Skål | Matt Connarton Unleashed

0:00 Speaker 1: I love that the track is called the Whites. The band is Skull And let's see who we have on the line with us? Hello, welcome to the show. Hello, Hello, Hey, hey guys. So who do we have? Who do we have on the line?

0:14 Speaker 2: So this is and I'm the lead singer.

0:17 Speaker 1: My name is Jack, very good, very good. So we've got Evan and Jack with us, guys. I love that track. That is It's catchy. I love the energy of it. It's one of those songs I always say, if it doesn't get you move in check your pulse, you might be dead because it's really really good. So I love you. I love your sound. And by the way, I also really like the first single too, which we're going to play at the end of our conversation today all of the people. That's that's another great song. But I was reading about you, guys, and this is a relatively new project, right if you guys only been around for like a year?

0:51 Speaker 1: Is that correct?

0:53 Speaker 3: Yeah?

0:53 Speaker 2: Yeah, the most part really.

0:57 Speaker 1: Okay, Oh wow, so this is yeah, So that's that's pretty new. You're already having it looks like you're already having a lot of success. Have you been getting uh, have you been getting some airplay with these singles over in the UK.

1:09 Speaker 4: So we've recently just had something come through that we got played on Radio X, which is obviously like a big station around here, quite a few local ones as well. If you play list editions like and obviously yourself are playing it as well.

1:21 Speaker 1: Absolutely With with your music, I mean, do you try to do you try to write things that are are accessible or do you just kind of do what you do and and hope it catches on because it just seems like it seems like these songs are very sort of radio accessible, shall we say, you know, they've got hooks, they've got you know, they pull you in quick. I mean, is that is that the kind of thing you try to write or does that just sort of happen organically?

1:49 Speaker 5: Well, I'll say we don't try and we don't sit down to write Kate for radio. It's just kind of what comes out in the moment. That's fonsaneous singing the practice room when we're writing, yeah, obviously where we go in to the studio work with producer, you know, it gets a bit more like we'll take this bit.

2:08 Speaker 3: Out and we'll make it a bit more radio friendly.

2:11 Speaker 5: That's when that happens in that stage of process rather than when we're actually writing.

2:15 Speaker 4: I think, yeah, the listener as well for some aspects like is that like we like to write a catch up because we enjoy it. But at the same time, it's that you know, if if if it gets catchy, then that's what you want.

2:26 Speaker 2: But you've got to write from the soul as well, you know what I mean. You've got to be truly.

2:29 Speaker 1: Honest in it, right of course, Yeah, that's that's where it starts. Yeah. And then now, so you've got the two singles, is there, what's kind of the long term plan? Do you have more singles in the pipeline or do you plan do you plan to release an EP or an album?

2:44 Speaker 4: We've got more songs and sense at the moments, befair mate, So it's like the planner is is we've got a live session booked in that we're going to do, which will obviously have multiple tracks on the songs that we've not done like that we've not previously done hopefully released of like independently in a slight way that it's not a fully but we'll have like a session from there and then we've got a lot of content you know, video.

3:04 Speaker 2: Wise, to be able to put out everywhere.

3:05 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it's interesting. We live in a time when there's so many different ways to approach that in terms of how you release music. I'm old enough to remember when it was you know you you have a single is the Ghost of Radio six eight weeks before the album, and then the album comes out, and then hopefully, if it all goes well, you'll have more singles from the album. But today there's so many different ways to do it, which is fantastic. And I was looking too, it looks like all of the People, which is the first single that that did pretty well for you, that's or continues to do well for you on on Spotify and then I assume, I mean, I don't know what the numbers are like so far for the whites, but I assume it's already taken off.

3:47 Speaker 4: Yeah, as you have finished. Yeah, it's been a great response. Getting played on sort of national radio is always a great win. It's just about being able to extend out to people who have maybe never heard of us before. So obviously things like this is a big help because you know, we're from like you can put across.

4:02 Speaker 1: The water, that's right. Yeah, absolutely. Now, have you guys been in Have you guys both been been in bands before this? I assume you have. It sounds like you've both you know, got's my experience at this.

4:14 Speaker 3: Yeah, Well me and Evan actually bring our first ever band together back for you kids. Yeah. Yeah, there's so many poor renditions of Beatles tracks where so we started from there and we've been doing it for years now.

4:29 Speaker 1: Oh wow, So having started together so young, there's probably kind of almost an intuition right in terms of collaborating in terms of making music. I would assume that it's very that it's very easy at this point and otherwise, Yeah, after all these years.

