HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: Roots Rock Riot – Skindred
In 2007, SKINDRED looked to solidify their status as more than just a one-off band with their second album Roots Rock Riot. 14 Years since it’s initial release, the album is being re-released with two additional tracks It’s A Crime and Struggle and is available on vinyl. We caught up with drummer Arya Goggin to talk all things SKINDRED in 2007, where they looked to follow up on their breakthrough release, 2002’s Babylon.
“With Babylon we toured in America for what seemed like forever and we were in a good place, we were ready to hit back. It was focused on America again really, we were making a rock record and doing what we do, we weren’t trying to go for another market. It was like if you liked Babylon and SKINDRED then you’re going to like Roots Rock Riot. I don’t think if you didn’t like SKINDRED on Babylon that you’re going to suddenly like Roots Rock Riot. I know we are a marmite band, if you’re in then you get it and though some records may be better than others, you like the sound and what we do. I feel that back then it was about cementing ourselves as a contender and writing some big songs.”
After Nobody was picked out as a single by Lava Records and instantly became a big hit in the US, SKINDRED‘s status rocketed. With the tough task ahead of them of following up the debut album that put them on the map, the band had one thing in mind. Do it again but this time make it bigger and better. “For us we had a little commercial success with Babylon in America where we sold a few albums so the label was like well we need to do that again but better, but it’s difficult to try and repeat the magic.”
“I’ve always said this, like when you first heard SLIPKNOT or NAPALM DEATH it was shocking and it’s hard to be shocking again and again. Now I know it’s weird I know what I’m in for when I listen to the record so I didn’t want to think about trying to shock people again because they already know what we do so let’s just try and do it better.”
Though Roots Rock Riot did what it set out to do and remains a staple of the band’s live shows, it didn’t have the impact that the band had hoped for. Though it pleased SKINDRED fans who were already bought into the band, it didn’t reach a wider audience in the same way Babylon had largely thanks to the US success of Nobody. “When Roots Rock Riot came out, I was living in Exeter and the day it came out I went to HMV which is where I bought all my records. So I went to HMV and they didn’t have the record and I was heartbroken. So I was like oh okay and they said we can order it for you and I was like don’t worry about it I’ll go somewhere else.”
“Where I’m going with that is, I don’t think at the time that Roots Rock Riot was really pushed in a way that some of our other records have been. We released Rat Race and Trouble, when I say released, we only sent Rat Race to radio, and I think there were other opportunities that we could’ve capitalised on from that record like we have on our other records.”
With the vinyl re-release and the two additional tracks that were only left off the album as they didn’t seem to have a perfect fit in the tracklist, Roots Rock Riot has gone full cycle. Despite it not having the commercial impact that the band had hoped for, it remains an essential chapter in their discography. Now with it’s missing puzzle pieces intact, the record can be appreciated in its entirety by the SKINDRED faithful. With the original album clocking in at 45 minutes with 12-tracks, the band were weary of making the album too long. Referencing the difference in personal appeal between a band that plays for two and a half hours live versus one that “hits you over the head”, Goggin’s standpoint on album length is that if every song is great then what’s the need in a lengthy runtime. “With It’s A Crime, it’s a missing piece and Struggle was supposed to be a bonus track like at the end of the record where you wait a couple minutes later and I wanted it to be acoustic because there’s so many bands that have these secret acoustic songs on their records.”
“Roots Rock Riot kind of does what it says. It’s pretty relentless from start to finish so sticking in something like Struggle wouldn’t have felt right. Listening to it now I think people can see why they didn’t make the final cut because it’s not because they’re not as good as the other songs. They’re like deleted scenes.”
“At the time I was gutted because the same thing happened with Babylon, it didn’t come out with a fan fare, it came out several different times. With Union Black there was real excitement for it to come out, with Roots Rock Riot it had been five or six years since Babylon so I think a lot of people had written us off. When it came out it felt like we were starting again.”
Roots Rock Riot (re-release) is out now via Hassle Records.
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