It’s been 22 years since Skunk Anansie stormed their way into the charts with their debut smash Paranoid & Sunburnt, and today their politically charged lyrics are just as relevant ever. As they embark on their European tour, Daniel S. Bahrami caught up with Skunk Anansie front-woman, Skin, to a talk about women in music, social media and style evolution.
Hey Skin, would you say you were more political when you first started out?
No, not really. We had the same amount of political songs on each album, it was just the delivery that was different. We’ve never done two albums the same – the first was very rock’n’roll, the second had more slow songs and the third was quite electronic, drum & bass. The genres have changed but the political content has not.
How has politics in music changed since you first started out?
In a lot of ways I feel that the songs we wrote in the 90s are more relevant now than they were back then. In the 90s people were beginning to realize, ‘Oh yeah, these minorities should have the same rights.’ Now, twenty years later, the people in power know what rights should be available but they are actively denying them. For example Trump signing that declaration against abortion rights was basically a direct ‘Fuck You’ towards the Women’s March.
Was it harder for labels to accept political music back then?
Labels don’t care. If a band came along that was incredibly political and at the same time was selling loads of records, the label would jump on it so fast it would make your head spin. Music is all financially driven. Labels don’t really develop acts anymore, they just find what is popular. You get signed on how many Likes and Followers you have. It’s all about popularity.
Social media was not around when you started out. Do you like it?
Well, it gives artists more direct control of their image and much more of a connection with their fans. That can be a good and bad thing, because it also takes away a lot of the mystery which I think is important.
The other thing about social media is that everyone thinks their opinion is important. It really fucking irritates me. Someone wrote on my social media page how they preferred me in the 90s because I was more muscular and I’m like, ‘I don’t care what you think and you’re talking shit.’ Everyone is very quick to have a negative opinion. Why not be supportive? Instead of trolling with negative comments, just unfollow me.
Feminism is a hot topic right now. You, Shirley Manson, Justine Frischmann, Cerys Matthews all stood for feminism in the Brit Pop/Rock era in the 90s. What is feminism in music like for you these days?
A lot of people ask me what I think of women running around in their underwear and then discussing feminism, and I reply that feminism is different now. The current generation are defining what feminism means to them. I just think that women are in control of their sexuality as much as they want to be. You can really tell the difference between empowered women like Rihanna and Beyonce running around in their underwear and the female artists who are just doing it because a label executive is telling them to.
Who do you think stands out as an icon today?
I like Adele. She writes beautiful songs – I especially loved the second album. I like Gaga as a person more than her music. I like her positivity and her support of gay rights.
Speaking of Gaga, you’ve had a bit of a style evolution since the DMs and cargo pants of the 90s. What dod you wear now?
Back then we had no stylist! It was anti-style. It was Nirvana, it was charity shop and it was cool because no one really cared. By the end of the 90s the industry grew more aware of fashion and so did I. Now I love it and it’s a major part of what I do.
These days I’d say I’m more edgy underground fashion. I’m not someone who generally wears big labels, but I think I was one of the first to wear Alexander McQueen in the pop/rock industry before it got really mainstream.
We loved your solo album, Fleshwounds, too. Why did you feel the need to branch out and go solo?
I guess I wanted to try something that was more melodic, more electronic, and more intense. I had a few things going on at the time – a relationship had just ended, which had had a big effect on me. Every song felt like a cut.
And which is your favourite Skunk Anansie album?
Our most recent one, Anarchytecture. It is up there with Post Orgasmic Chill in terms of its inventiveness. I think it’s very melodic. The early stuff is always going to be perceived as your most popular/successful, because albums just don’t sell like they used to. But at the same there are countries we go to now and they only know the new stuff. We go to Poland and play ‘Charlie Big Potato’ – they don’t really know it.
What can we expect from this tour?
We are playing ten new songs as well as songs from the first two albums that we’ve never played before. It will be a nice mix of new, old and classics, so everyone will be happy, regardless of what their favourite era is.
How have lower sales and budgets affected the music industry?
Back then an artist made 3-5 videos to promote an album over the course of several years and that was basically it. With the rise of social media, you have so many new channels to promote your record. We used to make videos for £100-200k now we make videos for around £30k and it forces you to be more creative, which is a good thing. It doesn’t have to be slick and amazing because the public doesn’t necessarily think that is that cool anymore.
I think what is really cool is that any band can do their own thing now without a record label’s influence ‘dirtying’ the idea. When we used to make music videos through the label, the idea would have to go through ten different people and they end up watering it all down.
We are named after the infamous Mariah Carey song. Which Mariah song is your favourite and why?
That’s a good question. I think it’s the first one – was it ‘Vision Of Love’? Yeah that one. It was her first record and also the first record I ever bought by her. But another one of my favourites has to be the Christmas song, ‘All I Want For Christmas.’
Fore more news on Skunk Anansie including Tour Dates see www.skunkanansie.com.