4:47 Speaker 4: Natural chemistry which like words, calm't truly explain.

4:50 Speaker 2: It just happens within that moment, which what that's what makes it so special.

4:54 Speaker 5: Same with our drummer Toom as well, that I've been playing in bands with Thom since about thirteen fourteen, so we've got that me and we were playing for that long together. Well we know which we know works together, you know what I mean. So it's just it all falls into place really easily.

5:08 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that's great. That's great. Now, what about the other guys, because there's there's five of you in the band, correct, it's a five piece yeah, pie. Now, now how did the how did the rest of the band come together? Because I assume the two of you were the nucleus in the beginning, right and then and then you brought in other people or how did the band? How did the band become a band?

5:28 Speaker 4: So the main trio originally was me empty and some like we went to high school together kind of thing, and then the likes of Darcy and Adams. So Darcy's younger brother, Zaki is one of our best mates. He's the same mate, so gast And ended up joining and then Adam was in other bands as well, like we'll they were both in other bands, and then we kind of just like they collided together for a band called Riverstone, and then after that I then joined the band.

5:52 Speaker 2: It's like a sort of new alias of skout kind of thing. And then like the rebirth of the sort of the band.

5:57 Speaker 4: So these were going for a good couple of years before as well with a separate band who were unreal like you know what I mean.

6:03 Speaker 2: It was over the past few years really, but.

6:07 Speaker 1: It sounds like this project again because it hasn't been around for too too long. So it sounds like it came together pretty quickly, right once you had all the Once you had all the pieces of the puzzle together, it really gelled fast.

6:18 Speaker 4: Well, yeah, we were all friends previously as well, So I think when your friends were something like you know, you can go out for a drink with them.

6:23 Speaker 2: And you can go spend time with him. You kind of know them then. So it makes life in the practice room a lot easier at.

6:29 Speaker 4: The same time harder when you know what I mean, someone's had a worse day than other. But that's that's the beauty of it, Like you know what I mean, you have to have that sort of piece.

6:36 Speaker 3: We all are.

6:36 Speaker 5: We're all really cloks made and we are row brothers, and I think that's same. I think if you could, if you saw his live, it shows outside the band as well. You know, it shows out We really jelled to everyone we're playing live. Because you can spot bands a mile away when they play. Ay, you can sell to just a group of people who.

6:55 Speaker 3: Meet up in a room every now and then go play a gig.

6:57 Speaker 5: You know, there's no there's no like brotherly chemistry to it. Whereas we did, we have that you know what I mean.

7:04 Speaker 1: Yeah, that makes such a huge difference. I just know from my own experience playing in bands, when you actually have a genuine friendship with the people you're in the band with it, it makes all the difference in the world. You know, you could have you could have great songs and great everything, right, but if you're not, if you're not friends, it's not gonna last, you know. So that's that's really good. And then now I read something too about you guys. Are are you guys doing this independently or are you actually you're because I see something here about Snowdonia Records.

7:33 Speaker 1: Are you signed to a label?

7:35 Speaker 2: Oh?

7:36 Speaker 4: So there's a long story on that behind that one that was like a previous thing.

7:39 Speaker 2: We're not working with people of like Noisy Neighbors. We believe in Roadhouse.

7:43 Speaker 4: Okay, so the Noisy Neighbors and we believe in a few other partners have joined together to create this Roadhouse and it's like they sort of have like sort of yeah, a few bands on the roster, like and then you're sort of all around the country. So it's like a new it's a new leaf for us kind of thing, a chance to be able to sort of take over cities like Liverpool, which is like our closest one in Manchester as well. Quite lucky to be Winsford because we are like a sandwich between two of the greatest musical cities this earth ever had, you know what I mean, And we have like a beautiful combination of the pair of them, and that's sort of predominantly where our sounds come from, you know what I mean.

8:19 Speaker 2: It's it's all very British based sort of.

8:23 Speaker 1: Now when you talk about the two cities. So for for our American listeners, we're in Manchester, but we're in Manchester, New Hampshire in the US of course. So when you talk about the two cities, what two cities are you speaking of specifically, if everyone's clear, Manchester and Liverpool.

8:40 Speaker 4: Yeah, so we've got like a Manchester over here, which is a big northern city.

8:44 Speaker 2: You obviously got bands like Oasis, the Stone Roses, and then.

8:46 Speaker 4: Liverpool is obviously the birthplace with the Beatles and many other great bands at the real.

8:50 Speaker 2: People as UTAs you know what I mean.

