A chat with Band of Skulls after a wild Nashville performance

Few British rock bands have carved a transatlantic identity quite like Band of Skulls, the Southampton-born group that improbably broke into the United States mainstream before their own homeland ever knew what hit it. Needless to say, Top Shelf Music was very stoked to have an exclusive interview with the band as they prepared to take the stage at Nashville’s Basement East.

Frontman Russell Marsden stands at a fascinating point in the band’s evolution—one where the definition of ‘band’ itself feels beautifully fluid.

Known for a sound that fuses grit, tenderness, and a certain undefinable ‘British’ madness, Marsden talks about live performance with the philosophy of a jazz player: never play it safe, never play it the same way twice, and always let the song breathe through the moment. It’s an approach that has kept Band of Skulls unpredictable in the best way, resisting the algorithmic sameness he sees creeping into modern music.

In our conversation after the show, Marsden reflects on those early years of being the ‘outsiders’, the strange pride of breaking America first, the pressure of returning home afterward, and the evolving collective of musicians now forming around his songs. What follows is a candid look at a band continually redefining itself and a singer determined to keep the spark alive.

You’re debuting a new rhythm section tonight… and you only met them two days ago? How did that come about?

• MR: Both of them play in a band called Holy Roller Baby. After we made our first couple of records with producer Ian Davenport, one of the next records he made was with Jared. So we’ve got this common link with our producers and like, tastemakers — if you will — and musical styles. So, I heard about them then. And, whenever we’ve come through [Nashville], Jared’s kind of come up and hung out. In fact, we played in June and Jared came to the show and we hung out, but we had no idea that in a couple of months we’d be in the band together!

So they didn’t play with you at the Jet show?

• No, he came to the Jet show.

Who was with you at the Jet show?

• Some other musicians — Mark and Spencer, from the UK.
• I think the biggest thing in this… the band used to be an island; we’re school friends and it was, like, just us. And now, in this era for the band, it feels like a collective of musicians that form around the songs. I think the songs are asking to be played — we can make it happen. So, there’s lots of people that are very kindly giving their talent to the songs — and to me — to make it possible.

Who is the second singer?

• Iona. We’ve been working on the new record together.

Is she in the band?

• At this point, I don’t know if I’m in the band. I just think it doesn’t need that formality. The songs are there and lots of interesting and talented people are in this [project]. I have some friends back in England in a band called Archive and they call themselves a ‘collective’… it sounds kind of weird, but I feel like it’s more like that than a traditional band of school friends. Who knows what direction it will take in it’s next form, you know?
• I know I want to be there and I’m blessed to have great people around me, but they’re only here if they want to be. And it’s exciting. Every time, it’s a little different. [The performance] brings another color and another experience to the songs. It’s kind of interesting to me to watch the songs be interpreted by different musicians.

You did some collabs with a band called Alberta Cross — I didn’t know they were still around! And they describe themselves as a ‘collective’, too.

• Well, it’s kind of similar at this point. And I know Petter [Stakee] and really he gave me some great advice as he found himself being like the ‘custodian’ of the songs. He became the band, you know? And essentially I found myself in the same position. He was like, “yeah, carry on and then form it and it will kind of ebb and flow and be bigger and smaller in the lineups.” And you know, he gave me some great advice, like:

“Don’t give up and just keep singing your songs.” 

• I think anyone that can play music for five years, 10 years, 20 years… I gotta give respect to it. It speaks of the music. He’s one of those people where those songs and his voice is a unique thing; his passion for it is still there. So, yeah, I found myself in new uncharted waters and someone like Petter in Alberta Cross gave me some really great words of advice to be authentic and carry on with what we’re doing.

How did that collab come about?

• We were like ships in the night. We look back and we were on all the same bills in 2012 through Europe and America. I think we were both watching each other, but we never met until we got introduced by the drummer, Mark. We had a hangout and then we’re like, should we do a song? And then we did two and we’re like… right, we had to stop because, otherwise, we’re going to do an album. [We] did a couple of songs together and then I’ve been on a couple of things with him.
• And also I’ve never really sung with another guy. You know, I’m always used to having female collaborators. He’s also about two feet taller than me, so… yeah. But he’s a great, great man.
• I’ve been out in the southwest of England where he lives — out in Bath/Bristol. I call it like the Hollywood Hills of England, but really it’s out near Glastonbury Festival and everyone’s a bit more like… It’s where rock music lives in England a little bit. Outside of London.

And you guys started in London, right?

• Southampton, actually. But it’s about an hour away from London. So, we got the chance to go up there and play those small club shows and stuff. I don’t know what the equivalent is here, but we were like the out-of-towners that came in, played, and caught the late train home.
• And yeah, in a way, I think that sums up the band. Like we were never in the ‘in crowd’ or fashionable. We were the outsider, you know? The outsider ones.

I have to say ‘Sweet Sour’ in 2012 was one of my favorite records of the year — maybe my favorite rock record. It was kind of a shit year for rock, to be honest. There were no riffs… it was all like the ‘stomp-clap’ stuff. So, when your stuff came out, I was like ‘finally, a band with some actual fucking drive and grit to them!’…

• It was an interesting time. We’d had a huge breakthrough in the States with the record before, but, back at home, it didn’t really, I don’t know… People were, like, suspicious of bands that make it in the US.

