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 d...

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