8:52 Speaker 4: Yeah, the Lares, Yeah, yeah, of our biggest you know what I mean, it's like they are the coolest. There's a cool scene that's always been going around here for many years, and especially within our little town of Winsford, Like we've had we've had a couple of venues where we've had like bands coming through and that's what sort of influenced those from being so young, is just being introduced to the cool side of music and just the realness of being like true to your craft, being honest about what you say, being like full focused into the music, and just like it's it's it's a feeling that not many people can truly appreciate because you've never grown up around it, you know.

9:23 Speaker 2: What I mean?

9:24 Speaker 1: Right, right, So, geographically, you're in a great place in terms of yeah.

9:30 Speaker 2: In the heart of the country, you know what I mean.

9:32 Speaker 1: Yeah, No, that's fantastic. Yeah, And I mean, is there I don't know if this is a strange question, but I'll ask it. Is there any kind of pressure that comes with that in terms of where you are geographically? Is there like a pressure to be really good because you know, there is so much great those two cities, Like you said this, you know, in terms of the musical output from those those cities, I mean, is there a pressure that comes with that being kind of sandwiched but between them. Like you, you have to be great in order to in order for people to take you seriously.

10:04 Speaker 1: You can't just be good. You've got to be really, really good.

10:08 Speaker 3: I don't know.

10:09 Speaker 5: I don't think we do you feel any pressures to be honest, I mean, yeah, the bands that we've grown up listening to for our Northwest of England, you know, we are inspired by them, but there's a lot of good young bands around at a minute. The all fit Insight scenes and you know, scenes of Liverpool, scenes in Manchester.

10:23 Speaker 3: But we're not concerned anybody else but ourselves.

10:27 Speaker 5: If we don't want to be, you know, put ourselves into a box of sounds a certain way to fit into a certain scene.

10:32 Speaker 3: We just want to do our thing and that's all we're bothered about.

10:34 Speaker 1: Yeah, no, that makes sense. I think that's a healthy way to approach it, right, just you know, don't you know, Rather than worrying about what everyone else is doing, worry about what you're doing and doing it the best that you can. And obviously you guys are off to a fantastic start, so you're you've clearly got the right attitude and the right approach. I'm curious about what you guys have learned? You probably, I mean, you can tell the story if you want to. I'd love to hear it, but I don't know if you want to get into that.

10:59 Speaker 1: But but you men, there's there's a bit of a story with your previous label. But I'll ask the question this way, just more broadly, what have you guys in the short time that you guys have been together as a band? What have you learned business wise, industry wise? And and maybe even have there been some surprises along the way, because it sounds like you've already been through some things and now you're on a very positive path. But it sounds like you you might have hit a speed bump or two. I don't know if they call them speed bumps in the UK, but oh, there's always.

11:28 Speaker 2: Speed bumps in the road. There's always pathways that you can lead down.

11:30 Speaker 4: And the yeah, promise and did like at the end of the day, like when we did it, it did the little we had things that worked well. It was just a differences of like sort of models and understandings and things, and like you have to stay true to your word and stay true to what you believe in when you do stuff like this, so if you're mixing with people who don't quite have that same thing, and then you witness people for like kind of who they truly are at times, and.

11:54 Speaker 5: I think I think a lot of our speed bumps has come down to him lack of.

11:59 Speaker 3: Knowledge of the industy.

12:00 Speaker 5: M being back beyond in the ears in that regard, not in regards to music, but in regard to the industry. But we've got a good team working behind us now and it's looking pretty good for the future.

12:10 Speaker 3: But I think next year is going to be a good year for us.

12:12 Speaker 4: And there's a lot of people in the pipelines as well and on the underground of an underlayer, like people within the industry and very respective people within the industry who have.

12:20 Speaker 2: Like obviously like close to us.

12:22 Speaker 4: You will also give us a help and add along the way you I mean, you can advise you and tell you how it truly is from an aspect where we may not understand, but from a viewpoint of people who are probably working class like us growing up and then had to deal with this sort of big industry where there's a lot of money and there's a lot of pressure and a lot of power. But we don't feel no pressure currently, like so it's one of them. You just have to wing getting to see how you get on dot.

12:46 Speaker 1: No, that's great. I think you've got the right approach. And and it's so important too to have a good team around you and to have people that you can trust, because yeah, you know, there's a lot of you know, there's there's there's a lot of people in the industy who maybe are not trustworthy. Of course it's the entertainment industry. There's also some people who you know, maybe they mean well, but they don't maybe quite quite have you know, as you said, the knowledge, yeah, to be really helpful and to and to support you.

