Who is Skookum?

Jul 14

By Natalie McCarty

There’s something highly addictive about live shows. Back when I was living in New York, if you couldn’t find me at home, all you had to do was head to whatever local venue was playing the coolest show that night, and there I’d be, smack dab in the middle of the pit.

It was almost a ritual–about three times a week, I’d be among the sea of bodies thrashing around to the sounds of bands like Koyo or Drain. But it wasn’t just about the big venues or the headliners, it was the energy I kept coming back for.

I’ve been everywhere, from being seated in a massive arena to mingling at an intimate indie house show, or squeezed up against the barricade at an alt show that sold $7 tickets to see some of the greatest bands (with the most mind-bending sounds) in the smallest, sweatiest, tightest venues. There’s truly nothing quite like the atmosphere of a true punk concert. And to be quite honest with you, I don’t think my plunge into the punk scene would have been nearly as intense or as serious if it weren’t for one band: Skookum.

Growing up in Long Beach, everybody and their mother knew Skookum somehow. All the neighboring high schools seemed to know one member or another–whether it was from their old water polo days, a run-in while surfing at the beach, or some party around town. But I was lucky enough to know Skookum legitimately from day one, as the lead singer, Jake Lugenbuehl, is one of my oldest friends.

It’s been a real treat to see the band’s evolution over the years; however, one thing’s remained constant: their live performances are unrivaled.

Their vibe, their energy–it’s intoxicating. Even back when I wasn’t exactly a punk aficionado, their performances were so electric that I couldn’t help but get sucked into the madness.

I’ve chased that euphoric rush all across the country, hitting up shows from all along the California coast to every borough in New York, even stumbling upon gigs in the oddest spots in New England, like an abandoned church in Vermont. But let me tell you, nothing–even with all those wild experiences–compares to a Skookum show. They’re in a league of their own: just pure, unadulterated fun.

If there’s one thing I can promise you about Skookum, it doesn’t matter if it’s a gig in their drummer and bassist, Otto and Ruby Nash’s, basement or at a massive venue, they will certainly give you a show. Which is why, years later, I still am making my way to every gig of theirs that I can catch. No matter how many times you see them, it really never gets old.

And now, with Skookum’s upcoming show at the Whisky a Go Go on May 23rd, where they’re opening for Guttermouth, it feels like things have come full circle. Now, I have the incredible opportunity to get to work with my long-time friends and favorites. As a result, I’m thrilled to present to you an exclusive interview with Jake, alongside their insanely and wickedly talented guitarist, Max Miller.

1) What were some of the major inspirations behind your latest album?

Max Miller: For Sasquatch Meth Lounge, much like our first album, lots of inspiration came from random, stupid bullshit that we come up with. We don’t take ourselves very seriously, which is seen in our music, but I feel like the I-don’t-give-a-shit attitude is what gives our music the charm that makes it so special to us and to other people.

Jake Lugenbuehl: A lot of what Max said is true, but I think for this new album in specific we drew a lot of inspiration from Bad Brains and Sublime with the reggae stuff.

2) Can you tell us about the journey Skookum has taken from your first album to your most recent release? How exactly has your sound evolved over time?

The journey has been tricky, especially since the release of our first album was right around the time when college started for all of us, so trying to stay active and do more things with the band while we are all separated became a challenge for us. Despite being inactive for most of the year, we still always get creative and want to make new stuff when we are together. I think our sound has gotten a bit more complex and refined since the first record too, since I started to venture outside of just using power chords when creating song ideas for Sasquatch Meth Lounge. There’s definitely still elements of traditional hardcore, but I’ve also taken aspects of noise rock, reggae, ska, country, and electronica and infused them into our creation process to make something that is both all over the place and unique to Skookum.

As for the vocals, I feel as though our sound has also evolved a good bit as well. While the overall lyrics have stayed pretty light-hearted and goofy I feel as though my vocal part has become a lot more complex, especially when comparing these songs to the songs in the first album, I sing and scream a lot better with more of a range.

3) Are there any particular bands or musicians that have had a significant influence on Skookum’s sound or style?

For me, when I’m coming up with the music, bands like The Vandals, The Dead Milkmen, Guttermouth, Angry Samoans, and Descendents that have that goofiness to their sound is really what I try to go for when I’m writing a riff or coming up with the music. I especially draw a lot of inspiration from Bad Brains, since the reggae-hardcore thing they did is something that we are all big fans of and do in our own music a fair bit. When it comes to my presence on stage, though, I draw a lot of inspiration from Guy Piccioto of Fugazi, who is known for being the most quirked up white boy in all of hardcore. So when I’m not standing still as a rock trying not to fuck up, I’m dancing and embarrassing myself trying to replicate his stage presence as much as possible.

Being from Long Beach, I would say that I take a lot of vocal inspiration from Bradley Nowell of Sublime for my singing voice and Milo Aukerman of the Descendents for my punk rock voice. In terms of lyrics, I would say that I drew a lot of inspiration from the Descendents and the Dead Milkmen with their goofy, bullshit lyrics.

4) How would you describe the punk scene in Long Beach/LA, and how has it influenced your music? Or what would you like to change about the scene?

While I wouldn’t say that the scene is dead, it is certainly in the process of dying. Not because there aren’t awesome bands coming onto the scene (which there are a lot of), but because the audience has become elitist. So many cool punk bands do unique, fresh shit that a lot of people ridicule for not being “traditional” or not resembling how hardcore sounded in the fucking 80s. Me personally, I don’t associate Skookum or myself with any scenes, because scenes to me can very easily become massive circle jerks for self-absorbed pricks. So to answer the question, our music is influenced by our interests and our interests alone. If I could change the scene, I’d make sure people were more open to new and creative artists that should be making a lot more headway than they are now.

Max pretty much hit the nail on the head with this one. The Punk rock scene in Long Beach/LA is pretty mid and definitely not what it used to be. If I could change one thing about the scene, I would make it a lot more popular and have more venues be open to hosting punk rock shows.

5) With two albums under your belt, what lessons have you learned about the music industry and the creative process?

I’ve learned that this shit is fucking difficult. We are still at the bottom of the learning curve in terms of trying to get ourselves out there because a lot of our mentality revolves around just wanting to make music for the sake of making music. However, I’ve learned that there needs to be a balance between those two things (creative expression and industry bullshit) in order to make the most out of the music for ourselves and our fans.

I have learned that a lot of time and money goes into this shit. I didn’t realize how much dedication goes into getting listens and how many shows you need to play consistently to get your music out there and gain some reputation. It’s definitely pretty humbling and gives me a lot of respect for the bands that have made it big. As for lessons I have learned about the creative process, this also takes a long time. However, this part definitely isn’t as difficult as the music industry shit. I think creativity comes pretty easily for all of us in Skookum, so we all have a good time when we’re jammin and comin up with new stuff.

6) As a group of four, how do you navigate creative differences and ensure everyone’s voice is heard in the songwriting process?

We’ve all kind of assigned ourselves a niche within our songwriting process to eliminate any issues in the songwriting process. Usually what happens is I’ll come up with an idea and Ruby, Otto, and I will jam on that idea and expand it until it becomes something that has potential. Then, we’ll just keep playing those same ideas over and over while Jake is writing down ideas in his notebook and mouthing out phrases to make sure it’ll sound alright in the music. Once the bare song is created, we practice and record it and I usually do overdubs and fit together all the extra parts with consultation from everyone. While we still have differences every now and then, we get over them pretty easily since the parts of the songs that we are unsure about quickly grow on us.

We actually had an issue with this early on in our career, and we’ve definitely learned from it. What Max said about the niche thing is true, but Otto and Max also write songs as well. I would say that communication is definitely key in navigating creative differences. If I am unsure about something or feel like something should be changed I always ask everyone in the band to give their input. If I want something, but majority says no, then we won’t add it.

7) What has been the most memorable live performance for Skookum so far, and why?

The most memorable performance for me personally was our album release show at Dyzzy OnVinyl last January, which is this tiny, crusty record store in Long Beach that definitely did not have enough room for a pit despite there being a pit when we played. That was probably the first major show where I didn’t feel like I was going to have a panic attack before we went on, and we also had so much fun and played really well, so it was super memorable for me.

For me, the most memorable performance we’ve had was the second show we played at the Whisky a Go Go with the Dickies. This show was so sick because I had never seen the Dickies before and they were on my list to see, and by the time that we had gone on there were a good amount of people there. After playing, when I was walking around a ton of random people were coming up to me telling me we were super sick and that we sounded like an 80s punk rock band. It was fucking sick I felt like a rockstar.

8) How do you engage with your audience during live performances, and what do you hope they take away from your shows?

Jake and I try to make jokes and banter with the audience (even though I tend to have no filter and will say some goofy shit that will not go over well) in the hopes that our audience will have a good time and also leave the show and say “remember when Jake said blah blah blah, that was fucking hilarious!” Hardcore shows traditionally have a very angry and aggressive nature to them, so we try to keep the aggressive nature that defines hardcore while also making sure people laugh and have fun before being manhandled in the pit.

During our live shows we engage with our audience by cracking jokes and telling people about our songs and what they mean. I’m honestly not the best at this and I kinda never really know what to say in between songs, so I kinda just wing it every time. Max helps a lot with this and between the both of us we make it work. I hope that our fans have a good time at our shows and enjoy the pit.

9) What can fans expect from your performance at the Whisky a Go Go? Any surprises or special elements planned?

As of now, we don’t have anything special planned, but there will definitely be something funny that we’ll pull out of our sleeves! We’re just hoping to go out and play the best show possible to reach the most people as possible. And even if you don’t expect much out of us, Guttermouth will put on a great show as always!

Our fans can expect a great time. Skookum and Guttermouth in one night, what more could you ask for???

10) Looking ahead, what are your goals and aspirations for the band in the near future, beyond the show at the Whisky a Go Go?

We definitely want to record and release more music. We also really want to get our music on vinyl at a certain point, because right now I’m only putting our music on old CDr’s and cassette tapes I find at estate sales. We all are huge on physical media, so I’d love to put out some high quality versions of our music on wax for us and our fans. I also really want to start building our own DIY record label; if you look at the bottom of any of our albums on Spotify, you’ll see something like © Humungulus Records, which was a little joke that Otto and I came up with as our label for Skookum, but I really do want to transform it into an actual label where we can record and distribute music not only for ourselves, but also for any aspiring local artists.

Although it will probably become increasingly harder to be involved in Skookum with college and careers and what not, I hope we can continue making music and playing shows. I love my band members. I love making music with them, I love playing shows with them, I love going through the long hard recording process with them, and I really hope that we can continue doing that for the rest of our lives.