it, it's not that dreary playing the same songs all the time – you get pretty excited."
Skegss returned to the US earlier this year, laying down some new demos in the same desert studio where they recorded 'Save It For The Weekend' and playing a series of headline shows.
"We had a couple of visa issues, so we had to swap a couple of shows from the front end to the back end, so it spread it out a bit," Benny says. "It was actually quite enjoyable because it wasn't too relentless. Like, I feel like I can remember it all for the first time."
Which means Reed can clearly remember their performance at Coachella. "The set was sick, we were heaps surprised and heaps stoked on it," he says. "Because you never know who might rock up – or if anyone will rock up [for you] – at overseas festivals."
Part of the joy of Coachella for Reed, though, was exploring what the festival itself had to offer. "I went and watched acts I'd probably never go make the time to watch, like Dave and Doja Cat," he says.
"But there wasn't heaps of crew I wanted to see, it was just heaps cool to see a few acts that I wouldn't usually cop and see how crazy their production and stuff is. Like, Doja Cat's was crazy, like a 'Lion King' spectacle. It was pretty sick though."
Not bad a kid from Foster that grew up attending local festivals like Groovin The Moo or Coaster. "Splendour, like in my early 20s and stuff, is probably where I've seen some of the coolest acts without expecting it," Reed says.
"I remember seeing Outkast, it must have been seven years ago or eight years ago, and I didn't know I knew every song! I started like singing and sh.t to every one of them, and just, like, woah. . . They just looked crazy on stage."
Benny recalls his first time performing at Splendour In The Grass as one of the the most memorable moments of his career – but for all the wrong reasons.
"When we played it a few years back it was the biggest show we'd ever done and I could barely look up. . . I wish I could go back and do it again, to like enjoy it a bit more," he says.
"I think because I survived that one I then felt hell comfortable at all the other shows, especially the little shows; I started talking a bit more, which I never did that much – I think it helps you be a little bit more relaxed after surviving a huge one."
These days, Skegss are the big drawcard for a number of Aussie festivals. Reed and his bandmates will be headlining the inaugural SPRINGTIME festival on the Gold Coast in just a few short weeks (a three-day free event), closing out the festival alongside Alex The Astronaut, Teen Jesus And The Jean Teasers and Teenage Dads (Hermitude and Thelma Plum headline the Friday-Saturday nights respectively) – but he's still humble about the prospect.
"It's a cool line-up, and it's always good to see fellow friends on the bill, so you know you're going to be in for a good time other than playing," he laughs. "It's weird to headline – I don't know if we should be headlining a festival!"
He's also keen to see some of the younger and newer bands playing the festival circuit post-COVID. "What I've sort of noticed lately there's been so many new bands come up in the ranks that I didn't even know about, and I've just seen them at fezzies and I think it's sick for that - new bands would have struggled, probably getting the ball rolling and then COVID hit," Reed says.
"So I think it's kind of sick to see how excited some of the new bands or young - I don't know if they're younger than me or not – but just some of the new bands on the scene, you just see how stoked they are and you're like, mad. Because they probably were tripping hardest."
Although Skegss are pretty well-established road dogs now, Reed says he feels for the bands who were just getting their foot in the door pre-COVID.
"It would've sucked having a new song come out, like maybe their new song and it was popping off, and then COVID hit and they're like, 'do we bring our album out now, or do we wait until this thing is over?'" he says.
"Because you know, the cycle kind of works off bringing the songs out and then touring and stuff, and if you're not touring then it would be a bit boring trying to juice it up on social media all the time."
One of the positives from the pandemic, though, has been the diversity and density of the new bands, Benny says. "It's just good that there's more music around, and it seems like it's coming for all places now – not just cities and stuff," he says.
"I reckon that's just what's cool to see, and you just see the camaraderie between them, it's just fun and I guess the more bands the more festivals that are able to happen, too."
As for Skegss, the pandemic just made them even keener to get back on the road and play. "I was pretty refreshed, like with just being excited I guess to do it. . . And then realising it's a pretty rare thing to be able to do [playing music live]," Reed says.
"Having so many [shows] where I screwed up, and going, 'nah, it'll be alright I'll survive it,' I've kind of just gotten over it and just enjoy it now, even if I do screw up."
SPRINGTIME takes place in Surfers Paradise (Gold Coast) 2-4 September and is free to attend.
SPRINGTIME 2022 Line-up
FRIDAY
Hermitude (DJ set)Sneaky Sound System
JK-47
Peach Fur
DVNA
Buttered
Girl & Gir
Beks
VICES
SATURDAY
Thelma PlumNinajirachi
Skunkhour
Haiku Hands
IVEY
Ebony Boadu
Saint Lane
EUCA
Fletcher
Giv & Latour (Elsewhere DJs)
Samin & Lotnic (Elsewhere DJs)
SUNDAY
SkegssAlex The Astronaut
Teen Jesus & The Jean Teasers
The Lazy Eyes
Teenage Dads
The Oogars
South Summit
Just Jessie
Geniie Boy
Skegss 2022 Tour Dates
Thu 1 Sep - Torquay Hotel (Torquay)Fri 2 Sep - Torquay Hotel (Torquay)
Sat 29 Oct - This That Festival (Brisbane)
Sat 5 Nov - This That Festival (Newcastle)
Sat 10 Dec - Hoey Moet Hotel (Coffs Harbour)
