How technology and a studio on a boat encouraged Mike Skinner’s rebirth
Words: Dylan Murphy
Ahead of the release of The Streets’ comeback record ‘None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Alive’ Dylan Murphy spoke to Mike Skinner over Zoom. The pair talked about technology, where he fits in modern music and how he escapes the internet.
Mike Skinner holds legendary status in UK music. Catapulting to fame with his first album ‘Original Pirate Material’ in 2002, the project has since become a certified classic and a blueprint of sorts for many aspiring artists. Similarly to each subsequent record, his debut has the inexplicable ability to provide a sense of nostalgia about moments you may not have ever experienced. There is a familiarity in the wide array of cultural touchstones that present themselves throughout his catalogue and coupled with his trademark conversational approach it means that even the darker tracks are still somewhat comforting.
Having been a mainstay in the cultural zeitgeist for nearly ten years, fan’s were predictably disappointed when Mike announced he would be moving away from making music as The Streets in 2011.
During the hiatus, he’d run club nights, focus on directing and live life. Despite stepping into the shadows his influence was still omnipresent in the UK’s bubbling scene.
Mike had in fact released music under another pseudonym during that break, but there is a different kind of pressure that builds with every passing year without a new album from his iconic alias. So when he released his latest mixtape ‘None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Alive’, around nine years after his previous album ‘Computers and Blues’ it was welcomed with open arms.
Speaking ahead of its release Mike told us why phones always appear in his music and touched on his previous concerns about where he would fit in music after some time out.
Watch our interview with the legendary MC below:
