The Flying Skulls

The Flying Skulls are... a nu school, crunked-out three piece that plays live improvisational dub-step, breaks, and electro.

Consisting of three experienced producer/performers, who all have their own styles and signatures, The Flying Skulls can captivate a room with melodic, explosive beats, or whip up a dance floor with hard hitting house jams.

The Flying Skulls have been on a tear lately, dipping their wings into just about everything. The crew bummed-rushed a few choice shows this summer and melted dance floors at The Big Bounce/Belden, Trinumeral/Asheville, Symbiosis Gathering/Yosemite, and most recently The Independent/SF with Boombox and Ana Sia. Dubbed the 'Kings of Improvisational Beat Bashing' by ChromeKids, The Skulls have been bringing it hard and to-the-point with maximum live electronic mayhem. Crowds across the country have been eating up the group's off-the-clock style, mean dirty bass sounds, and complex rhythms, while memorable sets in the festival circuit have garnered the performers a huge crossover fan-base.

The Skulls also seem to be music-making machines, with new tracks, mixes, and remixes surfacing almost weekly. The list of recent and upcoming releases include dual remix albums: Abducted! Vol 1 on 1320 Records, and Abducted! Vol 2 on Mochipet's Daly City Records, a remix of STS9's Hidden Hand with Abstract Rude for the Make it Right album, a track on the Symbiosis Compilation out on Muti Music, a track and video for the A/V project 'Savage Henry,' two remixes for Mochipet's upcoming album, and a pair of remixes for a release on BlipSwitch Digital. They also have a track featured in the brand new version of Tap Tap Revenge 3, the number one game for iPhones (30 million downloads).

With all that in the works, it's surprising that The Skulls can still make it to their regular appearances at Pirate Cat Radio in SF, put out hot hot mix tapes like the Symbiosis '09 rage-down or plan upcoming tours in the North West, Mountain Country, and South East! But be assured good citizen, that blip you see on your radar screen is indeed The Flying Skulls, secure any loose items and get ready to party.



FREE MIX: SYMBIOSIS '09 RAGE-DOWN- The Flying Skulls engaged in an aerial bombing run on the Forest Stage at Symbiosis Gathering this year, and caused quite a stir as they put the sound system through it's paces. They brought back this black-box recording of the entire incident, and are making it available for free to the public. Duck and cover. DOWNLOAD HERE

"With it's machine gun drum patterns, some of the squelchiest bass alive and twisted G funk synths, [Abducted! Vol 1 is] kinda like listening to classic Dr Dre in a K hole." -ChromeKids

"[The Flying Skulls] produce some of the best deep bass party grime but somehow manage to stay sophisticated and hold the listener’s attention for more than 5 minutes. Raw, but never hard on the ears, each of the (producers) bring their own flavor, making the overall sound a tricked-out blend of crunk, dubstep and breaks." Canary / Pirate Cat Radio 87.9fm

STS9 - Peaceblaster: The New Orleans Make it Right Remixes "Information gives me a rush, it's like drugs." Very true in today's world, with everything right at our fingertips at all times. I wonder if that were taken away, would we "come down," so to speak? ... I think this line--from the Flying Skulls remix of STS9's "Hidden Hand, Hidden Fist"--represents this massive remix effort well. It's the 17th track out of 30--nearly two and a half hours of music--and is one of six tripped-out versions of this original Peaceblaster mind-ripper."

"...The Flying Skulls were dropping bass-wobbling dubstep and glitchy breakbeats as part of the 13th annual Freaker's Ball. While gorgeous girls in short skirts and tall stilts attempted to stay upright on the dance floor, the four goggle-sporting performers unleashed a sinful set of seamless grooves that rattled windows and wiggled asses from one end of the club to the other. Pure bass-wasted fun, these guys earned a permanent spot on the Muz radar and drove away any remaining doubt that Cypress has become the best spot in Santa Cruz to hear true (nu-school) talent..." -From Muz, The Santa Cruz Metro Times. [1]

