Skindred

NR: There are a couple of different versions of Babylon out. The fans would like to know how many were actually released?

Mikey: There was the first one released in the U.K. released on BMG/RCA. Then it was released in the U.S. on Bieler Bro's Records. Then it was re-released on Lava/Atlantic with extra tracks and new artwork. That one was released recently in the U.K. I think there are four versions out right now and half have the old artwork and half have the new artwork. There was a line-up change and basically the labels wanted to release the better part of the record and update it with some new songs.

NR: You guys recorded the track "Twist and Shout" for the Sky High soundtrack. How was the whole experience?

Mikey: It was "Twist and Crawl." I know because I had to sing on it.. Oh no I didn't actually. Arya and Dan had to sing twist and crawl. We recorded it in our studio in Florida. Our manager actually got us the slot. I guess they were looking for someone specific to do that song. We seemed like the good choice for the song. We went into the studio with an idea of what we were doing and we laid down some guitar and drum tracks. What is on the soundtrack is how it came out. It didn't take weeks and weeks of planning. We just went into the studio and recorded a lot of noise. We were really stoked with the outcome.

NR: You guys toured on Warped Tour this year. How did that go?

Mikey: It was great. It was one of the most fun tours we have been on and one of the hardest too. We did it in a van and trailer. It was pretty tough. A lot of long drives, early mornings, late nights, hot climates and dusty fields. It was cool but definitely tough. We definitely hope to do it again.
NR: Kevin Lyman said that you guys are one of the acts to watch out for.
Mikey: We heard he dropped our name on T.V. or something...
NR: Yea on Fuse.
Mikey: Yea that's awesome. That's brilliant.
NR: He said 3 bands and out of how many bands are on Warped Tour...
Mikey: Yea like a hundred for one hundred and fifty bands. So that's pretty good. I think he is going to actually ask us to come back again. He was great. He did a lot for us. He was really good to us on the tour. We hope to get to go back out on it.

NR: Do you think that downloading illegal mp3's are a crime?

Mikey: Well if it's illegal it's a crime. I mean I download lots of stuff from from iTunes and things like that. I think it's the way it is all going. I think in 5-10 years there won't really be CD's anymore it will all be done digitally. I guess it is a crime. I don't know how I feel about it. I guess we've been a victim of it but we haven't really noticed.
NR: Do you think those people should be prosecuted?
Mikey: I don't know. I guess it is stealing. Since we are in a band I guess we should think about it. It doesn't seem to affect us. I just want people to like the music. It's no different than coping the CD from someone who has it. I don't know. I don't really have any morals on it. I do download which I pay for on things such as iTunes. It's really a wicked way to get music. I think they are really clamping down on ways to download music. I use to do it when I was younger but now I don't even know where to look. They keep shutting everything down. These days I just pay for everything on iTunes.

NR: You guys have been touring non-stop for Babylon. Have you guys had a chance to write new music for the next record?

Mikey: We have a load of stuff from the past and some from the present. When we actually sit down in a room and get a chance to write the new record we will have like 20-30 songs to play with. We haven't even gotten a chance to sit down and write. That's just stuff that's come up from stuff like writing on the road and ideas on the go. When we do sit down and write for the new album I think we will have a lot of stuff to work with.

NR: Some of you guys were in Dub War and they are going to re-issue Pain and Step This. Are there plans to incorporate any of the Dub War tracks into the Skindred set list?

Mikey: I don't think so. Benji was the only one in Dub War. I think he would like to keep that as the past and keep Skindred as the present. I don't think we will be doing any tracks. Don't get me wrong there is some wicked tracks I wouldn't mind. But I think we are more about moving forward than looking back. I don't think we will do it but I wouldn't mind either way.

NR: There are a ton of bands out right now. What are some of your favorite bands that are out on the market?

Mikey: There is a ton of bands I met on the Warped Tour. It hooked me up with a lot of bands that you wouldn't necessarily hear about. Bands like us on a similar level just trying to get somewhere. Some of the groups are: River Boat Gamblers (Awesome Punk Rock Band); The Valley of Thor (Cool 70's Rock type Band); Reggie and The Full Effect (Just Awesome); Five Speed (We went on tour with them. They are great!) I don't listen to that much heavy music unless I'm surrounded by it live. We all listen to a lot of different stuff on headphones and so on. I'm a big fan of bands trying to get somewhere. I can't think of one off hand. I can't think of someone who is really really making it. I'm more of a fan of particular songs and albums than just bands. We were all listening to the last Slipknot record a lot. It was brilliant. I wasn't really a fan of Slipknot before that but I think the album is brilliant. This is a tough question. There are so many bands.

NR: You guys have amazing energy on stage and the fans have been raving about it. Are there any plans to incorporate it into a DVD?

Mikey: We've had a video camera with us on the road for the past three years. There are loads and loads of tapes. Eventually someone, maybe me, said that I would sit down and put it all together. It's going to be hard since there is so much footage. Maybe we will hand it over to a professional to do. We would love to do a DVD. I don't know if it will be as exciting as other bands DVD's. Because if you check out like Lamb of God's DVD they are all drunk and beating each other up and stuff. Mostly we sit around a lot and talk. We don't do my partying or things like that. There isn't much of that, that goes on. I don't know if people will want to see it. I think we will definitely do one.

NR: There is a lot of praise from the fans about how nice you guys are to meet. Some of them wrote in wondering if there was ever any bands that haven't been as nice to you as you are to others?

Mikey: There are a couple of bands that we have toured with that wasn't so much difficult as they just kept to themselves. That's just a choice that people make. I'm not going to drop any names or anything. We've been pretty fortunate. Most of the bands we have toured with have been amazing musician's and brilliant people or one or the other. I would say 99% of the bands we have toured with have been great people.

NR: You guys are finishing up with tour with H.I.M. and then you are heading over to the U.K. What are your plans after the tours are finished?

Mikey: More touring probably. I think we are going to record a new album after the new year. It's tough to say what's going to happen. This album has been out in the U.S. since August and it was just released in the U.K. We are thinking about the U.K. and the album is out, but then we have to think about going to the U.S. to record. It's on a weird time delay. I reckon this tour will probably be the wrap up of Babylon in the U.S. The next time we are over here will either be recording or it maybe the start of something new.