08
Jun
2004
Eric Sanko knows all about new beginnings. When the seasoned bassist and vocalist brings his "junk" rock group Skeleton Key to the Brew & View on Tuesday, he'll be embarking on yet another one.
After a decade of playing with John Lurie's famous avant-garde jazz/rock band Lounge Lizards, Sanko formed Skeleton Key in 1994. The group is a rock outfit, but with plenty of twists. For one thing, the band features a "junk" player - a percussionist who works on a kit that includes items such as propane tanks, pots, and pans - in addition to a regular drummer.
That extra layer of noise adds an industrial texture to already dynamic songwriting that mixes a genre-hopping aesthetic dominated by hard rock with the otherworldly feel of Tom Waits or Captain Beefheart.
Although that isn't exactly a formula for commercial success, Skeleton Key was signed to Capitol after a bidding war and released Fantastic Spikes Through Balloon in 1997. The record was nominated for a Grammy for ... errr ... packaging.
And that was just the start. A leadership change at the record label - the president was replaced by an accountant, Sanko said - led to the band getting dropped and dumped into legal limbo. "We were paralyzed for a year," Sanko told the River Cities' Reader. "We couldn't do anything as Skeleton Key."
Another new beginning. After a five-year hiatus and some lineup changes, Skeleton Key re-emerged in 2002 with Obtanium on Mike Patton's Ipecac label. It's no wonder that the former Faith No More vocalist was attracted to Sanko's band: Like Patton's many groups, Skeleton Key uses a continually surprising attack to invite the audience to listen more closely, and the singer sounds a little like a better-adjusted Patton. (The resemblance is most clear on Obtanium's "Panic Bullets.")
Now two years later, after a "mutual moving-on" between the band and Ipecac, Skeleton Key is back with another new lineup, a half-finished new record, and - for the time being - no label.
Sanko is joined in Skeleton Key's current incarnation by "garbage" player Benjamin Clapp, drummer Sean Sankey, and guitarist Craig LeBlang. (The two percussion players only joined in February.) The bandleader said the group has recorded a new album but hasn't mixed it and is looking for a label with a little more ambition and resources than Ipecac. "We'd like to reach a little broader audience," Sanko said. He added that he's targeting a smaller major label, such as Island, or a bigger indie imprint, such as V2.
Sanko - whose résumé also includes work with John Cale, Yoko Ono, and Jim Carroll, and who counts composer Danny Elfman as a friend - admitted that it might sound odd for a band that combines a novelty sound with impeccably hip, avant-garde credentials to be searching for commercial success. But "we never really claimed to be any sort of 'art' band," he said. "We're all guys who love rock music."
While there has been a lot of turnover in Skeleton Key, the group isn't Sanko & Company, its leader insisted. This group of musicians is more cohesive than previous versions of the band. "It was so democratic that it was hard to get anything accomplished," Sanko said of the original group. "It had to go through everybody's filters." Now, "we're much more unified in our thinking," and "much more solidly rhythmic."
While Skeleton Key is still essentially Skeleton Key, the band has become more adventurous. Original guitarist Chris Maxwell eschewed showy musicianship - claiming it was being difficult for the sake of being difficult - but Sanko said that's simply the way he hears things. Maxwell might have called it pretentious, but Sanko calls it ambitious.
Sanko has also started his second solo record - without his bandmates, he favors intimate songs instead of the din of his regular outfit - but Skeleton Key affords him the opportunity "to run this music through the brains and hearts and fingers of other musicians," he said.
Those songs are frequently impressive, pushing the left-field instrumentation and tones of progressive music into driving, catchy, and instantly arresting rock and pop songs. "People who do have the opportunity to see us or hear us love us," Sanko said.
The problem in the 10 years that the group has been around has been offering that access. Capitol gave the group tour support but was never really behind Skeleton Key - signing the band "made them look good," Sanko said - and Ipecac was enthusiastic but didn't have much money to put into promotion or touring. The band is now looking for a label that can provide both, and help Sanko on his mission to get "more Skeleton Key in the world."
