Сиэтл, штат Вашингтон (1985 – 1992) Skin Yard были гранж-группой, образованной в городе Сиэтл, штат Вашингтон, группа была активна в период с 1985 по 1992 год. Хотя этот коллектив так и не завоевал признания большой аудитории, следует отметить его влияние на современников - прежде всего
Soundgarden, Melvins, и
Green River, коллективов, которые считаются пионерами звука, который впоследствии стали называть гранж.
Группа была образована в январе 1985 года басистом Дениелем Хаузом и гитаристом Джеком Эндино, впоследствии к ним присоединились вокалист Бен МакМиллан и ударник Мэтт Кэмерон.
Skin Yard сыграли свой первый концерт в июне 1985 года, на разогреве у
U-Men. В 1986 году,
Skin Yard записали две песни для ныне легендарного сборника
Deep Six. Этот альбом, наряду с первыми коммерческими записями
Melvins, Soundgarden, Malfunkshun и
Skin Yard, первым явил миру звучание раннего гранжа. В том же году,
Skin Yard выпустили свой одноименный дебютный альбом и первый сингл
Bleed.
Вскоре после этих релизов, ударник Мэтт Кемерон покинул группу, чтобы присоединиться
Soundgarden, после чего группа успела сменить несколько ударников. Первоначально Мэтт Кемерон был заменен Стивом Вайдом, после его заменил Грег Гилмор, однако оба барабанщика играли всего на двух концертах. Осенью присоединился Джейсон Финн, он пробыл в группе восемь месяцев и после чего ушел по личным причинам. Скотт МакКаллум занял место ударника в мае 1987 года и оставался в коллективе на протяжении двух лет.
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Bio:..
Skin Yard was formed in Seattle in January 1985 by Daniel House (bass), and Jack Endino (guitar). They were joined by Matthew Cameron (drums) who had previously played with Daniel and Tom ("Nerm") Herring in an instrumental power trio called
Feedback. Ben McMillan became the band's singer in April '85. The first gig was in June of '85 opening for the now legendary
U-Men leave home show.
Feedback recorded a handful of songs in Daniel's living room. One song from those sessions was later released on the Pyrrhic victory cassette, which also included material from
Soundgarden and
Skin Yard. At the same time that
Feedback was alive, Daniel played in
Ten Minute Warning (after Duff left the band to become a rock star as the bass player in
Guns 'n' Roses.). After both
Feedback and
Ten Minute Warning disbanded, Daniel wanted to start a band which would be a successful merging of the heavy psychedelic pre-grunge assault of
Ten Minute Warning with the complex signatures and arrangements which
Feedback held so dear. He sought out Jack who he had met earlier that year.
Late 1985 saw the release of the
Deep Six compilation (CZ001) which is commonly considered as the first document of the scene which was later to be known as 'Grunge.' Limited to 1000 vinyl copies,
Deep Six included the first ever commercially released recordings by
Soundgarden, Melvins, Green River, Malfunkshun (pre-
Mother Love Bone Andrew), and of course
Skin Yard.
Deep Six was later released on CD and cassette by A&M records. Early in 1986,
Skin Yard's first single and debut self-titled LP were released.
In June of '86 Matt left
Skin Yard joining
Soundgarden two months later. We played 2 gigs apiece with Steve Wied (later of the band
Tad) and Greg Gilmore (later of
Mother Love Bone, and more recently with
Doghead and the briefly revived
Ten Minute Warning). That fall Jason Finn (later of the
Presidents of the United States, Love Battery, and
Subset) joined the band, and left after eight months for an extended stay in Europe. In May '87
Skin Yard found Scott McCullum (aka Norman Scott, later of
Gruntruck), who ironically had once been all but hired for the
Soundgarden drum position, until Matt Cameron had, out of the blue, called them and offered his services. Scott left
Skin Yard in May of '89 after a particularly horrendous US tour, "fondly" remembered as "the tour from hell."
Skin Yard effectively ceased to exist for over a year, and at the time never really expected to reform. But then they never expected Barrett Martin (now of
Screaming Trees,
Mad Season, Tuatara). Barrett was a powerhouse, and as it turned out, was with
Skin Yard until the end. Daniel left in March of '91 to devote more time to fatherhood, and the band broke up in 1992.
Prior to Daniel's departure,
Skin Yard began winding down and Ben started
Gruntruck with previous drummer Scott, along with guitarist Tommy from the
Accsed. Pat and Barrett jammed with Jack in Endino's
Earthworm. By the time the band finished recording their 5th album in Summer '92, it was time to call it a day. Daniel continued running C/Z records full time, and Ben's
Gruntruck folded, recently reforming for another shot at loud rock fame. Jack has recenly finished his third solo record, and it is truly amazing... Barrett continued drumming for the
Trees until their final demise, but now lives in New Mexico and remains a very busy musician. Barrett's other projects included playing in
Mad Season with Layne Staley (
Alice in Chains) and Mike McCready (
Pearl Jam), and a stint with Mark Eitzel.
