Meet Live Skull

Back without missing a darn beat it’s the very magical, very wonderful very full of life, no-wave punk band of your dreams. It’s LIVE SKULL! Since 1982 these wonderful people have been kicking out the jams and turning conventional music on its ear. Fortune was on our side and we were able to grab a few words with Live Skull.

Down below we chat with frontman Mark C., and touch on all manners of important gossip. We hit on sweaty hugs, the past and future of rock music, and ghosts! Make sure to peep their new album Saturday Night Massacre releasing on Bronson Recordings.

SPECIAL SPRING CLOTHING SALE A Mad Lib by, Live Skull

JENNIFER has announced that their MYSTICAL clothing store in the heart of downtown PROVIDENCE is having a FIERY sale of all merchandise, including OPULENT suits and slightly irregular BEATLE BOOTS. Men's cable-knit WINGS, only $15.99. Hand-woven Italian SPIDERS, half-price. Double-breasted cashmere DESTINATIONS, $50.00. Genuine imported AMBER ABSOLUTE shoes, WILD handkerchiefs, and women's embroidered ILLUMINATIONS, all at rock-bottom prices. This is a chance to get some really IMPERIAL bargains!

Would You Rather

be hugged by a very sweaty person for too long, or ride an elevator with someone who is farting a lot? Why?

The former, I have a strong sense of smell and the elevator ride sounds claustrophobic.

Some Questions with Live Skull

What was the last book you read? Did you like it?

Upstream by Mary Oliver.  Yes, I enjoyed it. I read it on tour with Live Skull; a book of collected essays that inspired thought and contemplation, while endless miles of scenery passed by the van window. The poet gives an acute explanation of what it takes to be an artist and offers an intimate description of nature's role in inspiring and sustaining a meaningful life.

What is your take on the current NYC music scene? Has a lot changed?

As far as rock, I'm excited to see a new generation of live bands exploring post punk and noise rock. I love how they embrace chaos and dissonance and get so animated on stage; and play everything live, without samples or backing tracks.  And there continues to be a healthy electronic music scene; that has evolved into many different tribes. Which points to the biggest change in the scene here; as the energy shifted from Manhattan to Brooklyn, the scene become more segmented, physically and sonically. Fans and musicians often live far apart and go out to hear specific genres, they don't interface as much with other types of music or bands and it can be daunting, traveling from borough to borough especially late at night and on weekends. Back in the day punks into all kinds of music lived and played near each other -downtown Manhattan mainly. They hung out at the same clubs that were usually walking distance from one another. It created more of an organic community. You could have club and dance music upstairs while a punk band wailed away downstairs. Also Punk, post-punk, hip-hop, club music, were all in their early stages of development; which lent the scene a fresh excitement and an inherent connection. I think generally, fans and musicians had more of a visceral, immediate take on things. Everyone in the 80's wanted to go out, be a part of the live scene, often without knowing exactly what to expect on a given night or at a given show. We were seeking adventure, go ahead turn us on to  new sounds! The club scene was our space to connect. Just take a chance and go out, we didn't get to preview it first online.

If you could give yourself from ten years ago any advice what would it be?

Get active in politics and work on getting people to vote and politicians to address the climate emergency! And get involved to stop the endless hi-end reconfiguring of our neighborhoods.

Do you think NYC is haunted?

How could it not be, with all the hyper animated souls from all over the world, who have lived, struggled and died here? I live in a pre-civil war building, at one time, Charlie Mingus lived next door (until he was evicted for among other things firing a gun into the wall), Amari Baraka -friends with Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsburg- lived down the street near the original Five Spot; Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Frank, Diane Arbus lived and worked a few blocks away (Diane took a lot of her creepiest, most provocative photos right here in Washington Sq Park), Jean Michel Basquiat’s Studio was right down the block; that's a lot of psychic energy / history emanating from just one small neighborhood in the 5 borrows! The whole Velvet Underground / Andy Warhol Factory scene, Jimi Hendrix, all the jazz greats whipping audiences into a frenzy in the West Village. Not to mention the centuries of crime and underworld dealings that continue to underpin the city! There's got to be some restive ghosts creeping around.      

