BLOG: My time in Skinflick by Duncan Black

[Neil Crud] – I’m not sure if this was ever published, it was written somewhere around 2013. Sadly no longer with us, Duncan Black was a major contributor to the link2wales website, providing reams of information, helping edit articles and policing the then very spiky message board! What follows is a very entertaining and insightful look back at his time in and around Bangor’s industrial cyber-punk outfit, Skinflick.

CONTENTS:
Early days. Way back in the mists of time…
The Rise and fall of the Bangor music scene 1991-1997
Duncan Black joins Skinflick – 1998
Skinflick gets serious! – 2000-2001
‘The Legendary Breeding Ground gig’ and ‘What happened to Ellen?’ 2001
‘The Two Ton Loser CD’ (released by Zero Tolerance)
Good times, bad times 2002-2005
The first tour with the new line-up 2002
Matt Lucas mentions Skinflick on Telly! 2003?
Gareth Horne replaces Duncan Black on guitar 2003/2004?
The ‘Wave-Gotik-Treffen’ festival in Liepzig, Germany, 2004
Why I left the band
What’s it like to work with Justin?

I worked with Skinflick on and off for a period of seven years, and have known Justin for the better part of twenty years. Consequently, this may well turn into a very long article. I apologise in advance if any readers are distracted by off-topic anecdotes, or indeed offended by the more lurid details of what was a very fucked up band.
But it was a lot of fun.

Early days. Way back in the mists of time…
My relationship with Justin starts way back in the punk/metal scene that had evolved in Bangor circa 1990, particularly the alternative nights that were held at fondly remembered venues like the Normandie and Trax (eventually renamed The Crypt).
Although I’d rehearsed with a few bands, my first experience of pub gigs was around 1991, when I joined Nauzea as the bassist (the band eventually became Grot). We dealt in fast hardcore punk and covered songs by the Electro Hippies. 

A gig was held at Bangor Students Union in the Friddoedd Bar. Nauzea were booked to support Vaffan Coulu and a very early incarnation of Skinflick, which at the time only had one member – a very strange looking bloke called Justin Williams. His hair looked like a small collection of day-glow tarantulas and I’m pretty sure it was his first gig. He sat behind a table, surrounded by keyboards, electronic gadgets, a cassette 4-track and a battered old computer. There were electric cables and overloaded sockets all over the place. He growled menacingly over dissonant electronic noise.

The bar manager at the Fridd was a pretty unpleasant individual. I remember him looking like Ricky Gervais in surf shorts and open toed sandals. He let us bring our gear in and do a sound check, and then told us to fuck off home, as he thought we were underage (we were all 18). We debated with him for a while, before realising we were fighting a losing battle, so we dismantled everything. As we left, the bar manager and his student companions shouted ‘wankers’ at us.

I was not allowed to watch the final gig, so the following account is based on what my friends told me. Apparently Justin stuck up for us in his set and heckled the bar manager in between songs with a variety of put-downs. Vaffan Coulu proceeded to champion the cause further, improvising a song entitled Shit Student Wankers, which was dedicated to the bar manager. The power was cut and everyone was thrown out. Shit Student Wankers remained in Vaffan Coulu’s set list for a long time.

Interestingly, the flyer for the gig had the slogan ‘You’d have to be normal to miss it!’ emblazoned on it. This was my introduction to the North Wales music scene. 

The Rise and fall of the Bangor music scene 1991-1997
Nauzea disintegrated pretty quickly and I joined a few thrash metal bands (notably Fatal Mistake and Mucus). Although the music was slick and well written, we didn’t really bond with the hardcore outfits that Skinflick enjoyed a sense of unity with. We regularly played on the same bill as Skinflick, but we never had much to do with each other – us being too pedestrian, and Skinflick just plain odd. By now, Skinflick had expanded into a two-piece with the addition of James on guitar – an androgynous looking bloke with long pink hair. He usually played a beaten up stratocaster with three broken strings. 

It’s a little known fact that Justin single-handedly organised the majority of gigs that promoted alternative music in Bangor in the early nineties. I don’t think he gets enough credit for it. One very memorable event was the infamous all-day gig at the Student’s Union, featuring Skinflick, Babies With Rabies, Mucus, Fflaps and many others. Justin also organised a tour of Ireland featuring Skinflick and Headbutt. Legend has it that Justin’s windscreen wipers failed on that tour, and when there was torrential rain, he got James to manually operate them with a piece of rope.

Mention should also be made of several of Justin’s side projects that gigged at the time including Nailgun Kandy and Dogshit On Toast. Although these bands never really dented the North Wales music scene, they did feature collaborations with a host of local ‘anti-heroes’ including Vaffan Coulu’s Jo Shooman, and demonstrate how much Justin had bonded with the music scene. The alternative bands rarely turned down the opportunity to collaborate with him. During this time, Justin also produced a demo for Grot, which proved to be the first of many weird and wonderful recording projects. 

Eventually, dance music started taking over and a lot of people pushed the alternative scene aside, favouring raves and the like. From my own perspective, the local band scene had simply become overcrowded. Many bands were formed in a matter of days and were pretty under-rehearsed. A lot of these bands didn’t care if they only lasted for two or three gigs – the experience of being part of the scene in some small way was enough.  This meant that the quality of music was suffering and gigs were often a chore to sit through. After a valiant attempt to keep things alive, even the Crypt had to concede defeat and slowly but surely, everyone moved on.

I got a place at Manchester Metropolitan University and moved away from North Wales to study music. I didn’t see Justin for a long time, although I was aware that he was touring the country. When I lived in Alsager I saw posters for Skinflick at the Wheatsheaf in Stoke. I was informed they had banks of TV sets playing hardcore porn whilst they performed. Apparently, they’d been banned from a lot of venues. As far as I knew, they’d released a few EPs, but everything went quiet some time around 1996 – I wasn’t sure if the band was still going. It turned out later that Justin had produced a Welsh language pop album for Rhian Mostyn (sometime between 1996 and 1997?), but he’s not very public about that project. I think it’s too aesthetically different from his work with Skinflick. Justin and James had also appeared on Welsh music show The Electric Chair at some point, but I assumed Skinflick was on hold for the time being.

I finished my degree in 1996 and moved back to North Wales, joining Caernarfon based rockers This Thing. We recorded a lot of stuff, signed to the Stereophonics old management company (who are not recommended) and played a lot of gigs throughout the UK. Unfortunately it only lasted a year, and the drummer sued me for a quarter of everything he’d spent whilst I was in the band. Incredibly he won. I didn’t do any music for close to a year. Additionally, I had been getting a little too fond of alcohol and amphetamines and needed a change of lifestyle. Consequently, I cut my hair and got a ‘proper job’ making ceramic dragons at Bangor Pottery. Although I played for a few bands in that time (notably Skink and Hatework), none of them lasted very long. Resigned to a mundane life in the tourist industry, I had all but given up on music…

Duncan Black joins Skinflick – 1998
Around 1998/1999, I heard that Justin had reformed Skinflick and needed a guitarist. I can’t remember which one of us contacted the other. It appeared he had big ideas, and with his talent for offending people it sounded like a lot of fun. My main reason for joining was that I’d never worked with the more eclectic bands from North Wales. It was a fresh challenge and I felt Justin would do well in the music industry. Some people may laugh, but I honestly believed it, – he was a brilliant producer and he’d definitely left his mark on the music scene. Besides, Justin was running everything and I’ve always liked a band with a leader. The reason is simple – Democracy in bands is bullshit. If you have four or five people endlessly debating what to do next, you spend more time procrastinating than playing music. If there’s one person in charge, there are no arguments. Decisions are made faster, things happen quickly and everyone knows their place. If you don’t like it, you know where the door is – It’s a lot less complicated.

I met up with Justin in Bangor and he gave me a demo CD called ‘Ill Syrup’. I had about a week to learn the guitar parts. At the time, the band existed solely as a recording project featuring Justin and vocalist Andy Brady (ex-Plastic), with Justin handling programming – James Sutton was no longer in the band. I remember going over to Justin’s place and ‘auditioning’, performing the song Indifference in the front room. Justin and Andy seemed to like my playing a lot. I’d been heavily tutored on guitar at University and I approached Skinflick the same way a session player would. I think they had fun listening to someone playing fucked-up music in a professional way.

Justin and Andy had designs on putting a live band together. Skinflick was arranged into a five-piece band featuring myself, Justin and Andy (vocals), Gaz Horne (drums, ex-Babies With Rabies) and Jo Shooman on bass (ex-Vaffan Coulu). At one point Chris ‘Squirrel’ Jones (drums, ex-Mucus) auditioned for the band, but I think it was a bit too abrasive for him. We used to practice in a church in Bangor, which memorably offended two locals who threatened to write to the council or some such bollocks. They considered us to be blasphemous. 

This incarnation of Skinflick fizzled out pretty fast – I don’t remember why. During this time we performed one improvised gig with Leon Craggs (bass, ex-Fubar) and Gaz Horne (drums) at The George bar in Bangor. Justin brought a bottle of imported Russian Vodka to my house before the gig. It had a cannabis leaf in the bottom of the bottle. We downed the lot and smoked the leaf. Consequently, we were horribly drunk and the audience walked out. I ended up falling around the stage playing the theme from Star Wars and shouting at people.

Apart from that, things were pretty quiet. Over the space of a year, I occasionally visited Justin’s flat in Bethesda to record guitar parts for many songs including Indifference, as well as writing the riffs for three new songs called Two Ton Loser, Burns Bright and Belief, which Justin arranged into full songs with lyrics. By this time, I was using almost as much electronic junk as Justin, which complemented the music nicely (or horribly – whichever is more appropriate). Justin was on the phone with people in London, where he’d lived in a previous existence. He’d managed to find a few contacts in the underground music scene. Rhian Mostyn was also contributing backing vocals to a lot of the material.

However, things were still pretty quiet and Andy Brady had left the band. He had a big family and I suspect he didn’t have a lot of time. Skinflick now appeared to be a two-piece band between Justin and myself. We still hadn’t gigged properly. 

In 2000, to keep myself busy, I attended an open-mic night in Llanberis, and met up with other bored musicians to form the challenging musical oddity that was Papa Lazaroo – the band had lots of different members, including one Steve H on drums (who would turn out to be a big part of Skinflick’s history). It was a pretty good band, but wasn’t very organised. 

Skinflick gets serious! – 2000-2001
Roundabout 2000-2001, Justin got back in touch and it appeared that the band would now be an ongoing concern. A London based label called Zero Tolerance wanted to release the music we’d been recording. We needed a band to perform the songs live and I knew a lot of musicians. I offered to find the appropriate ‘staff’. We eventually settled on a potential line-up and a meeting was arranged in a Bangor pub to discuss what we were going to do. Among those who attended were Steve H (from Papa Lazaroo) and Betsan Williams, a talented keyboard player and vocalist who had previously played for Red and The Sugarcubes (yes! THE Sugarcubes).

Practices were organised and yet more band members came and went from the fold. Betsan decided she didn’t want to join and Ellen Jones replaced her. Additionally, there were a number of sessions with a bass player who just couldn’t keep up (her name was Tamsin, or Tara, or something) – she didn’t last long. I had been out to a few gigs in Bangor and saw a goth band called Dammerung. The bass player was a striking young lady called Tabitha. I suggested she would make a good replacement and she joined up soon afterwards. FINALLY we had a solid line-up –

Justin Williams – Vocals/programming
Duncan Black – Guitars
Steve H – Drums
Tabitha – Bass
Ellen Jones – Keyboards and backing vocals.

Rehearsals took place at drummer Steve H’s workplace. He had a job at Bill Smiths in Bangor (round the corner from Tesco). This meant Skinflick spent most rehearsals in a plush motorcycle showroom.
From here, I am a little fuzzy on dates. Suffice to say that there was tons going on, but still a lot of work to do. First off, we weren’t that good as a live band and secondly, there were teething problems in the line-up. To test the band out, we played formative gigs at the end of 2001.
[gig review]

‘The Legendary Breeding Ground gig’ and ‘What happened to Ellen?’ 2001
Ellen Jones was the last band member to leave the fold whilst I was in the band. I have absolutely no idea where she is these days. She left Skinflick after three or four gigs – one of which was performed at the Cardiff Barfly. The band then continued as a four piece. I once saw her working as a barmaid at the Harp in Bangor. However, Ellen did get to perform with the band at the ‘legendary’ Breeding Ground gig in Rhyl. This was an early gig for this Skinflick line-up – 2001 perhaps [possibly 2002]? We met up with promoter/co-ordinator Paul Scouse, who I had mistaken for Neil Crud. That was acceptable however, as he referred to me as ‘Doug’ throughout the whole experience. 

We were performing late, so we had time for ‘a few quiet drinks’. This activity proved very popular. When we took to the stage, several of us (mainly me) were slightly drunk and the PA sounded horrid. We performed in front of a packed house of prepubescent Slipknot fans. Gradually, our live set crumbled into a pile of rancid faeces. Some of Justin’s on-stage banter was increasingly apathetic –

‘Who likes Slipkknot?’
(Audience cheers)
‘Wankers’

Justin also played host to a lesbian couple. The two young ladies in question got quite friendly in front of the stage. I couldn’t see anything however, as I’d drunk a lot of lager and the lights were facing in my direction. A member of the audience started heckling ‘FUCK OFF! YOU’RE SHIT!’
I stumbled to the front of the stage –
‘COME HERE AND SAY THAT – I’LL KICK YOUR TEETH THROUGH THE BACK OF YOUR FUCKING HEAD!’

The heckler walked up to the stage and repeatedly shouted ‘homo’ at Justin, which was odd considering there were active lesbians present. By this stage, it was clear that we had ceased to entertain the ‘Kerrang-oriented’ youth of Rhyl. I realised we weren’t getting anywhere, dropped my guitar and walked off. The band soon followed suit.
[Gig Review here]

At this time, Skinflick had also released the Two Ton Loser CD through Zero Tolerance…

‘The Two Ton Loser CD’ (released by Zero Tolerance)
If you look at the dates on the Two Ton Loser CD, it states that the music was recorded in 2001. I think this bears more relation to the release date than the actual recording, as Rhian Mostyn’s vocals are still present and she had long since departed. 

For the record, I wrote the individual sections for all three songs on the CD (but not the lyrics). Justin composed the second half of Belief, which was his baby – He spent A LOT of time on that bit. Justin sang, recorded, programmed, arranged and produced everything else. He also wrote all the lyrics, although I have no idea what they are about. I asked him once but he was not keen to address the issue. They’re pretty messed up, regardless.

The CD received airplay on BBC Radio Wales on Adam Walton’s Musical Mystery Tour, and reviews were favourable on the internet, and in national publications. Two Ton Loser was professionally mastered in London. Justin told me that the mastering costs had been charged to the record label, and he’d visited London personally to oversee things. We were also informed that the CD had made the play-list in several branches of HMV.

The artwork on the cover was designed and produced by Nigel Wingrove who designed the infamous ‘Jesus is a Cunt’ T-shirts for Cradle Of Filth. He’s an independent filmmaker and has campaigned against the BBFC tirelessly. He feels strongly about censorship. A couple of years later, he filmed one of Skinflick’s gigs in London at ‘93 Feet East’, although we’ve never seen the footage. When we met him, he looked a bit like Hannibal Lector and there was something ‘not quite right’ about the man. Nonetheless, I’m pleased to have some connection with this eccentric and important figure.