13:16 Speaker 1: And uh so it sounds like, yeah, it sounds like you've got a great team and it sounds like too, so there's it sounds like there's also other bands that you I mean, do you play out Are there certain bands that you guys share the stage with a lot or what what is the live situation there? Are you? Are you playing a lot of shows? Have you been doing festivals this summer? Like, what's what's the touring situation over there?

13:36 Speaker 4: It's been sill early days, Like we've had a few obviously at the least party for our second single, like we did the Whites and that was a good night. We had like qualms in our Matland support. And we have a regular sort of Scottish band that we play with called ocean Views. It's like we met them playing a festival on like the Island but which is like a little Scottish island a few years ago.

13:56 Speaker 2: Yeah, and we do it. We do like a so we like a venue up in where we're from.

14:01 Speaker 4: At Winston called the Delamey Dog, and then we do like a thing called Stalloween, which is like a big Halloween party.

14:07 Speaker 2: We do a big gig obviously, everyone dresses up and like that.

14:10 Speaker 4: Like ocean Views are like a traditional character and an integral part of that with us, you know what I mean.

14:16 Speaker 1: Oh, that's very cool, and that's so important to getting to play festivals because uh, not only does it give you an opportunity to be in front of an audience who might not some of who might not be aware of you, but also the networking opportunities and you know involved in those types of situations are unparalleled. You know, you'll you'll never get a better chance than when you're at a festival to really meet a lot of people, meet other bands, meet other people in the industry. That's great.

14:41 Speaker 5: Well, networking is just as a supporting this music in talking to people and getting people on board of what you're doing and you know, creating a buzz around yourself speaking to people at gigs and just generally being friendly and talking to people and checking out their bonds rather than being like arrogant and thinking, yeah, we're rock and roll, may we don't need to speak to people and kill you know, it's that way.

15:08 Speaker 3: I think that works against you a lot of the time these days.

15:10 Speaker 5: So it's good to you know, show your face and speak to people, like saying networking and.

15:14 Speaker 3: Just be real, you know what I mean.

15:15 Speaker 2: Like it's that we do it because we love it, you know what I mean.

15:18 Speaker 4: You see, you can say you can you can sell a black artist from a mile away, you can tell a fake, you know what I mean. It's like, if you do it, you do it because you love it and you want to be able to do it and you want to have that passion.

15:27 Speaker 2: And then when you meet like minded people like that, then that natural connection and chemistry just works, you know what I mean.

15:33 Speaker 3: That's what it's about.

15:33 Speaker 5: Those natural connection. That's what music is. It speaks for the soul, doesn't it. You know, it's a universal language.

15:39 Speaker 3: Music is when you find up, then you know it's good, isn't it? Yeah?

15:44 Speaker 2: One?

15:45 Speaker 1: Absolutely? Hey. By the way, what's the correct way to pronounce your name? Is it?

15:49 Speaker 3: Is?

15:49 Speaker 1: It? Is it skall? I was saying skall? Is that correct? Or? Am I awful little bit?

15:54 Speaker 3: So?

15:54 Speaker 4: I think I think with the American accent, maybe skull, but we see scalped so it's like it's like, so they a lingo like, which is if you were a scaley.

16:03 Speaker 2: I'm trying to think of.

16:03 Speaker 4: What the counterpoint would be for that. But at the same time, it's Swedish for reason, cause and motive.

16:11 Speaker 3: That's what the music. That's why we do it music.

16:16 Speaker 1: Oh I like that. That's that's cool. Okay, So so technically, okay, so I am off a little bit. So scal is that closer?

16:23 Speaker 3: Yeah?

16:24 Speaker 2: Yeah, ill you know what I mean?

16:26 Speaker 4: But we can't we can't say that if we have to drop the two lots, but we will put it.

16:31 Speaker 1: Scal Yeah, scal Okay, Okay, good, I'm glad I asked. I wasn't I wasn't one hundred percent sure. Do you ever see it? Do people ever get it wrong? Like on on poster? Is there anything do they do they leave out? Because uh, because of the way the A is. Do people ever mess that up?

16:49 Speaker 2: Okay, well we're not too fuss like you know what I mean that like, it's yeah, it's one of them.

16:56 Speaker 4: If anything, the correct way to spell the way we say it would be without it. But when you do some fans and you have them two dots at the top, it looks pretty funky.

17:03 Speaker 5: Yeah, if you don't know us and they don't know how to save the name properly. After we've watched us live, the definitely all are.