When Senator Elizabeth Warren spoke in Washington Sq Park this fall she recounted the infamous Triangle Waist Company fire at Greene Street and Washington Place in 1911 that killed 146 garment workers most of them young girls, trapped on the top three floors of a 10-story building. There are some loaded memories floating around at least in this neighborhood; that can get stirred up on the darkest nights, like the debris swirling around Great Jones Alley. The city must be crowded with wandering, lost souls.

What does your family think about your music?

Well, while my parents were still around it was a tuff sell for my mother who loved opera and traditional Greek music. But my sisters and brother have always been very supportive. My brother John once toured with Live Skull in Europe, and took many of our press photos, back in the day.

When you’re breaking down equipment after a gig, do you meticulously pack or just dump it all together?

I am fairly meticulous, to avoid losing things, especially when on the road. Also, I find it a methodical way to ease down from the "high" of performing.

Who would you love to have cover one of your original songs?

Well early on, John Zorn did a live cover of a Live Skull song that was kind of cool, I think it was Back In the Earth. It would be interesting to hear Radiohead or better still Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine) do an ecstatic, beefed-up, orchestrated version of one of the Live Skull songs, and Flying Lotus could tear it all down with a funkified deconstruction of an o13 (my electronic music project) track. Or vice versa!

What do you think Rock music will be like in 50 years?

Rock seems to continually cycle back thru it's roots, by then we should be back at the beginning again with Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Robert Johnson. Unless of course the future gets really psychedelic; in which case Jimi Hendrix and Tangerine Dream or Aphex Twin will be the order of the day, as far as influences. But I doubt the best rock music will be automated or the by-product of A.I.; kids are too cool to be duped by the powers that be, and it's so much more fun to jump around on stage while playing the instruments yourself!

How do you stay creatively inspired? 

That's one problem I've managed to avoid since I left college. While I was still in schooI -after initial inspiration from some exciting mentors, like photographers Harry Callahan, and Ray K. Metzker and the poet Michael S. Harper - I started to get blocked; too many years in a classroom. I need to see the world! As soon as I headed out on a road trip to California, I started to find my artistic self again and by the time I settled in San Francisco, I was taking photos,  getting actively involved in the vibrant Punk rock art and music scene, making flyers for bands and learning how to start a band. Then in 1980, I moved to New York and involved myself with the exploding downtown art and music scene; which provided a similar energy wave, that I've been riding pretty much non-stop ever since. One thing for me is to just keep working, because it is in the focused act of creating that I find the most inspiration, the biggest reward; even when the work doesn't immediately pan out, it can lead to a new discovery, get me back in the creative groove. Like many artists I know, it's therapy and I can get a little lost without it. Feeling uninspired? Get involved, go out and see a show, meet other artists, stay busy.

Do you see the same innovation in today's music climate as you did in the formative years of your band?

Yes, definitely, an exciting new movement in improvisation -outside of jazz- has blossomed; and a major expansion of the parameters in the electronic and rap scenes has taken place, with the likes of Flying Lotus, Aphex Twin, Thom Yorke, Kendrick Lamar and Frank Ocean. But it's just not as focused in the underground scene like it used to be, and not so localized. Back in the day you could listen to NYC bands to get a taste of the latest major innovations in dance, funk, post-punk, hip hop ect. Local bands with a sound that resonated across the country and around the world.  And you could stay downtown and see these acts live; from Madonna to the Beastie Boys to Africa Bambattaa to Glen Branca, and all the downtown experimental noise bands.

Do you think your music could be played to a first grade classroom? What do you think their reaction would be?

I'm hoping it's a bit more sophisticated than that! But I believe that the raw energy in the some of the tracks could tease kids away from their screens and get them up and jumping around!

Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)

I’m really excited about the new Live Skull record, Saturday Night Massacre, released in November on Bronson Recordings (https://liveskull.bandcamp.com/). I recorded the album at Deepsea, my recording studio in Hoboken; the basic tracks were performed by me (vocals, guitar and synths), Rich Hutchins (percussion) and Kent Heine (bass); we later enlisted the participation of former members Marnie Jaffe (vocals) and Thalia Zedek (vocals, harmonica). It has all the makings of a classic Live Skull album, updated for the Trump era with a keener sense of protest! You can catch the new line up -with our newest member, Dave Hollinghurst (guitar, vocals)- live at a club near you. We have always been known best for our unrestrained live performances. And keep an eye out for o13’s new album The Wild Child Takes Charge, soon to be released (@o13official).