Band of Skulls Score Big With Apple Commercial, 'New Moon' Soundtrack

Posted on Aug 16th 2009 2:00PM by Justin Jacobs
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Apple has a way of hopping on what's new in music like the best blogs in the land -- iPod commercials have featured soon-to-be-big acts like Chairlift and Feist while iTunes' free single of the week has hyped the likes of Santigold, Passion Pit and Of Montreal.

But when Southhampton, UK trio Band of Skulls got the call that Apple wanted the group's raucous guitar jam 'I Know What I Am' as its free single of the week, singer Russell Marsden was a bit confused -- the song wasn't even done. "We were still making the record. [Apple] wanted the song in two weeks time, but it wasn't finished. They'd only heard a demo," Marsden tells Spinner. "In life you have a choice -- you have to either take the risk and go for it or not."

Band of Skulls unwittingly said yes, and just a few months later, the act is rounding out its second swoop of the States and Canada with shows through September. The debut of the trio, rounded out by drummer Matt Hayward and bassist/singer Emma Richardson, is called 'Baby Darling Doll Face Honey.' The record is a stomping, rattling tantrum of skuzzy garage blues with sparkling moments of classic rock beauty -- acoustic duet 'Honest' sounds like a prettier, female-fronted Led Zeppelin ballad.

This fall, Band of Skulls will join the ranks of bands like Muse and Radiohead -- though we still can't believe this -- on the soundtrack to 'New Moon,' the second flick in the 'Twilight' series. Unless every 11 to 15-year-old girl in the county magically forgets how much she loves Robert Pattinson, it's hard to think the soundtrack won't be huge.

For Marsden, the soundtrack spot is just one more shot at reaching a bigger audience. "Still, I've not seen the movies," Marsden says, catching himself. "Oh, this is bad. In England, my sister is crazy about them. We'll have to get a tour bus so we can watch it on the bus."

If anything, Band of Skulls' peaks into the mainstream will convince friends and family back home that they are, in fact, not crazy. "Being in a band is a leap of faith. You give up any security and just go for it," Marsden says. "But it makes people nervous, like 'What are you doing?' People at home look at us strangle, like 'Are you out of your head?'"

With Band of Skulls' jackhammer riffs tearing a hole across the country this summer, it looks like Mom and Pop Marsden won't think their son is crazy much longer.