Band Of Skulls On Working With The Producer Who Soundtracked Their Lives

It's been a crazy few years for Southampton indie rockers Band Of Skulls, the trio touring relentlessly to consolidate the traction their atmospheric, bluesy music has been gaining them all over the globe. So when it came time to work on what would become their fourth album, By Default, they were stoked to actually have a surplus of time at their disposal for once.

"We knew we wanted to change up the place we wrote it, so we ended up looking around our hometown and we found a church which we ended up renting for a couple of months," recalls bassist/vocalist Emma Richardson. "We were able to use the big room in that church and it had an awesome sound in there - really great reverb - and we set up all our gear and just went for it. It was a very inspiring time: a new place, new ideas and we had a longer period of writing time that we usually do so we wrote a lot of songs. I think we clocked up to about 100 [songs] by the time we left so it was a very inspiring place to be.

"It was like quick speed-dating, but Gil had a vision and we trusted him and it worked out well."

"Then we worked with a new producer as well - Gil Norton, who we've all been fans of. He's soundtracked our lives pretty much with all the music he's produced, so it was slightly daunting but he's a lovely guy and we got on superbly. He pushed us to the limit while we were recording it so it worked out really well."

Instead of the band chasing the producer of their dreams, Norton - who's worked with Pixies, Foo Fighters and even Violent Soho - actually approached the band.

"We were starting to think about producers and people to work with, and then he actually got in contact with us and wondered if we'd like to work with him, and we were, like, 'Yes, we'd love to meet you and have a chat!'" Richardson marvels. "So we went and met him in London and had a pint, and we got along really well and within two weeks we were in Rockfield [Studios] in Wales recording it. It was like quick speed-dating, but Gil had a vision and we trusted him and it worked out well."

Not being rushed during the recording process also allowed them to embrace their wide collective tastes a bit more.

"Everyone listens to a lot of different styles, and a lot of different genres," Richardson tells. "I guess for this record all of us wanted that to come through a little bit more, and experiment a bit more - there's Latin-American rhythms appearing and even hip hop influences. Just having time to work allows all that to come through a bit more, rather than it just being a bit stilted. I think it's important that all of those colours are a bit more obvious."