Good times, bad times 2002-2005
This is where Skinflick gets a bit chaotic, but it was lots of fun. I can’t possibly document everything that went on. We played SHIT-LOADS of gigs in all kinds of places – London, Rotheram, Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Cardiff, Dumfries, Dudley, Edinburgh, Stoke, Yorkshire, Liverpool, Manchester, Leicester, Leeds, York, Bradford, Germany – the list is endless. The following articles are highlights and low-points from 2002 onwards. I can’t remember exactly when all of this stuff happened, but it DID happen. Everything from this point forwards involves the following Skinflick line-up –

Justin Williams – Vocals and electronics
Duncan Black – Guitar and electronics
Tabitha Giles – Bass and backing vocals
Steve H – Drums and electronic percussion. 

The first tour with the new line-up 2002
The first tour was undertaken in freezing conditions, sometime in 2002. Justin managed to borrow a motorhome (affectionately named ‘The Misery Machine’) and we embarked on a twisted ‘Scooby Doo’ adventure, playing dubious toilets throughout the country. We were a pretty good band by this stage and the need for a keyboard player had been superseded by a big electronic box with flashing lights that made weird noises. Steve H had taken to using an earpiece, which transmitted a click-track into his ear. We’d tried everything to get the drums in time with the electronics, including a monitor placed under Steve’s arse so he could feel the sub-sonic boom in his buttocks. None of it worked. Sadly, Steve had to contend with the torturous sound of  ‘DOK, DOK, DOK, DOK, DOK’ blasting through one ear.  I often think Steve was the most committed member of Skinflick for this reason. Tabitha meanwhile, took over on backing vocals.

We stayed at a campsite somewhere in Cheshire for a few days and got very drunk. I remember running around in the dark at three o’clock in the morning, in nothing but my boxer shorts whilst Justin videoed the whole thing, shouting through a megaphone-
‘RUN SKINNY BOY!’
I think he still has the tape, worse luck. The campsite owners were not impressed and reminded us that ‘this is a family site’. I have a recording of Justin being told off on a VHS tape.

Throughout the whole tour, the motorhome felt like a freezer. People were shivering and there was ice forming on things. Upon returning the motor home to its’ owner, he showed Justin where the ‘on’ button was for the heater. You live and learn…
[3-day tour review]

Matt Lucas mentions Skinflick on Telly! 2003?
Completely true! There is an episode of Rock Profiles where Matt Lucas mentions Skinflick. He’s dressed as Jo Whiley and talks about the band in the same irritating fashion as Jo when she’s trying to be ‘the new John Peel’.

Gareth Horne replaces Duncan Black on guitar 2003/2004?
Although there were numerous tours and gigs, one tour proved too problematic for me. My girlfriend at the time had broken her foot and needed my help in getting around. For this tour, I asked Gaz Horne (ex-Fubar, Babies with Rabies etc) to fill in for me on guitar. I heard numerous stories involving pirate hats and beer, but you’d have to ask the rest of the band about that. I rejoined soon afterwards.

The ‘Wave-Gotik-Treffen’ festival in Leipzig, Germany, 2004
This is my favourite memory of Skinflick. Over the weekend, we had a contract, a rider, a chauffeur, roadies, a hotel and a magic pass that granted us access to virtually any nightclub in Leipzig (at least I think we did – I can’t speak German). I spent most of my time hanging around with Mark Watson-Jones, tour manager and future bassist for Skinflick.

We travelled to Germany via plane. A chauffeur greeted us at the airport. Upon arriving at the hotel, we had passes bolted onto our wrists by a bloke with a handlebar moustache. We visited our respective hotel rooms, which displayed the message ‘Liepzig Welcomes Skinflick!’ on TV screens. We hadn’t slept for over a day, so we got some shut-eye. Over the next two days we were treated very well.

