They arrive in two cars full of instruments, amps and wires. Pages of robot and Star Wars inspired lyrics are committed to memory. They bring the humor of teenage boys and the dreams of generations of musicians.
They’re ready to rock.
First, they will endure the somewhat embarrassing logistics of being high schoolers playing in a 21-and-over club.
“Once they unload their stuff, we’re going to do a sound check,” Skullbot’s lead singer Jason Palaniuk says, nodding toward another band arriving at the High Dive in Seattle. “Then we move our stuff into a little room. Then we get kicked outside for an hour and a half.”
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Photo GallerySuch is life for Skullbot, the Stanwood garage band that’s making sound waves in the Seattle music scene.
While other teenagers spent the summer working for minimum wage or vacationing with their families, Jason, 18, Derek Palaniuk, 16, and Garrett Zipp, 17, rocked in trendy Seattle clubs, sold CDs and conducted radio interviews.
In between sets of video games, “Twilight Zone” episodes and evenings at Little Caesars, they composed upbeat, rowdy songs mostly about robots.
Hailed by KEXP’s popular morning host John Richards as an amazing new sound, the self-described “space rock” band could well be on the brink of something bigger than adulthood.
“When you see a band that young and that good, you get pretty psyched that that kind of music is being made in Seattle,” said Richards, who doubles as KEXP’s associate program director. “It gives you real hope.”
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Skullbot formed a year and a half ago when Jason, a vocalist and guitarist, met Garrett in art class at Stanwood High School.
Jason, who graduated in June, knew Garrett had an acoustic guitar and a decent voice. So he invited the soft-spoken boy over to jam with him and his younger brother, Derek, a drummer. The brothers persuaded Garrett to buy a bass guitar and Skullbot was born.
“We kind of just started playing and people liked it; so that’s cool,” Jason said.
Named after Jason’s drawings of robots with skull heads, the band debuted at the Palaniuks’ 2005 St. Patrick’s Day party in the Stanwood Hotel.
Working for $50 a night, Skullbot continued performing every few weeks at the hotel for several months. Don Yates, KEXP’s music director, was in the audience at a show in late 2005.
He liked what he heard.
So he gave Skullbot a break that many musicians spend years working toward.
He put Skullbot in KEXP’s lineup. The response was immediate.
Fans phoned in asking where they could buy a CD. Richards said he can’t remember ever playing Skullbot and not hearing from fans.
In March, the teens skipped school to perform live on KEXP. A few weeks later, they recorded their first CD, which includes their KEXP performance.
The cover of the self-titled debut features a photo of Jason and Derek’s 79-year-old uncle, Matthias Von Rotz of Lake Stevens. The boys superimposed “SKULLBOT” on their uncle’s cap. He didn’t have much to say about what the boys had done.
KEXP now plays Skullbot three or four times a day. The band was among the 20 from all over the country selected for the station’s new CD, “Live at KEXP Volume Two.”
Richards said Skullbot is, without a doubt, the most popular high school band at the station.
“They certainly signify a new sound in Seattle – a heavier, deeper sound more influenced by Black Sabbath and hard rock,” Richards said. “It’s pretty amazing three young guys like that have such a heavy, deep sound. It’s impressive for sure. I had no idea they were so young when I heard them. I had them in the studio and I was shocked. They looked like dudes I hung out with in 10th grade – complete with Metallica shirts.”
Gradually other Seattle stations, including 99.9 KISW “The Rock of Seattle” and 104.9 “Funky Monkey” started incorporating Skullbot into their mix. The boys began receiving invitations to play at Seattle clubs they’re too young to visit.
Twenty minutes before Skullbot’s performance at the High Dive, the band is onstage for a sound check.
Garrett looks down at his mom, who has planted herself directly in front of the stage.
“Mom, why are you filming our sound check?” he asks.
She shrugs and then asks him about the batteries in the camera.
In the cramped staging room, Derek opens a cooler the club provides for the bands.
