HardLore Podcast: “Skull from SKINHEAD”
Episode Date: August 28, 2025

EPISODE OVERVIEW

This episode of HardLore features a deep-dive biographical interview with Joshua Long—aka Skull—founder, songwriter, and creative force behind the hardcore band Skinhead. Hosted by Colin Young and Bo Lueders, the conversation unpacks the personal, musical, and subcultural journey that led Skull from growing up in New Hampshire to the national hardcore, punk, and metal scenes. Skull, known for his emotionally raw and autobiographical songwriting, discusses the challenges (and humor) of owning the most misunderstood band name in punk, exploring trauma and vulnerability through music, and the importance of community, authenticity, and friendship.

KEY THEMES & DISCUSSION POINTS

1. Owning the SKINHEAD Name & Explaining Its History

• The Difficult Band Name

  • Joshua discusses the perennial confusion, discomfort, and misunderstanding that comes with naming his band “Skinhead.”
  • Quote:

    “I tell people that all the time: ‘Hey, I love Skinhead,’ and they go, what, are you crazy? …the name even incites rage within people. For better, for worse, here I am. It’s Skinhead.” (00:10)

  • He explains that, surprisingly, no band ever took the name just “Skinhead,” despite the long history of Oi, punk, and hardcore bands dancing around it.

• Why the Name?

  • For Skull, calling the band Skinhead is both a personal reclamation and a powerful artistic statement:
  • Quote:

    “This is an extension of me. What are you going to do about it?” (03:53)

• Detachment from WP associations

  • Skull is candid that every decision around the band name was made deliberately to avoid any white power association, even as the word itself can incite controversy:
  • Quote:

    “All the white power bands have all the clever names... You can’t go down that road because that’s fucked up. But call it the thing, dude, why are you beating around the bush?” (04:43)

2. Keeping Art, Work, and Life Together

• Balancing Personal Training and Band Life

  • Skull still works as a coach and manages other personal trainers.
  • The challenge:

    “You can’t tell your boss that you need to take off for a weekend because you have to play a show with your band, Skinhead. That’s not a cool thing that people enjoy to do.” (02:22)

• Living the Straight Edge Life

  • Skull describes his stubborn commitment to straight edge, influenced by personal and family history of addiction:
  • Quote:

    “I’ve been straight Edge for quite some time, and refuse, probably out of spite, to ever give that up.” (03:26)

3. Musical Upbringing and Community in New Hampshire

• Early Musical Environment

  • Grew up in Manchester, New Hampshire—a “giant suburb of Boston” exposed to both local and Boston scenes (09:10).
  • Influences ranged from grindcore to Oi, punk, and rave culture.
  • Notable Quote:

    “When I was growing up, late 90’s, early 2000’s…people couldn’t get enough grindcore... and violent, roving skinheads just showed up and terrified people. It was quite the juxtaposition.” (09:51)

• First Bands and Venues

  • Describes his first band, FUBAR, and the unique culture of local gigs (“Dairy Palooza,” local swap meets, role of figures like Jake with “Kurt Cobain” looks).
  • Quote:

    “Everyone was like mean and mad and aggressive. Music was everywhere... Rancid was on the radio—things are happening.” (13:08)

4. The Early Appeal of Skinhead Subculture

• Why Skinhead?

  • Skull paints skinheads as the most “rotten,” “big, mean-looking” subculture with serious emotional draw, especially for an adolescent surrounded by family chaos and addiction.
  • For him, it’s less about violence for its own sake, more about finding belonging and drawing hard boundaries in opposition to that world:
  • Quote:

    “There’s no shit that I turned to something straight edge... I can’t just moderate my lifestyle. I have to say fuck you to everyone who isn’t this.” (18:24)

• Formative Records

  • Chronic admiration for bands local to the New England area—The Bruisers, Dropkick Murphys.
  • Memorable story about trading an Operation Ivy CD for Dropkick Murphys’ Do or Die (19:32).