17:09 Speaker 1: Outstanding. Outstanding. Well, now, so what's next for you guys? So, uh, you know you've got the two singles out, what's what's the next thing that we should be looking for from you?

17:19 Speaker 3: Thank you?

17:20 Speaker 5: We've got this live studio session thing that we're going to be doing. Okay this year, hopefully get back in the studio, get.

17:26 Speaker 3: Another single in the pipeline.

17:28 Speaker 5: But at the moment, it's preparing for next year. Hopefully it's going to be a really good year for us.

17:34 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, outstanding. No, we look forward to uh, we look forward to keeping track of everything that you do. Which, by the way, my other question about that, where is the best place for people to go online to keep up with everything that you guys are doing.

17:47 Speaker 2: Instagram's always good. We need to get to the modern world and develop a TikTok, you know what I mean.

17:52 Speaker 4: We've got an account too much any streaming services, but the best one for now once we do this live session was make sure to keep an eye out on SoundCloud. Okay, the sound it's the really true underground sort of music.

18:05 Speaker 2: Like you know what I mean.

18:06 Speaker 4: I've seen the recently did something where they're like helping some like certain artists to release records and singles and stuff. So they're doing something that's helping out with the industry. And yeah, there'll certainly be a few bits and bobs on there, but the Instagram, TikTok and the SoundCloud, and obviously you know what I mean, you can Spotify Spotify.

18:23 Speaker 1: Yeah, outstanding, outstanding Well, Evan and Jack. I want to thank both of you so much for joining us today. And in a moment we're going to play this track all of the People, which is the first single. Anything we should know about this track this is another really great song, and anything we should know about it or what it's about or anything.

18:40 Speaker 4: Well, we wrote both of these songs at the same time, about sixty seventeen, and they were all just kind of about that age where you're sort of like so in Swear about You Manchester, New.

18:49 Speaker 1: Hampshire, Manchester, New I'm sure, yeah.

18:53 Speaker 2: So is is it's kind of it's legal over there?

18:57 Speaker 1: What say that again?

18:59 Speaker 2: Is the is like the album Mary Jane legalong with that?

19:02 Speaker 1: Oh oh well, oh well, well, okay, interesting interesting, uh interesting question because so, uh no, in in the state of New Hampshire. Now we're surrounded by places where it's legal, all the surrounding states and Canada, which borders us to our north, it is legal in New Hampshire. We have d CREM decriminalization. So uh oh yeah, so we have that. It's sort of like a like a light legalization in a sense we're medical.

19:30 Speaker 2: It's very frowned upon.

19:31 Speaker 4: But yeah, for a period it was just a pound of like writing song as well, when you were just sort of like looking around at people who just sort of maybe seem like didn't want you're there.

19:38 Speaker 2: You felt like you were.

19:39 Speaker 4: Sort of like trying to understand the grass of the roughness of life and the underground thing that obviously can be taboo to a lot of people.

19:46 Speaker 2: You know what I mean?

19:47 Speaker 4: Sure, but right and like making sense of it before we truly understood it.

19:51 Speaker 1: If you get what I mean, I do, I do. And by the way, uh, most, according Topoling, most Americans seem to think that it should be fully legal here. Uh, we just happen to live in a state that's a little behind on that, one of.

20:04 Speaker 2: The few that's a little behind on it because the majority of the country is already there.

20:08 Speaker 1: That's true, a majority of the country is already there.

20:10 Speaker 4: So but uh yeah, those people it doesn't make you like alcohols rouse you up?

20:16 Speaker 1: Oh yeah alcohol alcohol is state makes so much money off of alcohol. Oh yeah, that they love. It's totally twisted. Oh yeah, we have state liquor stores on the whole deal. So yeah, yeah, it's it's it's uh, there's a lot of there's a lot of things over here that were a little uh out of whack. But uh anyway, well guys again, Evan and Jack, thank you both so much. We're gonna hit this track and we'll let you go for now. But we will uh. We'll definitely talk again in the near future because we want to.

20:46 Speaker 1: We're fans and we want to keep track of everything that you're doing. So we appreciate you joining us today for.

20:53 Speaker 3: Appreciate it absolutely.

20:55 Speaker 1: Okay, thanks guys, Stake care. Listen to them all right, I was listen to them all day. Yeah. So that's Jack and Evan from the band SCAL. I was pronouncing it a little bit off, but we're gonna hit this track. This is called all of the People. This is uh, this is such a great song. Later in the show we'll probably play the Whites again to the newest single, but give this a spin. This is really good. All of the People. The band is Scal