Photo by Sara Chestnut-Fry from Oct 8 2009 / The Independent SF

about 'Abducted Vol. 1'...
The Flying Skulls are at it again! Just months after the world-wide premier of their album "Take Flight!" the Skulls are dropping "Abducted!" a remix album in volumes featuring some of the best West Coast electronic music producers. Volume One will be available on 1320 Records, and features remixes from Cyril Noir, Jason Short and J. Rogers Remix (Blipswitch) Ribotto, Bender, BBQ Chicken Dub, and more, plus art by renown mix media artist Ian Hill. This marks the first release from the collaboration known as BBQ Chicken Dub, featuring J.Tonal, Snareface, Jerome Forney, and a whole bunch of BBQ chicken. The result? A slow, methodical re-visioning of classic Skulls songs... spicy, tangy, meaty, nu school with shifting basstones... totally off the clock and live. The release also features a remix by Blipswitch founder Joe Rogers and Jason Short featuring vocals by Steve Weisz. The result is a skanked-out, bass-bin friendly walk into dubstep land. Local Bay Area hero and doctor of up-beat, techy, sailor songs, Cyril Noir brings his genre bending indie-electro-techno sound to a magnificent dubby breaks-remix of Trig. SF uber-vocalist Audio Angel also also graces two tracks, the remix of "Skulls & Angels" by Ribotto flips the track with a huge kick and a crackin snare and reimagines melody lines into island breezes... think: Mojito in hand. Album Art: A custom piece created especially for this series, SF local Ian Hill's dark imagination seeps directly onto canvas.


about 'Take Flight'...
Eight crunked-out studio tracks from the Masterminds of Improv Electro-Beats.

This second Skulls album on 1320 Records moves the action along as the boys take to the studio to hone their party-rocking tracks. Album Two in a three-album arc, Take Flight! weaves together all the nasty elements that make the Skulls so fun to listen to and contains guest appearances by long-time Lowpro friends: Audio Angel, The Zap Tap, Ribotto, Bender, and Steve Weisz.

Straight dope on these Flying Skulls guys? They’re dirty. Dirty drums, dirty grimy low-end, mucked up distorted synthesizers, dope West Coast vocalists, and dancefloor-rending beats with a cinematic depth meant for the very largest of soundsystems. Chromekids recently described their last release on 1320 Records as, "A heavyweight collection of nasty synths, wobbly basslines and crunked out glitchy beats so dirty you'd swear they robbed their MPC players off a crack dealer." A crack dealer? That is pretty dirty…


The Flying Skulls are: J.Tonal (Jeff Wareham), Snareface (Jarvez Turnage), and Jerome Forney.

1. Skeleton Talk (Blip Switch Mix) – Vocals: Steve Weisz
2. Skulls and Angels – Vocals & Lyrics: Audio Angel
3. Modicum Maxime Instrumental (Lotus Remix) – Guitar: Bender, Kaossilator: Steve Weisz
4. Like Magic (The Canadian Mix) – Vocals & Lyrics: Zap Tap, Co-production: Ribotto
5. Money (Album Mix)
6. The Dope Trade – Vocals: Jerome Forney & J.Tonal
7. Bacon – Vocals & Lyrics: J.Tonal
8. Electric Drill Dub (Presto Chango Mix) – Vocals: The Zap Tap, Electric Drill: J.Tonal Co-production: Vladimir Computin

All tracks: Executive production by J.Tonal.

“I love their deep basslines, they do real sophisticated, hypnotic soundtrack type of music. Complex dubstep, if you like. Deep, dark, still funky ‘drink some whisky at night’ stuff.” -
SCHAKKERHART / Germany

"... bass-wobbling dubstep and glitchy breaks… a sinful set of seamless grooves that rattled windows and wiggled asses from one end of the club to the other. Pure bass-wasted fun..." - The Santa Cruz Metro Times.

"Your music makes me feel like I was slathered up in baby oil and trying to ride a greased pony. It's dirty, and I know funk because I'm from the South." -Erin Belle from Mississippi

http://theflyingskulls.com

The Flying Skulls : Releases
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