As I type this, The Skins are somewhere at a Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills California, living the life of rock band on the verge of stardom. In an unjustifiable and weird way, there is a part of me that feels I should be there with them. At one point, The Skins felt like my own little rock band secret. The first time I saw them play live was in a venue that probably held no more than 50 people. The fan in me wanted to be the be first to introduce them to whoever was unfamiliar with their talents; while the A&R in me wanted to sign them right there on the spot. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to do either. So, when they told me music mogul Rick Rubin had signed The Skins to his record label, my emotions were a mix of happiness and disappointment. Happy because I can’t think of any other person outside of Rick that can lead this band to rock supremacy.
Disappointed because there is nothing more rewarding in the music business than working with artist that are transcending, visually stimulating, and simply out-of-this-world talented. By itself, the artistic ingenuity of The Skins might be enough to lock them into the advancement of music over the next 10-15 years. In other words, The Skins have a lot of room to grow. The 5 band members all come from Brooklyn. Three of them are siblings (Bayli, Reef, and Kaya Mckeithan). The other 2 members (Daisy Spencer and Russell Chell) are close friends that play the roles of guitarists. Years from now, I can see The Skins embarking on everything from solo careers to producing and writing material for other artist.
Ultimately, the end result is bitter sweet. Not having the opportunity to be apart of the band’s creative journey sucks. But being able to proclaim victory as my beliefs about The Skins come to fruition is enough for me. Oh yeah, and being able to say “told ya so” is pretty cool too. Check out music from The Skins below…