5. Writing Approach, Vulnerability & Artistic Authenticity

• Music as Diary

  • Skinhead’s music is described as highly autobiographical—a vehicle to process and share true stories of violence, love, friendship, and grief:
  • Quote:

    “It feels like such an intimate look into your diary... while you’re talking about smashing bottles over people’s heads. That’s the complete package of Skinhead. That’s what sets you apart.” (34:03)

• Vulnerability in Songs

  • Especially noted in “Homesick” (the acoustic song written for a friend who died)—and the audience response:
  • Quote:

    “I wanted to help his sister out... And so part of it was me just needing to talk about that, and part was me just putting out 100 tapes and sending all the proceeds to her.” (29:53)

  • The difficulty in performing these most personal songs (“I’ve had to play it live twice, and that’s probably the worst thing I could possibly think of.” 33:54)

• Songwriting Process

  • Emphasis on immediacy, emotion, and “behavior stacking” when giving fitness/lifestyle advice or music advice:

    “It’s all behavior stacking... If you can’t do that, what the fuck am I doing here?” (07:31)

6. Recording Philosophy and Collaborators

• The One-Day Record

  • Most earlier Skinhead music was recorded in single-day sessions with collaborator Taylor:
  • Quote:

    “Everything. Wow.” (25:31)

• A One-Man Band

  • Skull writes all music and lyrics, plays all instruments, and arranges everything in the studio.
  • Quote:

    “I just go in there and play drums. Then I pick up a guitar... then I sing and I ask Taylor if he wants lunch...” (28:14)

• Taylor and Martine

  • Both, as producer and designer, are praised for their ability to translate Skull’s convoluted ideas into reality.

7. Key Songs, Albums, and Moments Discussed

• “Kill Yourself”—described as an “anti-suicide” song, expressing anger at repeating patterns of destruction in his scene (71:07).
• “Chuck”—written at funerals after seeing friends do drugs and not learn (“You learned absolutely nothing”—71:47).
• “Seperate Checks”—the infamous group meal dynamic of splitting bills:
  • Quote:

    “The only solace we have is just gorging ourselves for those endorphins... how do we love each other so much but we are the biggest scumbags when it comes to just the simplest thing.” (76:34)

• “The Dog Song”—an ode to the deep bond with a “lifer dog,” and the way pets anchor us through life’s chaos (79:08, 81:49).
• Use of specific friends’ names in songs—creating a mythic record of his own scene (“Your little Jimmy is Joby, and that’s fun for me.” 35:07).

8. Stories from Touring: Gigs, Touring Life, and Camaraderie

• Touring with Early Bands

  • Skull tells wild stories from the road with Black My Heart (snack attacks, pranking their Hungarian driver Yaki), Hammer Bros., Death Before Dishonor (the “big guy” dynamic of their fan base), and more.

• Favorite Tour Memories

  • The small, impromptu “passenger seat at sunrise” conversations rank highest:
  • Quote:

    “The impromptu conversations that you have with your friends... When you’re in a van with your friends... your boys driving, you wake up, gotta piss, where the fuck are we?... just conversation strikes, and the sun’s coming up.” (122:20)

9. Philosophy, Community, and Friends

• Being Who You Are

  • “Live Free or Fuck You” attitude—Skull’s guiding philosophy, best expressed via his New Hampshire roots.
  • Perpetually grateful for the direct support of friends, both through musical participation and through the emotional safety to experiment, create, and grow.
  • Quote:

    “I’m only free to be me because I’ve been supported by all my friends to be myself. I guess I’m doing them.” (127:49)

• Musical Inspirations & Hardcore Top Four

  • Skull’s Mount Rushmore of hardcore LPs:
    1. 10 Yard Fight – Hardcore Pride
    2. Death Threat – Peace & Security
    3. Carry On – A Life Less Plagued
    4. Trial – These Are Our Lives
  • Quote:

    “So many honorable mentions... but this is what got me into straight edge.” (129:22)

10. Notable Memorable Moments

• The “Double Mochi” Technique (06:29):

  • Skull’s confession to buying two cartons of mochi, eating one on the way home, and sharing the other so as not to appear “greedy.”