“Is there any water in there?” Jason asks
Derek peers in.
“Nope, just beer.”
Since the boys are not supposed to be in the club when they’re not playing, they walk across the street and camp out by Taco Del Mar.
“Yeah, so this is what we do when we’re waiting to go in the show,” Jason says in between sips of orange creme soda. “It will be pretty cool to be 21.”
Skullbot takes its cues from hard rock standards like Black Sabbath, Fu Manchu and the Melvins.
They often wear t-shirts emblazoned with band names such as Sonic Youth.
When they perform, they play so loud it’s almost impossible to make out the words. Jason, the most outspoken band member, describes Skullbot’s sound as “rock from space.”
With titles including “Robots, “Mindsplitting Monster,” “Machine Future” and “Derek’s Brain,” they admit their songs feature simple lyrics with no deep meaning.
The three-verse song “Agent,” for example, opens with the words, “Its near completion! Now it comes to life! There’s nothing left … Alright!”
“The lyrics in this song are about the struggle between robots and humans,” Jason explained. “The robots are developing a super-machine, one that can take out the whole human race. Humans fear its awakening. It’s kind of like Terminator. That movie is boss.”
Shortly before 9:30 p.m., the High Dive begins to fill with fans shelling out $5 to see three bands, starting with Skullbot. Inside, Garrett’s mom and the Palaniuks’ parents anxiously wait like football parents before the big game.
“It makes my heart beat just thinking about it,” said the Palaniuks’ dad, Les Palaniuk, a 44-year-old Boeing employee who rarely misses a Skullbot performance. A former rocker himself, he taught Jason how to play guitar. “On the day of the show I get really excited. I’m one of their biggest fans. I’m proud.”
Back at Taco Del Mar, Jason glances at a clock and then proclaims, “Lets rock.”
Dressed in T-shirts, jeans and, in Derek’s case, brown shorts and tube socks, they walk into the club and up on the stage.
“Hi,” Jason says into the mic. “This is Skullbot.”
The crowd screams.
Derek pounds his drum. Garrett slides his fingers over the strings of his bass. And Jason screams into the mic.
In the future, after they’re through with school, the boys say they’d love to tour, play for thousands of fans and at least find a record label.
Mostly, they just want to rock.
“I want to see if I can never get a real job – that’s my goal,” Derek said.
Jason said his is “to rock and rock hard.”
“To play music that you love,” Garrett added.
Nodding, Jason said, “to play loud music.”
They leave the High Dive with $150 – sense of humor and dreams still intact.
Derek Palaniuk, drums
Education: Stanwood High School junior
Composed: Skullbots Dereks Brain, at his house
Favorite drummer: Danny Carey of Tool
In school: Wants to join the drum ensemble
On drum solos: Im not a big fan of drum solos. Sometimes theyre OK, like in the Led Zeppelin song Moby Dick. Thats pretty cool.Favorite concert: Queens of the Stone Age a few years back at Showbox in Seattle
Favorite Skullbot song: Manslaughter or Mindsplitting Monster
Jason Palaniuk, Guitar and Vocals
Education: Freshman studying audio production at Shoreline Community College
Band hed most like to open for: The Flaming Lips
Current job: Shoveling gravel at his uncles house
Favorite guitar players: Eddie Glass and David Gilmour
All-time favorite concert: The Flaming Lips in Berkeley, Calif.
On guitar class in school: I got a C in the class because I didnt want to sing. I thought it was cheesy.
Will know hes made it when: He plays in front of thousands of people
Garrett Zipp, Bass and Vocals
Education: Stanwood High School senior
Learned to play: Self-taught
Favorite chord: D minor
Band hed most like to play with: The Melvins
Style: Wrote phrases like play musical notes and I play bass good on his bass strap in red marker
Favorite bass player: Les Claypool
Future: Attend the University of Washington and keep playing with Skullbot
Reporter Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292 or kmanry@heraldnet.com.
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