The Shining Skulls

The Shining Skulls was founded in Seattle, WA by Benjamin Trimpe (producer/multi-instrumentalist) and Andrew Bailey (guitarist/singer) in late 2008. Soon thereafter they were joined by Jordan Cassidy (bassist/singer).

The band derived its name from the Skull Shining breathing technique, a form of purposeful hyperventilation often associated with yoga. "The idea is to alter the normal cadence of breathing," explains Trimpe, "It can transform the simple act of breathing into a strange species of head-rush."

Fans who have seen the Skulls perform live can attest that their extremely tight, dynamic stage show is a head-buzzing and face melting experience.

For the first few years of the band's existence, their live show was The Shining Skulls' calling card. Three part harmonies soared above waves of ear-tickling sonics. Gentle ballads took unexpected left turns into booty shakin' funk. A new form of rock began to take shape. Delighting fans, patrons, and staff alike at nearly every venue, they quickly became a go-to act for many Seattle area venues.

Right about the time drummer Keith Greer joined, the band decided to go back into the studio. They already had a self-produced EP under their belts and they wanted to up the ante. Days later the Skulls began work on a ambitious LP.

Bailey and Trimpe rented a house in Ballard, transformed the basement into a makeshift recording studio, and Trimpe took on the roles of engineer and producer. In those modest environs the essence of the album began to take shape. A self-described perfectionist, Trimpe learned the engineering and production role on the job, often tinkering for days and weeks on end in search of inspired sounds and textures. On more than one occasion he discarded finished album tracks that were not up to snuff, requesting that the band reconvene to retrack the song in its entirety. After more than 7 months of recording and production, The Shining Skulls finished their first LP.

During the recording process, the band set its sights on creating of an album that was more than just a collection of hopeful singles. Set against the bar-code backdrop of modern working-class America, the album was also to be a document of change, emotional transformation, and eventual freedom of the self.

“The entire idea of Destroy Your Self is the idea that what we often take to be the self, is not the self at all,” says Trimpe. “As a society we often have a screwed up sense of what the self is. We feel entitled to answers and in turn, we attach our beliefs and feelings of personal value to all of these arbitrary things that are completely separate from the self. In doing so, we give all of our own power away. I think that in order to achieve some kind of happiness in life you kind of have to let go and rip all that shit down.“

Written by the entire band, the "Destroy Your Self" was released in August, 2011. Equal parts tender beauty and frantic rage, DYS embraces rock classicism and futurism simultaneously, sounding somehow familiar yet never tipping its hat as to what comes next. Melodies and subtle texture weave elegantly through songs that explore subject matter from love and sex (“The Static in Between, ”Pipeline”) to the hollow comforts of 21st century America (“Pretty People,” “Provided by the Management”). DYS is available at several mom and pop record stores in the Seattle Metro area as well as on iTunes, Amazon, Zune Marketplace, Bandcamp and CD Baby.

The Shining Skulls plan to release a string of their more radio friendly singles sometime in the upcoming months.

By coupling a fierce DIY production philosophy with a casual rejection of the idea of "cool", The Shining Skulls have been able to detach themselves from the taste makers and trends and focus on the what really makes a band a band. The music.