Skunk Anansie’s Skin (Deborah Anne Dyer) recently sat down with Metal Hammer to delve into the iconic alt-rock band’s five career defining tracks. During the interview Skin revealed inspirations for their latest track ‘An Artist Is An Artist’, which released in January. The discussion soon transitioned into an honest disclosure from the vocalist as she revealed her distaste for passive critics.
Forming in 1994, before disbanding in 2001 and reuniting in 2009, Skunk Anansie have a vast catalogue featuring sixth studio albums (two of which making it into the top 10) and are notorious for their sonic soundscapes comprised of groundbreaking instrumentals, bold vocals and relatable lyricism which amalgamate components of rock, punk and metal.
In the interview, Skin paid homage to an eclectic range of the group’s discography before discussing ‘An Artist Is An Artist’, including: ‘Weak’, ‘Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good)’, ‘Charli Big Potato’, ‘Without You’ and ‘Piggy’.
The artist pinpointed the COVID pandemic as a moment in time which urged the group to analyse their sound and their future. Contextualising the moment ‘An Artist Is An Artist’ was created from a recording and notes app entry in her phone, Skin revealed: “We lost our manager who retired, and there was a point where we had to say, ‘well do we carry on or not?’ I don’t think bands have to carry on […] it’s quite good when they feel that they’ve got nothing more to say as a band then just stop. I think we had that conversation and when we put that song [‘An Artist Is An Artist’] together that showed us we had the ability to still be great”.
According to Skin, ‘An Artist Is An Artist’ signalled a new direction for Skunk Anansie and set a precedent for the style and standard of their future music. When speaking about the track and the band’s mindset during it’s creation the ‘Secretly’ vocalist referenced a particular perspective of what it means to be an artist during a time of social media, constant “toxic negativity” and having “everything you’re about henpecked and stripped down and destroyed” by passive critics.
Knowing the track was bound to be picked apart by critics, ‘An Artist Is An Artist’ is flooded with playful lyricism, which Skin describes as “cheeky lines” to sum up Skunk Anansie’s thoughts on being a band in a modern world. Skin pinpointed the lyrics: “An artist is an artist ‘til death do us depart-est” and carefully conducted tongue twister, “an artist is an artest when they wanna be anarchic ‘cos the narcissist in artist is beautiful” within the track.
Skin went on to rightfully respond to critics: “we are the creators […] and sometimes you guys need to shut the f*ck up and enjoy or not enjoy it. But you don’t need to come and destroy the artist and try and take something away from the artist. You don’t need to put your first ignorant thought and write that down as a comment”.
The rock vocalist’s thoughts follow a distaste for loud critics that comment on a piece of art without having the knowledge, done the research or taken the time to understand the depth of the art before branding it as “terrible” or “awful”.
Putting critics into their place, Skin responded: “If I was in a room with you, I wouldn’t have to listen to you I would just destroy you”.
The frontman of Skunk Anansie has set the record straight following the release of ‘An Artist Is An Artist’, setting the right atmosphere in the run up to the group’s upcoming tour this spring and summer. Tickets can be purchased here.
