Scene Magazine - March 2021 | WWW.GSCENE.COM

Page 48

SKIN. COPYRIGHT MARCO OVANDO

Scene 48 Gscene 20

Releasing their debut record in 1994, they were loosely associated with the Britpop movement. But Skunk Anansie don’t fit into any one category. Led by a working-class, black, British gay woman, Skunk Anansie broke the mould. All these years later they still do. How many successful rock bands have emerged since with a singer like Skin? Her story is unique and she’s decided to tell it from her own perspective. Her memoir, It Takes Blood and Guts, came out in September 2020.

“You’ve got to keep moving forward, keep striving for everything you want to be” According to Skin: “It’s been a very difficult thing being a lead singer of a rock band looking like me and it still is. I have to say it’s been a fight and it will always be a fight. That fight drives you and makes you want to work harder... It’s not supposed to be easy, particularly if you’re a woman, you’re black or you are gay like me. You’ve got to keep moving forward, keep striving for everything you want to be. It’s been a fight, and there has been a personal cost, but I wouldn’t have done it any other way.”

IT TAKES BLOOD & GUTS

Skin, lead singer of rock band Skunk Anansie, solo artist, LGBTQ+ activist and all-around trailblazer, launches her memoir this month in a broadcast event hosted by Southbank Centre ) When Skunk Anansie emerged in the

mid-90s, they did so with quite a bang. This was largely due to Skin, the band’s almost impossibly cool lead singer. With her shaved head, big voice and charisma, she became

a star overnight. No one else in the music industry looked or sounded like her. They released six albums and secured themselves a place in the Guinness Book of Records as one of the most successful British bands of the 1990s.

Skill will be discussing the book at Southbank Centre as part of the Inside Out literary events programme. The event will be broadcast online on Thursday, March 4 at 7.30pm and will be available On Demand for seven days. She is set to return to Southbank Centre in June to perform at Grace Jones’ Meltdown festival. Naturally, Grace Jones broke the mould in the same way back in the 70s and 80s. The combined force of Skin and Grace will make for quite the post-lockdown treat. According to Skin, Skunk Anansie are very much a live band. In 1999, they performed on the biggest stage in British rock as Glastonbury headliners. Fast-forward 20 years, and Stormzy did the same to great effect. He initially claimed to be the first black artist to secure the headline slot, but when he realised his error he Tweeted: “Skin from the band Skunk Anansie was actually the first black artist to headline glasto she done it with her band in 1999 no disrespect intended and MASSIVE salute to you – my apologies! @skinskinny.” (sic)

SKIN: IT TAKES BLOOD & GUTS

It’s unfortunate that her groundbreaking headline slot was all but forgotten, but as Stormzy’s Tweet demonstrated, Skin is finally getting the credit she deserves. D For tickets to Skin’s Inside Out literary event, visit: www.southbankcentre.co.uk/ whats-on/literature-poetry/skin-it-takesblood-and-guts D For more info on Grace Jones’ Meltdown festival, visit: https://www.southbankcentre. co.uk/whats-on/festivals-series/ meltdownblood-and-guts


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook

Articles inside

TRANSforming Futures partnership launches results of two reports

3min
page 4

BEING HIV POSITIVE & SEX POSITIVE

4min
page 15

ALLSORTS RELEASES NEW PODCAST

2min
page 13

WARWICKSHIRE PRIDE SETS UP FOOD PARCEL SCHEME

1min
page 12

COLLYER'S LGBTQIA+ SOCIETY RAISING FUNDS FOR SWITCHBOARD

1min
page 12

DYSPHORIA IS A DRAG EVENT

1min
page 10

BLAGSS runners stay on track

1min
page 5

TRANSforming Futures publish two reports

3min
page 4

SCENE IN BIRMINGHAM

5min
page 72

MORE TO ME THAN HIV by Jason Lupi

2min
page 69

HOMELY HOMILY by Glenn Stevens

2min
page 68

NETTY'S WORLD by Netty Wendt

2min
page 68

TURN BACK THE PAGES by Chris Gull

9min
pages 66-67

RAE’S REFLECTIONS

6min
page 61

STUFF & THINGS by Jon Taylor

2min
page 60

GOLDEN HOUR by Billie Gold

2min
page 60

CRAIG'S THOUGHTS by Craig Hanlon-Smith

5min
page 59

TWISTED GILDED GHETTO by Eric Page

3min
page 58

ROGER’S RUMINATIONS by Roger Wheeler

2min
page 58

THE REAL LIFE COACH by Sam Adams

4min
page 57

AT HOME with Michael Hootman

2min
page 56

ALL THAT JAZZ by Simon Adams

2min
page 55

ART MATTERS by Enzo Marra

2min
page 55

CLASSICAL NOTES by Nick Boston

5min
page 54

MUSIC TO WATCH THE YEAR GO BY

4min
pages 52-53

PAGE'S PAGES

5min
page 51

COVERT magazine

2min
page 50

FREE TO BE ME

2min
page 50

LIVE YOUR TRUTH

4min
page 49

IT TAKES BLOOD & GUTS

2min
page 48

We Found Love in the 80s

9min
pages 46-47

#BeMoreJill

4min
page 45

Hope & The Glory

4min
page 44

Around the World

1min
page 43

Football v Transphobia

3min
page 42

Jewel of the South Downs

4min
pages 40-41

The Doyenne of Drag

4min
pages 38-39

The Boy and The Bear

2min
page 37

Sussex Nightstop

4min
page 36

Healing Properties of the World Around Us

5min
page 27

Brighton & Hove Pride 2021

7min
pages 34-35

DAVE LYNN - A LIVING LEGEND

10min
pages 30-33

Activity for All

12min
pages 24-26

Gardener’s Delight

3min
pages 22-23

Out & About

5min
page 21

NOT A BAAAD JOB

4min
page 20

Trans Day of Visibility

5min
pages 16-17

Project to utilise empty stores underway

1min
page 13

Trans Pride Scotland announces virtual events

1min
page 12

Ophelia Payne raises £1,900 for MindOut

1min
page 10

Vaccine easier to access for those with HIV

1min
page 9

Care Quality Commission approval for Kingsway Care

1min
page 5

Lunch Positive launches new scheme

1min
page 7

March for Martlets!

3min
page 11

City bids to lead effort to end HIV

2min
page 6

SheSays Brighton announces International Women’s Day event

2min
page 10

Census 2021 to include LGBTQ+

2min
page 9

The Princess and the Pea for Brains (that’s YOU)

4min
page 14

Scene magazine.Now with added Birmingham

4min
page 72

Covert magazine

10min
pages 50-51

The Great Outdoors

2min
pages 18-19

Jewel of the South Downs

30min
pages 40-48

Healing Properties of Nature

36min
pages 27-39

Coming Out Stories

4min
page 49

Activity for All

12min
pages 24-26

Not a Baaad Job

4min
page 20

BLAGSS

8min
pages 21-23

Trans Visibility Day

5min
pages 16-17
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.