Was it because you got kind of lumped in with the garage rock stuff?

• No, it’s because we broke here first. People in the UK are kind of, you know, a bit snotty about it. So they didn’t really go with us in the first. Like ‘it’s a fluke’.
• But, when we came back with Sweet Sour and it was still building, they finally had to acknowledge us. When we broke in the US, we were beyond amazed. And we’re like, ‘well, England… Oh, we’re not going to get that. We’re the band that breaks here and isn’t back at home.’ So Sweet Sour was the same here, but it also broke back at home.

• So we were astounded. And then we just couldn’t walk around at home. The issue was we thought we could just do our thing here and go back home and be nobodies. And it turned out that didn’t happen, so yeah… ‘Sweet Sour’. I feel like it’s a very, very British rock record. Second album, you know, the pressure was on. Had to be good.

I’m curious about what inspired the lyrics of “Bruises”… it has this sort of heartache, a tumult of romance. But it’s very impressionistic, too. 

• Totally. I wrote the lyrics mainly about my girlfriend, at the time — wife now. So it’s very sentimental. And breaking through as an artist rips your life upside down; it’s like there’s a moment where you don’t know where you stand and where you are, and you become this thing that you weren’t before. 

“You’re not like this person you were. “

• Everyone’s telling you all these things… it’s easy to lose yourself in it. And a certain moment, that song, or the modern version (because it was an old idea we had from a long time ago… actually, the verse lyrics come from before we were successful), it was really about encouraging lyrics to someone that you love to sort of say “go for it and do well, I believe in you.” 
• And then the chorus, we wrote that later on. That was almost a reaction to how we felt like a kind of gang vocal. We’re a group of people and we’re making it through here; it’s got a cohesion to it. But, you know, songs contain multitudes and that one’s both emotional and heartfelt. We were a small band from the suburbs, in a sense. So “a little trouble in your neighbourhood” is us kind of causing this to happen. That song felt like a moment, in a sense. But the original idea was a love song.

I love the line “an understanding to be understood”… I think everyone’s looking for that.

• I mean, when a lyric comes, it’s really super fortunate, and you feel like everyone says: “Just be open, be tuned in, be a radio, be an antenna, and it will come to you.” 

“Some years, nothing comes. That’s true.”

• But the most amazing thing as a songwriter is when you write a line in 2011 and then here we are, in 2025, and the context of that lyric can change every single year. And if it still hits and still means something or can be interpreted in a certain way, then that’s amazing. 
• I was playing that song tonight and I see couples turning to each other and having some emotional moments. Nothing to do with me, really. Just obviously this song means a lot to them. You know, I get distracted. I’m like, “Oh, shit, I gotta remember the next chord.” Because I’m like, “Wow.” You know, I’ve got songs that mean a lot to me. And to have tunes that you’ve written that obviously affect people is just… forget the numbers. Forget everything else. Forget Spotify, forget, like, all the metrics. We all think about that. If your song connects with somebody and it’s gonna be there for life… I saw it in the front row tonight. I’m like, okay, you know… Get a room. [Laughs]

The song “Love Is All You Love”. I was curious if that song is simply about love or something else. It almost seems to have a bit of a political dimension. Is it about narcissism… sociopathy..?

• I think it’s kind of snarky and some of the songs we have are kind of snarky and I think that one is, for sure. But, I mean, it probably has more resonance now than it did in 2018, when we did it. I think it might be a kind of a comment on just loving the feeling of being loved. 

“The narcissism of just being.”

• The attention or just the gratification of that moment without the meaning. And I think I was just thinking about like… finding the deeper meaning. So it’s me having a kind of diss track about… you know, an internal conversation about getting back to the real stuff. It’s a kind of argument with myself. It’s kind of snotty. But saying that… there’s something soulful about it.
• We cut it here in Nashville at Paul Moak’s Smokestack Studio. And, actually, I feel now that song has a message of love is the only thing you should love. If you love someone, that’s all that really matters. No judgment given.

Regarding the song “Heaven’s Key”, there’s a lyric about the ‘ones and zeros above you’, which seems to imply we’re living technologically these days rather than naturally…?

• I think I was ahead of myself then because, right now, we’re in the doom scrolling era, aren’t we? We are kind of about to fall into the abyss, really of data. Of the algorithm. And I think that was [the message the song is trying to convey]. And, of course, just wanting to keep pure music or heartfelt music going.
• That record was in 2013 or 14… we were just on the precipice of this [tech] era. That if we don’t keep playing this pure music, it will go away. I’m not out there trying to be in some 70s revival band; I just want it to be honest.
• And I keep saying this… at one point, playing this honest music — guitar music — one day will be a bit like being a really fantastic jazz band. I went in 2019 to the Preservation Hall in New Orleans and they played jazz like it should be played — in candlelight, no electricity. At this point, if we’re playing guitar music when it’s not cool, when it’s not trending or it’s not making lots of money, then we are the ones keeping it going.

