Interview by Cath Holland
Photos by Tony Gaskin

MR – Hi Benji, thank you for taking time out of your preps for tonights show to talk to us here at Midlands Rocks

B – No worries it’s a pleasure

MR – So, Union Black, where did the name come from and what’s it all about?

B – We see Union Black as a celebration of the UK’s diversity. We spend a lot of time in the States and you still find the different races and cultures quiet segregated, but here it’s all mixed up and for me coming home it’s so beautiful to see all these different cultures mixing together. So the reason we call it Union Black is for instance you give a kid some paints to mix, the more they mix the darker it gets. It’s definitely not a downtrodden message or black power statement, just an up beat and optimistic album about having cultural identity but sharing and mixing those identities as well.

MR – Is it the time that you’ve spent in the USA where you’ve become good friends with Jacoby Shaddix(Papa Roach)?

B – Yeah, we first met in 2004. I was already a Papa Roach fan from when I heard “Last Resort”, so it was amazing to meet the band and play with them in Miami that year, and from that we managed to do a couple of tours with them and are now good friends

MR – How did the collaboration on “Warning” come about?

B – I had written the lyrics and we’d put some music to it, but I felt something was missing and no matter what I tried I couldn’t get it to work, so I spoke to a couple of people including Jacoby who was well up for it so I sent him the track and waited, and waited, and waited!! I kept phoning and leaving messages but nothing!! Suddenly I gets this call “Dude I love it, wait till you hear what I’ve done!!” I was like "email it to me" but he said he would come down to the studio personally as they were due in the UK on the Taste of Chaos tour. I though shit, what if it sucks!! But fortunately it didn’t suck and we all loved it!

MR – Union Black seems to be more dub influenced, a lot more technical, would that be a fair comment?

B- Oh definitely. We wanted to push the boundaries of what we could achieve and although it’s still the essential Skindred sound, we have experimented more.

MR – Your shows are always intense and full of energy, is this part of the show or is it a big part of what you are?

B – We don’t sit backstage and do all that huddle and psyching up stuff, that’s not what we are, we just go on stage and what you see is a bunch of guys having fun doing what we love to do and hopefully that comes across.

MR – What you got planned for the summer?

B – Loads of festivals hopefully!! We’re already confirmed for Waken and Download. I’d like to play Glastonbury, something a bit more diverse to take us out of our comfort zone you know? We played a festival in Germany last year, it was like “Deftones, Florence & The Machine, Skindred, Marina and the Diamonds”!! It’s great to play to a whole new audience.

MR – Any bands grabbing your attention at the moment?

B – Theres a young Welsh metal band I’ve been producing – Revoker. They’ve just been signed by RoadRunner. The guy that signed them has never signed a British band for RoadRunner before so that speaks volumes, check them out.

MR – So what do you think of the UK metal scene as a whole at the moment?

B – I think people have gotta stop worrying about what they wear and what they listen to, it’s getting very cliquey with all these genres and sub-genres. People ask me what’s my guilty pleasure. I’ve got no guilty pleasures!!! If I like a song I like it and shouldn’t have to feel guilty about it!

The whole “scene” thing is crazy

MR – If there’s one thing you could say to people right now what would it be?

B – You’ve just gotta keep supporting your local bands and venues. Support the live scene. If you like a band buy an EP or buy a t-shirt, go out and see live music that’s what it’s all about.

MR – Well thank you Benji for taking time out to talk with us, have a great gig tonight and hope the rest of the tour goes well

B – Thank you, the tour is pretty much sold out which is really amazing. It’s been a pleasure to talk to you, hope you enjoy the show.

You can read Cath's review of the gig here

Full review of Union Black can be found here