See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.
By Danielle Furfaro
Brooklyn Daily
The band members might all be in their teens, but between them, they have several decades of musical knowledge.
The Skins members ages range from 14 to 19, and with two years of touring and recording under their belts already, the Brooklyn talents are a well-worn, solid machine of soulful, frenetic rock.
“Even our ballads are heavy,” said musician Bayli McKeithan.
Bayli was 14, and his siblings Kaya and Reef were 13 and nine when they started going to Paul Green’s School of Rock in Manhattan. Since then, they have lived and breathed music. There, they met classmates and dueling guitarists Daisy Spencer and Russell Chell.
They have already played a bunch of Brooklyn and Manhattan venues, including Spike Hill, the House of Yes, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Brooklyn Bowl.
The band members never dreamed that they would become full-time musicians. They planned to go to and finish college and get a regular job. But now, that seems to be changing. All of the members in college plan to take a year off and 14-year-old Reef will be home schooled.
“We surprised ourselves,” said Bayli McKeithan. “It’s not that we were not serious about it, but we didn’t know we would get this far or gain this level of success.”
The Skins plays music that draws heavily on 1960s classic rock like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Led Zeppelin, but also throws in influences funk 1970s funk, reggae, hip-hop, and modern day hard rock. The band put out one EP so far, and is planning to travel to Los Angeles to work on its first album.
The Skins at the AfroPunk Festival at Commodore Barry Park (Nassau Street at Navy Street in Fort Greene, afropunkfest.com). Aug. 24–25, free.