Skin Yard
Encyclopedia
Skin Yard was an American rock
band from Seattle, Washington, who were active from 1985 to 1992. The group never gained a mainstream audience, but were an influence on their contemporaries – most notably Soundgarden
, Screaming Trees
, The Melvins
, and Green River
– alongside whom they are considered the early pioneers of the sound that would later be called grunge
.
and Jack Endino
, who were subsequently joined by Ben McMillan and Matt Cameron
. Skin Yard played its first concert in June 1985, opening for the U-Men. In 1986, Skin Yard contributed two songs to the now-legendary Deep Six
compilation. This album, in addition to featuring the first commercial recordings of The Melvins
, Soundgarden
, Malfunkshun
and Skin Yard, was the first to showcase the early grunge sound. That same year, Skin Yard released their self-titled debut album and their first single
, Bleed.
Shortly after these releases, drummer Matt Cameron
left the band to join Soundgarden
, after which the band went through a series of drummers. He was initially replaced by Steve Wied, followed by Greg Gilmore
; however both drummers lasted only two shows. In the fall, Jason Finn
joined, but left after eight months for personal reasons. Scott McCullum filled the vacancy in May 1987 and he remained for two years, during which time the band recorded and released their second album, Hallowed Ground
(1988). However, McCullum left and the band took a fourteen month hiatus after a U.S. tour quoted as being "the tour from hell".
, and their final drummer, Barrett Martin
. In 1991, as grunge was breaking into the mainstream, the band released their fourth album, 1,000 Smiling Knuckles. That same year, original bassist Daniel House
left the band to spend more time with his family. He was replaced by Pat Pedersen, who stayed with the band for the recording of their final album, Inside the Eye
, which featured the single "Undertow". After recording was completed, Skin Yard decided to disband, and the album was released shortly after.
as a side-project, and continued to perform with the band after Skin Yard's demise. By the time Gruntruck disbanded, they had released two albums and one EP. McMillan died from diabetes in 2008.
Pat Pedersen and Barrett Martin
worked with Jack Endino
on his solo album Endino's Earthworm. Endino also released two other solo albums, Angle of Attack and Permanent Fatal Error. Endino has largely switched from working as a performer to working as a music producer. He produced several albums by the grunge bands Soundgarden
(a band including original Skin Yard drummer Matt Cameron) and Mudhoney
; more recently he has produced albums by artists such as Hot Hot Heat
and ZEKE
.
Daniel House
, as owner and president of C/Z Records
, continued to release records until 2001 when he released the Skin Yard rarities album, Start at the Top
.
Barrett Martin
joined Screaming Trees
and drummed on their albums Sweet Oblivion
and Dust
. Screaming Trees went on hiatus and finally broke up in 2000. Martin has also toured with R.E.M.
. During the late 1990s, Martin formed the grunge supergroup
Mad Season
with Alice in Chains
singer Layne Staley
, Pearl Jam
lead guitarist Mike McCready
, and bassist John Baker Saunders
. Mad Season released one album before breaking up in 1999.
Jason Finn
, who was replaced by McCullum in Skin Yard, went on to drum for psychedelic rock
band Love Battery
until 1995 and the post-grunge
band The Presidents of the United States of America
until their breakup in 1998. The Presidents of the United States of America has since reunited, with Finn still drumming on their new album in 2008.
Former members
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band from Seattle, Washington, who were active from 1985 to 1992. The group never gained a mainstream audience, but were an influence on their contemporaries – most notably Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
, Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington in 1985 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the time the band reached its most successful period...
, The Melvins
The Melvins
The Melvins are an American band that formed in 1983. They usually perform as a trio, but in recent years have performed as a four piece with two drummers. Since 1984, singer and guitarist Buzz Osborne and drummer Dale Crover have been the band's constant members...
, and Green River
Green River (band)
Green River was an American rock band from Seattle, Washington that was active from 1984 to 1988. Although the band had little commercial impact outside of its native Seattle, Green River proved to have significant influence on the genre later known as grunge, both with its own music and with the...
