The roots of Skimmer can be traced back to the 1980s Birmingham band The Sect, whose debut LP in 1987 made it into the NME’s top 30 albums of the year. A series of tours with the likes of Mega City 4, Senseless Things and Snuff helped to consolidate them as one of the leading bands of a melodic punk movement, championed by the likes of Steve Lamacq and John Peel.
Following The Sect’s break up at the end of a long European tour in 1991, brothers Kevin and Terry Powell recruited Terry’s then flatmate Adam Veevers in 1993 to form Skimmer, and adverts were placed to find a drummer. Andy Dickinson was chosen, and the band was complete. The timing was good, as a next wave of bands and labels were beginning to surface both in the UK and America, and Skimmer soon picked up record deals in both countries with Crackle! And Junk Records respectively. The band’s first 7”, Better Than Being Alone, was well received, and was Metal Hammer’s record of the week. A series of singles and albums ensued, each getting Radio 1 airplay, and Skimmer became popular as a support band for touring American bands, playing with the likes of NOFX, Rocket From The Crypt, Jawbreaker, Lagwagon and New Bomb Turks.
The band were also picked up in Japan by the Snuffy Smile label, and embarked on their first tour of the country in 1996. Skimmer have attracted and maintained a loyal following there ever since, with 8 headlining tours to date and the 9th one imminent, starting on June 5th 2015. A live review from the last tour in 2013 can be found here. http://louderthanwar.com/skimmer-lost-numbers-anticlockwise-minor-aura-gk-dave-5cent-meijikan-live-house-fukuyama-city-japan-live-review/
Tragedy struck in 2004 with the sudden death of Andy Dickinson, and the band had to use a stand-in drummer for their forthcoming John Peel session. This would sadly turn out to be the last session recorded during Peel’s lifetime, and was broadcast the night before his funeral. An interview with Kevin regarding the recording of this session was featured in Ken Garner’s 2007 book ‘The Peel Sessions’.
Warren Beater joined the band soon after to take Andy’s place, and the line-up has remained constant ever since, taking in 4 albums and numerous tours. Skimmer moved labels to Waterslide Records in 2007, and also use Fixing A Hole for some non-album releases.
Summer 2015 sees the release Skimmer’s 8th album, ‘Baby Dinosaur’ in June, with the single from it, ‘October Flowers’, available on downloads, CD, and 7”.
Following Skimmer’s tour to Japan one of the best known punk bands from the country, Navel, are coming to the UK to join them from July 18th-26th for a long overdue second visit.
Skimmer are a pop-punk band from Birmingham, England.