Doomed Confessionary: RK Andrews (No Skull)
Photos by Weber Gower
No Skull is a stoner/doom influenced alternative rock band from Lansing, Michigan. Formed in 2016.
No Skull plays heavy jams. The current lineup includes RK Andrews (bass and vocals), Jason Wicks (guitar) and Dave Shilakes (drums).
The band’s latest album, »Fields Of None«, out on April 12th, 2024 via GTG Records, is a concept album based on »The Dark Tower« series by Stephen King and twisted into existence by RK Andrews.
Can you say a few words about your band?
No Skull was formed in 2016 playing in more of a grunge style. Once the covid lockdowns happened that lineup dissolved and slowly the new line up got together and the style changed to be more in the stoner rock vein. We’ve released 2 singles, and EP and 2 full-length albums, our newest release being our current record called »The Dark Tower«.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
I think our biggest challenge is time. We all are parents and work full time so having time to rehearse and write new material is always tough. We get together frequently but probably not as much as we would like.
What can you be most proud of so far?
We are most proud of our current release. It took us three years from the initial writing stage to the final product on vinyl and it feels good to see and hear the results of that effort. We had an awesome sound engineer, Corey Derushia, who does most of our records getting a really killer sound that we were happy with and our friend Craig Horky did the art which turned out amazing.
What was your biggest regret?
My biggest regret is buying too small of a truck, hahaha!!! We like to play loud and right now we are limited on how much gear we can transport to shows because my truck is too small.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
This line up hasn’t struck out on tour yet, and shows are pretty sparse in Michigan right now as a lot of venues have dissappeared. Our favorite show recently was at a small dive bar called the Regal Beagle in Ypsilanti Michigan with Lord Centipede. Great crowd and killer bands and there was a guy in the pit with a full on Ebeneezer Scrooge nightgown and long cap complete with candle holder and a lit candle stick.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
The biggest suprise on our music scene currently is the lack of it. There used to be a bunch of venues that supported local live music and house venues in our town, Lansing Michigan, that have all closed down. People in our neck of the woods do not seem super interested in heavy loud music these days, which is a huge shift. 10 years ago we had lots of national acts coming through that dont make there way through anymore. In some of my past bands we have played with heavy weights such as Jucifer, 50 Watt Sun, Good For You, Giant Squid, and punk legends The Dogs and Violent Appathy. I saw Mastodon in a local bar here, and Melt Banana, Kahnate, Black Cobra, Zeke, Captured by Robots, Black Flag, Dysrhythmia, the Reverend Horton Heat and all kinds of killer bands. Now we don’t get those bands coming through since everything is shut down.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
In rotation right now I’m listening to Conan – »Evidence Of Immortality«, Conan – »Existential Void Guardian«, Windhand – »Soma«, Windhand – »Eternal Return«, Dead Meadow – »Force Free Form«, Sleep – »The Sciences«, the Oarfish EP, High On Fire – »The Art Of Self-Defence« and Los Natas – »Cosario Negro«.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
The best advice I’ve been given as a musician is to have fun. If your not having fun why do it. That pretty much goes for everything in life.
What are your guilty pleasures?
I have a hard time with picking guilty pleasures in the sense that I don’t feel like anything I like that other people would think is lame embarrasses me. I like some stuff I realize is probably stupid but I will fully admit I like Boston, or that I like a song by Justin Beiber, or that the best r&b song of the 90’s is »You Gotta Be« by Des’ree. I was just talking about this with my wife and son the other day and came to the conclusion that the only thing I feel might be a guilty pleasure for me is the rap music I like that says things I don’t condone such as violence toward women or homophobic or racial slurs, but I still listen.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
As of righ tnow we don’t have a lot of shows lined up. We’re playing a cool brewery that makes their own sour beers in Grand Rapids MI called Speciation Cellars in July but so far that’s all we have booked. We’re looking into setting up some shows in the fall to support our new record but nothing has come through so far.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
Future plans for No Skull include the release of some songs that got cut from the last album, creating some new music to release as singles and EPs. We plan to do a cassette featuring some of these releases and keep plugging away at the increasingly difficult tast of booking shows, hopefully putting together a small tour before too long and we’d really like to play some festivals that feature stoner and doom bands.
How can people best support your band?
The best way to support No Skull is by buying our record through Bandcamp and listen to our music in streaming form, booking our band in your hometown or just sending us sacks full of money. We accept all size bills.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Our message to our listeners comes straight out of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure…..”Be excellent to eachother”…
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well