– alongside whom they are considered the early pioneers of the sound that would later be called grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
.
Formation and early years (1985-1989)
The band was formed in January 1985 by Daniel HouseDaniel House
Daniel House is a business owner/entrepreneur and musician best known for his contribution to the Seattle “grunge” music movement of the 1980s and ‘90s...
and Jack Endino
Jack Endino
Jack Endino is a producer and musician based in Seattle. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands such as Mudhoney, Soundgarden, and Nirvana...
, who were subsequently joined by Ben McMillan and Matt Cameron
Matt Cameron
Matthew David "Matt" Cameron is an American musician who serves as the drummer for the American rock bands Pearl Jam and Soundgarden...
. Skin Yard played its first concert in June 1985, opening for the U-Men. In 1986, Skin Yard contributed two songs to the now-legendary Deep Six
Deep Six (album)
The Deep Six compilation was released March 1986 . It was the very first release by C/Z Records, a few months before the release of Sub Pop 100 from Sub Pop Records. It was also arguably the second record to influence the later "Seattle sound" that would be known worldwide as grunge...
compilation. This album, in addition to featuring the first commercial recordings of The Melvins
The Melvins
The Melvins are an American band that formed in 1983. They usually perform as a trio, but in recent years have performed as a four piece with two drummers. Since 1984, singer and guitarist Buzz Osborne and drummer Dale Crover have been the band's constant members...
, Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
, Malfunkshun
Malfunkshun
Malfunkshun is a band formed in 1980 by Andrew Wood and his brother Kevin Wood. Malfunkshun, along with Skin Yard, Green River, U-Men, and Melvins are considered the "godfathers" of grunge, with Malfunkshun being the first of those bands to form.-History:...
and Skin Yard, was the first to showcase the early grunge sound. That same year, Skin Yard released their self-titled debut album and their first single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, Bleed.
Shortly after these releases, drummer Matt Cameron
Matt Cameron
Matthew David "Matt" Cameron is an American musician who serves as the drummer for the American rock bands Pearl Jam and Soundgarden...
left the band to join Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
, after which the band went through a series of drummers. He was initially replaced by Steve Wied, followed by Greg Gilmore
Greg Gilmore
Greg Gilmore is a musician in Seattle, Washington, and co-founder of the recording label First World Music. Although born in France, Gilmore grew up in the Seattle area....
; however both drummers lasted only two shows. In the fall, Jason Finn
Jason Finn
Jason Finn may refer to:*Jason Finn , rock drummer for Love Battery and The Presidents of the United States of America*Jason Finn , actor in Freedom Writers...
joined, but left after eight months for personal reasons. Scott McCullum filled the vacancy in May 1987 and he remained for two years, during which time the band recorded and released their second album, Hallowed Ground
Hallowed Ground (Skin Yard album)
Hallowed Ground is a 1988 album by grunge rock band, Skin Yard.-Track listing:# "Stranger" - 3:36# "Open Fist" - 3:58...
(1988). However, McCullum left and the band took a fourteen month hiatus after a U.S. tour quoted as being "the tour from hell".
Later years and breakup (1990-1993)
Skin Yard returned in 1990 with their third album, Fist Sized ChunksFist Sized Chunks
Fist Sized Chunks is the third album by the grunge group Skin Yard. It was released in the spring of 1990 .-Track listing:# "Slow Runner"# "Go to Sleep"# "No Control"# "Through Nothing"# "Hungry and Hanging"# "Ritual Room"...
, and their final drummer, Barrett Martin
Barrett Martin
Barrett Martin , is an American drummer, upright bassist, composer, producer, writer, and Zen artist. He was the drummer for the Seattle, Washington groups Skin Yard and Screaming Trees, as well as the supergroups Mad Season and Tuatara...
. In 1991, as grunge was breaking into the mainstream, the band released their fourth album, 1,000 Smiling Knuckles. That same year, original bassist Daniel House
Daniel House
Daniel House is a business owner/entrepreneur and musician best known for his contribution to the Seattle “grunge” music movement of the 1980s and ‘90s...
left the band to spend more time with his family. He was replaced by Pat Pedersen, who stayed with the band for the recording of their final album, Inside the Eye
Inside the Eye
Inside the Eye is the last album released by Skin Yard in 1993.-Track listing:# "Inside the Eye" - 3:22# "Miss You" - 2:47# "Not in Love" - 3:44...
, which featured the single "Undertow". After recording was completed, Skin Yard decided to disband, and the album was released shortly after.
Post-breakup
Prior to the breakup, Ben McMillan and Scott McCullum had started the band GruntruckGruntruck
Gruntruck was a grunge band formed in 1989 in Seattle, Washington by Ben McMillan and Scott McCullum, both previously from Skin Yard. Tommy Niemeyer from The Accüsed and Tim Paul, previously of Napalm Beach and Final Warning, rounded out the initial, classic line-up...
as a side-project, and continued to perform with the band after Skin Yard's demise. By the time Gruntruck disbanded, they had released two albums and one EP. McMillan died from diabetes in 2008.
Pat Pedersen and Barrett Martin
Barrett Martin
Barrett Martin , is an American drummer, upright bassist, composer, producer, writer, and Zen artist. He was the drummer for the Seattle, Washington groups Skin Yard and Screaming Trees, as well as the supergroups Mad Season and Tuatara...
worked with Jack Endino
Jack Endino
Jack Endino is a producer and musician based in Seattle. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands such as Mudhoney, Soundgarden, and Nirvana...
on his solo album Endino's Earthworm. Endino also released two other solo albums, Angle of Attack and Permanent Fatal Error. Endino has largely switched from working as a performer to working as a music producer. He produced several albums by the grunge bands Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
(a band including original Skin Yard drummer Matt Cameron) and Mudhoney
Mudhoney
Mudhoney is an American alternative rock band. Formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988 following the demise of Green River, Mudhoney's members are vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison, and drummer Dan Peters. Original bassist Matt Lukin left the...
; more recently he has produced albums by artists such as Hot Hot Heat
Hot Hot Heat
Hot Hot Heat is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 1999 from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.-Career:Dustin Hawthorne and Steve Bays had been in many different bands together since 1995 and met Hawley in 1998. In 1999, Hawley bought a Juno 6 keyboard and asked Bays to try playing it, as no one...
and ZEKE
Zeke (band)
Zeke is an American hardcore punk band from Seattle, Washington formed in 1993. They are known for their extremely fast, energetic guitar sound. Zeke mixes this with strong influences from hard rock, and occasionally blues-rock, and are often compared to Motörhead.Zeke has released six full-length...
.
Daniel House
Daniel House
Daniel House is a business owner/entrepreneur and musician best known for his contribution to the Seattle “grunge” music movement of the 1980s and ‘90s...
, as owner and president of C/Z Records
C/Z Records
C/Z Records is a Seattle-based record label that was established in early 1985 by Chris Hanzsek and Tina Casale with the release of the now-legendary, Deep Six LP, which collected the earliest recordings of the real pro-genitors of what later came to be known as grunge...
, continued to release records until 2001 when he released the Skin Yard rarities album, Start at the Top
Start at the Top
Released in 2001 by C/Z Records, Start at the Top was the final release by the band Skin Yard.-Overview:The album is a hand-numbered limited release CD compiling a number of never-before-heard tracks and several previously vinyl-only recordings...
.
Barrett Martin
Barrett Martin
Barrett Martin , is an American drummer, upright bassist, composer, producer, writer, and Zen artist. He was the drummer for the Seattle, Washington groups Skin Yard and Screaming Trees, as well as the supergroups Mad Season and Tuatara...
joined Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington in 1985 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the time the band reached its most successful period...
and drummed on their albums Sweet Oblivion
Sweet Oblivion
Sweet Oblivion is Screaming Trees' 6th full length album that was released on September 8, 1992. The recording was the band's highest landmark in terms of album sales, and was the closest they would come to ever achieving mainstream success...
and Dust
Dust (Screaming Trees album)
Dust is the seventh and final album by the Screaming Trees, released on June 25, 1996.After an aborted attempt at recording a followup to Sweet Oblivion with producer Don Fleming, the band hired producer George Drakoulias to man the controls for what eventually turned out to be their last album...
. Screaming Trees went on hiatus and finally broke up in 2000. Martin has also toured with R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
. During the late 1990s, Martin formed the grunge supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
Mad Season
Mad Season
Mad Season was an American rock supergroup formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1994 by members of three popular Seattle-based bands: Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Screaming Trees. Mad Season only released one album, Above, and is best known for the single "River of Deceit"...
with Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
singer Layne Staley
Layne Staley
Layne Thomas Staley was an American musician who served as the lead singer and co-lyricist of the rock group Alice in Chains, which was formed in Seattle, Washington in 1987 by Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell. Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the...
, Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
lead guitarist Mike McCready
Mike McCready
Michael David McCready is an American musician who serves as the lead guitarist for the American rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Dave Krusen, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of Pearl Jam...
, and bassist John Baker Saunders
John Baker Saunders
John Baker Saunders was a founding member and bassist for the American grunge rock supergroup Mad Season, as well as a member of The Walkabouts. He was born in Montgomery, Alabama and later attended Providence College...
. Mad Season released one album before breaking up in 1999.
Jason Finn
Jason Finn
Jason Finn may refer to:*Jason Finn , rock drummer for Love Battery and The Presidents of the United States of America*Jason Finn , actor in Freedom Writers...
, who was replaced by McCullum in Skin Yard, went on to drum for psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
band Love Battery
Love Battery
Love Battery is an American grunge band from Seattle, Washington.For the most part Love Battery was an unusual group in the early '90s Seattle music scene, blending intense swirling psychedelic guitar work, pulsating rhythms, driving beats and heartfelt vocals derived from '60s garage/psych, '70s...
until 1995 and the post-grunge
Post-grunge
Post-grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged in the mid-1990s as a derivative of grunge, using the sounds and aesthetic of grunge, but with a more commercially acceptable tone...
band The Presidents of the United States of America
The Presidents of the United States of America (band)
The Presidents of the United States of America, commonly referred to as Pot USA or "PUSA" or The Presidents, are a twice Grammy-nominated American alternative rock band. The band formed in Seattle, USA, in 1993. The three-piece group currently comprises vocalist and "basitarist" Chris Ballew,...
until their breakup in 1998. The Presidents of the United States of America has since reunited, with Finn still drumming on their new album in 2008.
Band members
Original lineup- Ben McMillan - vocals (1985–1992)
- Jack EndinoJack EndinoJack Endino is a producer and musician based in Seattle. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands such as Mudhoney, Soundgarden, and Nirvana...
- guitar (1985–1992) - Daniel HouseDaniel HouseDaniel House is a business owner/entrepreneur and musician best known for his contribution to the Seattle “grunge” music movement of the 1980s and ‘90s...
- bass (1985–1991) - Matt CameronMatt CameronMatthew David "Matt" Cameron is an American musician who serves as the drummer for the American rock bands Pearl Jam and Soundgarden...
- drums (1985–1986)
Former members
- Steve Wied - drums (1986)
- Greg GilmoreGreg GilmoreGreg Gilmore is a musician in Seattle, Washington, and co-founder of the recording label First World Music. Although born in France, Gilmore grew up in the Seattle area....
- drums (1986) - Jason FinnJason Finn (musician)Jason Finn is a drummer and singer for The Presidents of the United States of America. He was previously the drummer of Love Battery until 1995 , when he joined Chris Ballew and Dave Dederer to form The Presidents of the United States of America...
- drums (1986–1987) - Scott McCullum - drums (1987–1989)
- Barrett MartinBarrett MartinBarrett Martin , is an American drummer, upright bassist, composer, producer, writer, and Zen artist. He was the drummer for the Seattle, Washington groups Skin Yard and Screaming Trees, as well as the supergroups Mad Season and Tuatara...
