Familiarize Yourself

The Skallywags are not casual hobbyists. They are group of hard-working, skilled, driven, passionate young musicians. As full-time musicians they have gained a loyal following and as full-time students they are perfecting their talents. Their brand of guitar-driven rock hints at classic rock, ska, country and 90’s pop-rock (à la Third Eye Blind). I had the opportunity to interview Skallywags vocalist and Columbia College student Kristine Spieldmann. Here’s what she had to tell us about her band.

^{Photo Credit Not Found.}

I looked up the Urban Dictionary definition for Skallywag and I found “a crackhead or crackwhore, one that lives on the street and bums for money to buy alcohol or drugs. One that will rob an old lady of her purse to get a quick fix,” “a scoundrel, troublemaker, or outlaw,” and “a rugged rock band that kicks ass.” No joke. Which of these best applies to The Skallywags?

Haha!! That’s awesome! Definitely the rugged rock band that kicks ass!! Actually the bass player of our band thought of the name.  But there is a larger story behind the name that really starts at the beginning.

Everyone in the band knows each other from high school.  The summer of my freshman year of college I got the money together to record my first album. So I asked the best band in the area to play and tour with me under the name Kristine Spielmann & Strange on Display.  That summer was great! We had so much fun recording and touring. A lot of hype started growing around us in southern Indiana and Cincinnati, and then one Friday everything changed. We had a big outdoor show at a very reputable bar.  Our drummer, Skinny, called me and said he wasn’t feeling well. I begged him to play the show because it was one of our biggest shows of the tour and he said he would try. By the time of the show he was feeling alright, like he had stomach flu, but we played the show and it was amazing! The next day Strange on Display played a private party and Skinny had to sit out because he was so sick. Sunday morning I got a phone call that Skinny was in the hospital. I went up to visit him and he was just lying in bed. He had tested negative for the flu so everyone thought he would be OK. I went back to visit him that night, said goodnight and let him sleep. The next day all the band members and I got a phone call saying his kidneys were failing and they didn’t know what was wrong with him so they were air lifting him to the university hospital in downtown Cincinnati. We all went to visit and found him in intensive care in an induced coma.  Now, by Wednesday it gotten to the public that the drummer of Kristine Spielmann & Strange on Display was in the ICU with a mysterious illness and that his sister was also admitted to the ICU.  With both Skinny’s and his sister’s health failing for mysterious reasons, the press was going crazy calling all of us and all the bars that we played at to get more information. Skinny passed [away] a week later and his sister passed [away] two weeks after that.  It was later confirmed that they both died of the H1N1 virus and were the first confirmed cases in Indiana.  A month or so later, the remaining band members got together and decided to create a new group with the request by Skinny’s mother, under a new name. So we decided on the Skallywags and started playing again.  Recently, a good friend of ours brought to our attention that a “scallywag” is a person that works on a ship under the captain. Skinny was known to be the captain; it was kind of a nick name for him because he always wore this captain’s hat.

Now the band members are James Wenstrup (lead guitar), Mike Dittmer (bass), Michael Hensley (keyboards), Wade Knight (drums), and myself (Kristine Spielmann, lead vocals).  I have been singing professionally since I was 8 years old, and recently opened for Willie Nelson last summer singing the National Anthem.  James was born with a guitar in his hands his dad is a locally famous musician and an inductee in the southern Indiana musicians’ Hall of Fame. Mike started playing bass in 6th grade and provides the rock of the group. Hensley only started playing keys a year ago but has been playing instruments his entire life. Wade started on the drums at a very young age, and happens to also be an accomplished guitar player.

And on the subject of musical backgrounds, The Skallywags’ MySpace lists very diverse influences from Led Zeppelin to No Doubt to Borat. Do you study a lot of different bands to develop your sound or is it more about what each musician in your band brings to the table?

I would say that it is a combination of both.  We listen to all kinds of music to learn from and they influence how we play, but we don’t necessarily try to sound like anyone. When we write, our influences come out subliminally.

You also have something on your MySpace page about an upcoming record deal? Is something in the works right now?

Well, we’re currently recording a demo at the John Mellencamp Studios in Vincennes, Indiana that we plan to release in March. Also, we are looking for labels and we currently have a local label looking at us. We’re pretty excited.

Your bio says your band started making big waves in Indiana and Cincinnati, but you live in Chicago now so lets talk about touring. Do you tour a lot?

We play mostly in the Southern Indiana and Cincinnati, but we would love to play [in Chicago].  Touring is kind of hard for us right now because we all live pretty far from our fan base.  Every band member goes to school during the week and then travels on the weekends to our shows.  I’m not complaining; it’s a lot of fun, but we do wish we had more local shows, we just haven’t got there yet. Hopefully they will come soon.

How many of your band members are currently in school? Do you think that’s an important part of building up your careers or is school something you’re pursuing separately from music?

Everyone except our drummer is in school [at Columbia College].  James and Mike go for Audio Recording, Hensley goes for Music and I go for vocal performance/music business.  I think that although I have learned a lot about how the industry works, the musical part of my schooling isn’t really that helpful. Most of the singing techniques I already know, and though I think one can improve his or her talents, I also feel like you just have to have the talent already imbedded in your soul.  If music isn’t a part of your being, you won’t get far. If music is something you simply enjoy and are decent at, you won’t make it. I wake up every morning and the first thing I think of is singing or the band. Passion is just as important as talent.

As for the business aspect, it is very helpful in my career. It has taught me a lot, and in my opinion it’s the best major that this school offers.  James and Mike studying audio recording is very helpful to us because we don’t have to pay someone to record or mix our demos. So school definitely helps, but it isn’t easy touring and going to school at the same time. Homework simply falls through your fingers, but I wouldn’t trade the band for the world.