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Sydney
band Skunkhour started out as an urban funk band fronted by a
rapper. From
there, the band incorporated all manner of styles and fusion elements
into its frantic, rhythmic, groove-based attack.
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The
Larkin brothers Del and Aya had a background in ska bands. Guitarist
Warwick Scott was influenced by funk and rock. The Sutherland
brothers rhythm team played rock and jazz. Common influences for
all musicians were reggae, 1970s funk (James Brown, Funkadelic)
and hip hop. They joined together to become Skunk, and later,
Skunkhour, named after the poem
by Robert Lowell.
"The
first show (as Skunk - Dean, Michael, Warwick) was at what is
now The Underground (formerly the Tom Tom Club, Kings Cross).
Del and I were both in the audience, just independent of one
another, and we bumped into one another and went, 'these guys
are fucking awesome'. Brilliant, you know... it sounded just
like our Sly Stone records. We were like, 'this is good', and
then in a few weeks we joined the band" -- Aya.
Over
the course of 18 months, the band became a popular live attraction
on the Sydney scene. Skunkhour was amongst a clutch of new bands
exploring diverse musical avenues on the traditional Australian
pub-rock circuit during the early 1990s: Juice's hard funk, Swoop's
soulful funk grooves, Def FX's techno-metal, d.i.g.'s acid-jazz
and Caligula's techno-pop.
In
early 1993, Skunkhour supported UK acid-jazz outfit Galliano on
an Australian tour, and then issued the debut, self-titled album
on the Beast label. Skunkhour produced the CD EP `Booty Full'
(September 1993).
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