- drums (1990–1992) - Pat Pedersen - bass (1991–1992)
Discography
Studio albums| Title | Year | Label |
| Skin Yard Skin Yard (album) Skin Yard was the first album released by the band Skin Yard in January, 1987. 1400 vinyl copies were released on translucent skin-tone vinyl.-Track listing:#"Skins in my Closet" #"Reptile"... |
1987 | C/Z Records C/Z Records C/Z Records is a Seattle-based record label that was established in early 1985 by Chris Hanzsek and Tina Casale with the release of the now-legendary, Deep Six LP, which collected the earliest recordings of the real pro-genitors of what later came to be known as grunge... |
| Hallowed Ground Hallowed Ground (Skin Yard album) Hallowed Ground is a 1988 album by grunge rock band, Skin Yard.-Track listing:# "Stranger" - 3:36# "Open Fist" - 3:58... |
1988 | Toxic Shock Records |
| Fist Sized Chunks Fist Sized Chunks Fist Sized Chunks is the third album by the grunge group Skin Yard. It was released in the spring of 1990 .-Track listing:# "Slow Runner"# "Go to Sleep"# "No Control"# "Through Nothing"# "Hungry and Hanging"# "Ritual Room"... |
1990 | Cruz Records |
| 1000 Smiling Knuckles 1000 Smiling Knuckles 1000 Smiling Knuckles is the fourth album by the grunge group Skin Yard. It is generally regarded as the group's best effort.-Track listing:-Personnel:* Jack Endino – Guitar, Producer, Engineering* Daniel House – Bass, Art direction... |
1991 | Cruz Records |
| Inside the Eye Inside the Eye Inside the Eye is the last album released by Skin Yard in 1993.-Track listing:# "Inside the Eye" - 3:22# "Miss You" - 2:47# "Not in Love" - 3:44... |
1993 | Cruz Records |
| Start at the Top Start at the Top Released in 2001 by C/Z Records, Start at the Top was the final release by the band Skin Yard.-Overview:The album is a hand-numbered limited release CD compiling a number of never-before-heard tracks and several previously vinyl-only recordings... |
2001 | C/Z Records |
Singles
| Year | Title | Album | Label |
| 1987 | "Bleed" | Skin Yard | C/Z Records |
| 1987 | "Stranger" | Hallowed Ground | Toxic Shock Records |
| 1989 | "Start at the Top" | Start at the Top | Sub Pop Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene... |
| 1991 | "1,000 Smiling Knuckles" | 1,000 Smiling Knuckles | Cruz Records |
| 1991 | "Psychoriflepowerhypnotized" | 1,000 Smiling Knuckles | Rave Records |
| 1993 | "Undertow" | Inside the Eye | Cruz Records |
Compilation appearances
- 1986 – "Throb" and "The Birds" on Deep SixDeep Six (album)The Deep Six compilation was released March 1986 . It was the very first release by C/Z Records, a few months before the release of Sub Pop 100 from Sub Pop Records. It was also arguably the second record to influence the later "Seattle sound" that would be known worldwide as grunge...
- 1991 - "Machine Gun Ettiquette" on Another Damned Seattle CompilationAnother Damned Seattle CompilationAnother Damned Seattle Compilation is a musical tribute to 1970s punk band The Damned, featuring tracks recorded in 1990 to 1991 by 18 Seattle area bands and released on Seattle's Dashboard Hula Girl Records.-History of the Compilation:...
(Dashboard Hula Girl RecordsDashboard Hula Girl RecordsDashboard Hulagirl Records is a Seattle-based independent American record label founded in 1989 by Trev Dellinger and Chris Swenson. The label released several LPs, EPs, and singles before folding in 1992...
) - 1991 – "Snowblind" on Hard to Believe: Kiss Covers CompilationHard to Believe: Kiss Covers Compilation-Various labels:Waterfront Records DAMP-121 Southern Records DAMP-121 Records C/Z Records CZ-024 -External links:* Amazon...