Kuts

You would know him as the front man for Alkaline Trio, but Matt Skiba is so much more than that. Three years on from Matt Skiba's first solo album, 2012's 'Babylon,' there are many more tales yet to tell. While 'Babylon' – a super-solid record in its own right – bore some resemblance to Matt's "day job," the conception, construction and execution of 'KUTS' found the main man working in an area that felt distinctly different from his past work. Essentially, Matt Skiba and the Sekrets now have their own individual sound, something Matt himself was happy to explore as the material came together.

"The last Sekrets record wasn't too much of a departure from Alkaline Trio," Matt says, "and it wasn't really intended to be. I had a small handful of electro-based rock songs that ended up sounding different than the Trio but mostly because I did it without my Trio bandmates. With 'KUTS,' I wanted to work with a producer that was mostly unfamiliar with Alkaline Trio and who was into making something completely different. I think that the writing style and the entire approach to this new one was a stronger desire to do something fairly different from my other band. We used sounds hugely influenced by early David Bowie stuff and took more chances."

These changes were encouraged by producer Rob Schnapf (who lists Elliott Smith, Beck, and The Vines amongst the artists on his resume).

"Also, working with Jarrod [Alexander, drums] and Hunter [Burgan, guitar] again, I knew that their playing would bring entirely new elements to the songs that would help shape them in a very huge way and influence ideas that I would never have thought of on my own. I'm blessed to have those guys in my corner. They did great stuff for the last record but had even more freedom on this one. It really shaped the way this record sounds, completely."