User:Kip Legend

Skintight Jaguars are a hard rock/punk band from London, England. The band was formed in 2004 from the ashes of Norwich based band Sneaking Fog. The current line-up consists of vocalist Kip Legend, guitarist Ryan Simmonds (often known as Jean), bassist Matt Valentine and drummer J Machete.

Music journalist Malcolm Dome described them as "Decadently apocalyptic" in Rock Sound magazine.

History
The band originally formed in 2003 under the initial guise of Sneaking Fog after meeting while studying at the Norwich School of Art & Design. What started off as a joke, quickly became an ever increasing career prospect due to high profile support slots with The Darkness and The Quireboys.

In late 2004 after internal conflicts, the name was changed to Skintight Jaguars, and the first demo under the new name was released - Black Russian b/w Lowdown Downtown. This was swiftly followed up with a single release of an old Sneaking Fog track Thunderbone on the independent Norwich based label Wilde Club Records in early 2005. Garnering the band radio play in Italy, Denmark and on Bruce Dickinson's BBC Radio 6 Rock show in the UK.

Substance abuse and more problems with guitarists coming and going in early 2005 resulted in a large downtime for the band. After months of auditioning guitarists, the band finally settled on Israeli born guitarist Niro Knox who became the next full time member of the band.

Six new tracks were recorded with guitarist Niro in late 2005, overseen by producer/bassist John McCoy, best known for his work with Gillan, Mammoth and production duties on the debut album by UK Subs. These recordings were never released and Niro quit the band just a few months later to be replaced by ex-Plastiques bassist Carl Muskel who took over the vacant guitar slot.

2006 saw a hiatus for the band in a concious effort to start something fresh musically. This resulted in a dramatic change in sound with something more akin to the members' punk influences, taking on a preferred ‘wall-of-noise’ sound and the use of simplistic chord structures in reference to The Ramones and Motorhead. After months of working on this new sound, the Start The Fight EP finally surfaced on their own independent label Hustler Squad.

During this time the band also recorded a version of Turbonegro's Denim Demon. This track is - as yet - unreleased due to apparent legal issues, but as of March 2008 can be streamed on the bands official website.

Another line-up change resulted in more delays at the end of 2006 when guitarist Carl Muskel relocated to Los Angeles. Ryan ‘Jean’ Simmonds was already on standby and immediately recruited into the band as the new lead guitarist. Ryan had previously played in an early formation of the band called Electrobitch in 2003, and was also another ex-graduate of the Norwich School of Art & Design. The band then spent the next 6 months crafting new songs for a full length album.

In 2007, Skintight Jaguars released their debut album The Curse on MSKL Records, (Later re-released in May 2008 on Zodiac Killer Records), which also featured some remastered/remixed tracks off the Start The Fight EP.

Since forming they have performed alongside many high profile bands including Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, Towers Of London, Vice Squad, The Vibrators, Lords Of Altamont, Zodiac Mindwarp, Young Heart Attack, and Nicke Borg from Backyard Babies.

Skintight Jaguars are currently writing new material, and will be embarking on a short tour of England in July 2008.

Current Members

 * Vocals: Kip Legend aka Kippo
 * Bass/Backing vocals: Matt Valentine
 * Lead guitar/Backing vocals: Ryan Simmonds aka Jean
 * Drums: J Machete

Past Members

 * Lead guitar: Carl Muskel aka The Plower (2005-2006)
 * Lead guitar: Niro Knox (2005)
 * Lead guitar: 'Famus' Shamus (2004)

Extra Information

 * Matt Valentine and Kip Legend both appear in the 2005 music video You’re Speaking My Language by Juliette and The Licks.
 * The band are frequently known to cover songs by Turbonegro, Dead Boys, The Dwarves and Motorhead at live shows.
 * The Skintight Jaguar name was taken from a couple of Las Vegas strip clubs.
 * Promo only single Dead From The Face Down received A-List rotation airplay on UK radio station Total Rock during early 2006.