One night I went to the bar and overheard a conversation on the opposite table. There was a bloke with a long beard speaking in English to two punks. He looked like a band member, so I asked ‘Which band are you with?’ He replied ‘What makes you think I’m in a band?’ His accent was like Ben Kenobi. He seemed slightly confrontational so I left the conversation there. It turns out he was Jon Balance, front-man for electronic weirdos Coil (who had recorded re-mixes for Nine Inch Nails). They were headlining the Wave Treffen Gotik festival. Sadly, he passed away in the same year.

Mark and myself went out in the evening, visiting numerous gigs and nightclubs. One venue resembled a disused underground weapons factory, with huge red brick archways. Everyone was dressed in black and there were loads of EBM Goths dancing around with glow-sticks. The DJs played everything from techno to the Dead Kennedys. There was a gimp there and he didn’t have a single zip on his outfit – the man was completely encased in rubber. I walked over and asked how he’d managed to get the suit on. I think he spoke German and the rubber mask made communication difficult, but he said something like ‘MRHHRRHRH’. I smiled, shook his squeaky rubber-clad hand and walked off. Anyone who spends 4 hours encasing themselves in rubber deserves some form of praise.

The gig was quite an experience. It was a huge venue, and for the first time Skinflick appeared to have roadies. The sound-check proved a lot of fun. One roadie drew my attention to a massive Marshall stack. It had two 4×12 cabinet speakers and was so tall I could barely reach the volume controls. The roadie asked me ‘Are you happy with this?’ Jokingly, I asked if they had anything bigger and he buggered off to get one.
This was a very cool gig. Steve H spent half an hour requesting exotic cymbals (they were only too happy to provide them). It made a nice change from sitting in the bogs at Hendre Hall.

The gig ran smoothly, but the room was slightly empty. More people arrived half way through the set. We played for about half an hour and the audience were very polite. I think the crowd was big enough to make the gig worthwhile. We played well and enjoyed the experience. However, the promoter was not happy – she didn’t like the fact that we’d played to such a ‘small’ audience. Consequently, she gave us cash to grab a meal at a restaurant. Justin said thanks and we popped out for a curry later. I can’t remember how much free food and booze we consumed, but it was all appreciated. I liked Germany a lot and I hope to revisit.
[Gig review]

Why I left the band
I’d love to have some brilliant story about how we all hated each other, or maybe reveal the secret truth of how Justin tortures his band members. Sadly, there are no such tales of woe.

I left Skinflick in the tradition of good old ‘musical differences’. When I first joined Skinflick, Justin needed someone who could compose and perform music for him. I used my technical skills and a ton of guitar effects to help out. As Skinflick developed, it seemed that Justin was formulating new ways to construct the music with electronics. Increasingly, he no longer needed me to make those sounds. By the time ‘Year Of The Dogs’ was released, it was clear Justin could compose and perform everything without the aid of band members. I wasn’t involved in the recording of ‘Year Of The Dogs’ at all. Therefore, my work was done. If I’d stayed in the band, I would have been a fifth wheel. There are no hard feelings and I’m grateful for all the experiences Justin has provided me with over the years. The man is a legend and long may he continue to offend, disgrace and warp people’s minds. I left Skinflick in 2005 and concentrated on my solo material.

What’s it like to work with Justin?
Justin’s an amenable person. I don’t think I’ve ever had an argument with him. If you’re recording music with him, it’s best not to get too precious, as he has a habit of cutting up all your music and twisting it into something completely new. 

He’s extremely organised too. He knows what he wants and he’ll work extremely hard to get there. He handled virtually all of the promotion in Skinflick, with Mark Watson-Jones helping out on gigs. When you see how many gigs Skinflick played, it speaks volumes about his commitment.

It’s pretty obvious that he didn’t like commercial music at all when I was in the band. Sometimes this can be a little frustrating, as he will deliberately sabotage music to make it more offensive. I remember one gig at Bangor Students Union, where the whole audience were so repulsed by the noises coming out of the PA that they walked out of the room. Justin was extremely happy about that, stating – ‘Even the people who like us left!’ I’m not sure that was such a good thing.  

Overall though, I’d say I’m a much bigger pain in the arse to work with.