SKIMM started like many
other bands… A few guys getting together on a Friday night and
making as much noise as possible while drinking as many beers
as each could put down. Three of its members had been long time
friends since childhood. Ike, Kai, and Michel and numerous
different guitarists had a normal jam session every weekend in
the Rhineland Pfalz. They jokingly called themselves the
“Backhouse Band” as a reference to the practice room located in
the backyard of the main house of Kai and Ike whose houses are
both on the same compound. A beginning guitarist, Mike
eventually joined their jam sessions and started to learn how
to play at a pretty rapid pace. Mike and Scott work for the
same company, and Scott invited Mike over to his house to take
guitar lessons. After a few sessions, Mike told Scott that he
should come by and check out his friends that he plays with and
jam with them. Scott accepted this offer and met the rest of
the guys for the first time in January 2011.
After many months of just basically goofing off and having a
good time, the idea was brought up that a band should be
formed. Scott, having had quite a bit of past band experience,
explained to the rest of the band how difficult of a journey
forming a band, performing, and keeping the machine rolling can
be. For those that know, it is not easy to write original
songs, practice often, keep people’s egos in check, and be
successful.
Once it was decided by all
that the challenge was one worth accepting, Scott began to
write some fairly easy songs that would be used to bring the
band together. Even though the songs were basic tunes, they
were well received by the circle of friends and family
associated with the band. The name SKIMM was thought up as the
band’s name, by using the first initial of everybody’s name
(Scott, Kai, Ike, Michel, Mike). Original name, original songs,
and a different sound… A band was formed. Things seemed to be
going well for SKIMM when an illness put the band back a bit.
The drummer Kai had a serious shoulder injury and could not use
his right arm. Other “guest” drummers were brought in, and new
songs were written, but the progress was slow. The healing
process took almost 2 years. Frustrations were high, and Ike
decided to take a break from the band for a few months. Shortly
after his return, another bombshell was dropped… Michel (bass)
was leaving the band to move to Bavaria. Luckily a friend of
the band named Sascha was available to step right in. It took a
few months for him to effectively learn all of the songs, but
he accomplished his goal in a relatively fast manner. SKIMM was
back in business. At this time, it was agreed upon that in
order to move forward, a demo cd would have to be created to
get the music out to the masses. Scott produced, mixed, and
mastered the first ever SKIMM cd, Desert which was released in
the summer of 2015. In April 2016, Kai decided that he no
longer wanted to play in the band. Luckily for the band, one of
their friends Bill said he was willing to step up and sit
behind the kit. Because Bill has a much different style than
Kai does, the sound of SKIMM changed drastically. A more
refined, dynamic and heavier sounding SKIMM emerged in the
later part of 2016. The band is once again actively playing
gigs and will be releasing tracks to the public in 2017. Well
rehearsed, polished and more motivated than ever, SKIMM is
ready to unleash on the world their brand of music. As Scott
puts it, these are all just love songs. Not to be pigeonholed
in a certain genre of music, Scott prefers to call SKIMM by a
new genre:
