If 2023 is the year that everyone is talking about AI, the timing of Skullz’s eagerly anticipated debut single ‘Blackout’ could not be more perfect. They are a completely virtual band with AI brains – avatars with attitude who perform gritty songs with meaningful lyrics. Brave and rebellious, with big songs and big ambitions, they are the “She-Force” that disrupts the algorithms like nothing else in the universe.
Skullz are a gang of rebel teens who sing punk pop songs about cyberbullying, boys and being hacked. The trio – Orkid (guitar), Sneeka (drums) and Hyde (vocals) – have been tipped by the i newspaper as being the “21st-century Spice Girls.”There was a striking connection between the band as soon as they first met, which becomes evident the minute they start to play music together and in their debut single ‘Blackout’.
‘Blackout’ is about switching off from the world, social media, your parents, everyone. When there’s too much noise and the pressure of being a teen is crushing down on you “lose the static, and go underground.”
Songwriter and co-founder of Skullz, Pete Kirtley states, “Mick Lister and I wrote ‘Blackout’ about my daughter, Holly, who at 15 was so severely cyberbullied by school kids it nearly destroyed her. She was broken and switched off from the world, her friends, school, her family. A lot of teens go through this, and I felt a connection to try and tap into that misfit kid at school who gets bullied, doesn’t fit in, doesn’t have many friends and make them cool and unique. Embrace being the outcast and find your own groove. It’s an angry song, but has a flavour of empowerment about it.”
Eager to also raise awareness for climate change and the global crisis, as avatars, Skullz also hope to have a positive effect on the environment. John Black, one of the co-founders of Skullz’s virtual label Soundr, explains, “I’ve travelled to New York with an artist and their entourage just for a three-minute performance on Good Morning America, but with Skullz we’ll do that in virtual worlds and engage with the fans in a new way”.
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