Skeleton Key will perform on Tuesday, June 15, at the Brew & View in downtown Rock Island. Meth & Goats and Make Way for the Uno Champion of the World open, and the show starts at 9 p.m. Admission to the all-ages show is $7. For more information on the band, visit (http://www.skeletonkey.org).
That extra layer of noise adds an industrial texture to already dynamic songwriting that mixes a genre-hopping aesthetic dominated by hard rock with the otherworldly feel of Tom Waits or Captain Beefheart.
Although that isn't exactly a formula for commercial success, Skeleton Key was signed to Capitol after a bidding war and released Fantastic Spikes Through Balloon in 1997. The record was nominated for a Grammy for ... errr ... packaging.
And that was just the start. A leadership change at the record label - the president was replaced by an accountant, Sanko said - led to the band getting dropped and dumped into legal limbo. "We were paralyzed for a year," Sanko told the River Cities' Reader. "We couldn't do anything as Skeleton Key."
Another new beginning. After a five-year hiatus and some lineup changes, Skeleton Key re-emerged in 2002 with Obtanium on Mike Patton's Ipecac label. It's no wonder that the former Faith No More vocalist was attracted to Sanko's band: Like Patton's many groups, Skeleton Key uses a continually surprising attack to invite the audience to listen more closely, and the singer sounds a little like a better-adjusted Patton. (The resemblance is most clear on Obtanium's "Panic Bullets.")
Now two years later, after a "mutual moving-on" between the band and Ipecac, Skeleton Key is back with another new lineup, a half-finished new record, and - for the time being - no label.
Sanko is joined in Skeleton Key's current incarnation by "garbage" player Benjamin Clapp, drummer Sean Sankey, and guitarist Craig LeBlang. (The two percussion players only joined in February.) The bandleader said the group has recorded a new album but hasn't mixed it and is looking for a label with a little more ambition and resources than Ipecac. "We'd like to reach a little broader audience," Sanko said. He added that he's targeting a smaller major label, such as Island, or a bigger indie imprint, such as V2.
Sanko - whose résumé also includes work with John Cale, Yoko Ono, and Jim Carroll, and who counts composer Danny Elfman as a friend - admitted that it might sound odd for a band that combines a novelty sound with impeccably hip, avant-garde credentials to be searching for commercial success. But "we never really claimed to be any sort of 'art' band," he said. "We're all guys who love rock music."
While there has been a lot of turnover in Skeleton Key, the group isn't Sanko & Company, its leader insisted. This group of musicians is more cohesive than previous versions of the band. "It was so democratic that it was hard to get anything accomplished," Sanko said of the original group. "It had to go through everybody's filters." Now, "we're much more unified in our thinking," and "much more solidly rhythmic."
While Skeleton Key is still essentially Skeleton Key, the band has become more adventurous. Original guitarist Chris Maxwell eschewed showy musicianship - claiming it was being difficult for the sake of being difficult - but Sanko said that's simply the way he hears things. Maxwell might have called it pretentious, but Sanko calls it ambitious.
Sanko has also started his second solo record - without his bandmates, he favors intimate songs instead of the din of his regular outfit - but Skeleton Key affords him the opportunity "to run this music through the brains and hearts and fingers of other musicians," he said.
Those songs are frequently impressive, pushing the left-field instrumentation and tones of progressive music into driving, catchy, and instantly arresting rock and pop songs. "People who do have the opportunity to see us or hear us love us," Sanko said.
The problem in the 10 years that the group has been around has been offering that access. Capitol gave the group tour support but was never really behind Skeleton Key - signing the band "made them look good," Sanko said - and Ipecac was enthusiastic but didn't have much money to put into promotion or touring. The band is now looking for a label that can provide both, and help Sanko on his mission to get "more Skeleton Key in the world."
Skeleton Key will perform on Tuesday, June 15, at the Brew & View in downtown Rock Island. Meth & Goats and Make Way for the Uno Champion of the World open, and the show starts at 9 p.m. Admission to the all-ages show is $7. For more information on the band, visit (http://www.skeletonkey.org).