• Audience Connection

  • A key motivation for Skinhead is the realization that telling specific, personal stories can become universal:
  • Quote:

    “It’s a collection of stories that nobody can actually relate to. Nobody else has experienced them, but ends up as a relatable listening experience somehow.” (20:48)

• On Dogs, Loss, and Friendship

  • Touching stories about Beatrice (Skull’s “lifer dog,” 81:52), and on encouraging listeners to stay connected with friends and family before it’s too late (“If you have friends who are alive and you love them, dude, just call them, text them. I have a rule—if something reminds me of a friend, I text them, no matter what.” [85:31])

TIMESTAMPS FOR SIGNIFICANT SEGMENTS

| Time | Segment | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:10 | Discussing the Skinhead band name, legacy, and misconceptions | | 03:26 | Skull on being straight edge and the personal roots | | 09:10 | Growing up in New Hampshire, role of music and violence | | 18:24 | Early skinhead subculture’s draw and symbolism | | 29:53 | Writing “Homesick” and using music to process grief | | 34:03 | Vulnerability & autobiographical songwriting in Skinhead | | 76:34 | The great debate on splitting checks—origin of the song | | 81:52 | The “dog song” & the importance of animal companions | | 122:20 | Best part of touring: spontaneous sunrise conversations | | 127:49 | “Who are you doing?” Skull credits the hardcore community | | 129:22 | Skull’s Top Four Hardcore Albums |

SELECT QUOTES & MEMORABLE MOMENTS

• “I’m an emotional person. I work off emotions solely. So it was an emotional decision and I have no choice but to stick to it.” (03:26, Skull)
• “You can’t say skin. You can’t even… it’s hard even to go to a concert. Are you gonna tell your friends you’re gonna go to the Skinhead gig?” (03:01, Skull)
• “Everything is stories.” (01:03, Colin quoting Skull)
• “Every show we played, I just laugh on stage—are you guys like this? You’re hearing what I’m saying and you’re excited about it?” (24:59, Skull)
• “I’m here for success.” (09:03, Skull)
• “The impromptu conversations that you have with your friends… when you wake up, you gotta piss, where the fuck are we? Just conversation strikes…” (122:20, Skull)
• “I’m only free to be me because I’ve been supported by all my friends to be myself.” (127:49, Skull)
• “Owning pets, knowing we will most likely outlive them, is one of the craziest things that we do. That everyone does. It’s so brutal.” (83:44, Bo)
• “I just want to say, if you have friends who are alive and you love them, dude, just call them, text them... I have a rule. If something reminds me of a friend, I text them, no matter what.” (85:31, Skull)

FAN Q&A – RAPID FIRE HIGHLIGHTS

• Best Oi Introduction: “Just go Coxsparrer. That’s fine… then listen to The Trouble. You’ll be fine.” (138:22)
• Best Dog Breed: “I’ve only had pit bulls. I think they’re the most magical dogs in the world.” (140:51)
• Top Place to Write: “Airplane… because there’s nothing. I can finally be alone with my thoughts.” (142:01)
• Worst Birthday Party: “Not invited, got dragged out making out with a girl, friends fighting with bats, a plant went missing…” (145:27)

TONE & STYLE

The episode swings between brutally honest, humorously self-deprecating, and wrenchingly sincere. Skull’s storytelling is both anecdotal and reflective, switching fluidly between wild road stories and vulnerable ruminations on grief, addiction, and community. The hosts match his energy with spirited banter, mutual admiration, and their own nostalgia for the scene.

CONCLUSION / FINAL THOUGHTS

This HardLore episode is not only a must for Skinhead fans but for anyone interested in the power of punk and hardcore as a vehicle for self-expression, healing, and community. Joshua Long (“Skull”) embodies the DIY hardcore ethos—radically honest, self-deprecating, emotionally open, and always compelled to “live free or fuck you.” Whether discussing surviving touring on $5 Cici’s Pizza, the pain of playing a song about a lost friend, or the paradox of singing about friendship and violence, Skull delivers his truth—and proves why Skinhead is striking a chord outside hardcore circles as well.

For more:
Listen to Skinhead’s latest album, What a Beautiful Day (Closed Casket), and companion photobook, On an Island.