Do you think rock is the new ‘jazz’ in this era? There was a period when jazz was as revolutionary as electronic music seems to people now. Do you think that rock still has mainstream relevance?

• Everything has a revival, right? I just think, now, it’s the alternative. Like I said before, when we first started, everybody was in a band in England, as well. And when we came over here in 2008, the competition was huge.

“There was so much buzz. It was exciting times.”

• But the noise from this genre… it was a very cool place to be. And now it’s not there. So, there’s only the coolest, most iconic venues left. Only the best bands survive and, really, only the best music survives.
• My ambition is for Band of Skulls to live on and be a touchstone. Great songs and good songs just survive, anyway. It doesn’t really matter just because we play it with a drum set and a guitar. It’s just the delivery, you know?
• Even tonight, we did a song called “Fires”: it used to be like an indie pop song; it was a single, so it was like upbeat and indie. I’ve just been doing it now on a guitar and slowing it down, playing it kind of country, you know? We could do it any old way and the song stands up. So good songs work, bad songs suck, and who cares what genre they are?

Your band isn’t super easy to define. You’re not really retro rock or entirely a garage rock band. Like I said, “Heaven’s Key” almost has a stoner rock vibe to it…

• Well, “Heaven’s Key” interestingly… I just found the demo and we’re doing this retrospective box set. [Originally, the song was meant to be] a rock band doing an electro song, offbeat kind of, really [makes electronic sounds].
• We were trying to genre smash all the time. And we’re trying to make singles all the time. And we had so many single-y singles on that record, the producer, Nick Lonnie, was like, “Heaven’s Key” doesn’t need to do that job. Let’s just let it breathe. He changed the song and made this kind of bizarre, dark, gothic thing. So, yeah. Funny you should mention that song…

I’m sure you get so many lame questions about your influences. But I have to ask… are there certain places or cities or…?

• I’ve had this weird thing… not synesthesia with colors and music, but a kind of geography version — like a pin. When I hear any kind of song, any song I love, I have a place that every tune takes me to. Not the place I was when I heard it, but a place that just sort of sums it up. So, I’m in Nashville… I don’t know what Nashville is, really, but it might be Paul McCartney‘s Ram album, because that’s what we’re playing in 2019 when we were warming up for the tour.

What American cities do you love the most, in terms of how the crowd responds?

• I mean, in the end, it’s like this: London or any capital of culture is really hard to impress. Nashville is on that list. So is Los Angeles, New York, Austin, Texas — big music cities. When you get a genuine reaction from a place which has got every kind of music every single day of the year, that means a lot. 
• But saying that when we go out there to those places that don’t get lots of bands coming through, there’s a real genuine thing there.

“I’ve been fortunate to work really hard, playing up from bars.”

• I’ve played stadiums with some huge bands, too. And so I just do the same show wherever I play. I could be playing in a pickup bar, you know, whatever, somewhere. And also we’ve played, like, the Staples Center, etc.
• Just be yourself. And I get the reactions. Different sizes, but it’s the same reaction.

How long were you playing in bars? 

• Not that long. We had 10 years of trying to make it, then, when we broke through, it got crazy. But there are some bars in the world that are very famous and you’re very honored to be on that stage. And just if I can play the guitar in Austin, Texas, Nashville, Tennessee, New York City, Los Angeles, and I get invited back then… I never dreamt of that when I was a kid. 
• That’s just an honor. I’m very self-conscious playing my guitar in Nashville, I must say. 

It’s all about the vibe …

• It’s the songs that are the most important thing. The songs are there, but the solos aren’t. There’s some bits of them which are like tunes and they’re written, but also I like to leave the guitar solos free. If the audience does something, I’ll react. And that is more like back to the jazz [way] — feel it, play it. Feel it, play it. And then keep that loop going, because it’s just gonna happen. 
• Especially with younger members of the audience, people who are like, “Oh, my God, he’s not playing the right notes. I don’t know what’s going to happen next.” And that is me. If I don’t quite know what’s going to happen next, then that’s super exciting. 
• So it’s not about the genre or the style or the volume or whatever…. What instruments you play. It’s just the fact that we don’t want the algorithm or the AI to make the music. AI can make the next Band of Skulls record, but it would just be what we did before. I just want to make something that is a little bit unpredictable every time. I want to play different every night. If AI predicted what I would do next, they would be wrong. I want to sidestep it because, you know, if something surprises me, I’ll do it. And without that, what’s the point?

You’ve toured with so many huge bands — Jet, QOTSA, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Which band would you say was the most intimidating and/or inspirational?

• Most intimidating… We did Dead Weather and, thankfully, Jack was playing drums. So, I got off the hook on that one. It was actually a very nice tour. 
• And the next one would be Queens of the Stone Age as a band. Turns out, they were the most normal band! And I actually I fell the most in common with Josh. I felt like they were outsiders, as well. They’re not on the scene. So, I love him. That was the most intimidating to open up for.

As Band of Skulls continues to grow, we’re excited to see their next chapter. Cheers to Russell Marsden for the candid chat and make sure you follow the bands socials to stay up-to-date on the latest.

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