How did your band come together?

Dakka Skanks formed through meeting at BIMM, it began when Clara sang Ghost Town for an end of term audition and our drummer Henry was blown away, it led to the later recruitment of members and was the key starting point for what you hear today.

How did your time at BIMM allow you to progress as an artist?

BIMM gave us many opportunities, including support for our first album, we played the end of term performances and received feedback from important tutors on the scope of our sound.

For each member, the influence of BIMM is different but we all had a gentle nudge in the right direction from them.

How would you describe your sound to someone who hasn’t heard it before?

Our sound is a modern blend of ska, dub, reggae, punk with elements of rap, Irish, blues and jazz creeping in their from each members own personal style.

We keep the sound contemporary and blend these styles together to get an upbeat, energetic and exciting fusion, with Ska being the key undertone.

No two tracks are the same, and we keep the themes of the song topical to express our creativity.

The first album is a showcase of our sound and we’d urge anyone to give it a go and come to a live show too, to get immersed in an upbeat world of fun and energy.

Since graduating, how has your career moved towards becoming the supporting act of Madness?

The progression has been a slow and steady one, we first started gigging towards the end of our second year and had spent months working on songs and honing our gigging standard.

We then took it up a notch when we recorded at The Camden Roundhouse and worked with legend producer Spider Johnson who really helped us improve the sound we had created and worked on tuning up the finer points.

In our third year of uni we embarked on a European Tour playing in Belgium, France and Spain, not recommended for stress levels whilst trying to write a dissertation.

Really it’s been a natural progression and through some luck, we’ve managed to get support slots for both Madness and Neville Staple of The Specials, as well as The Skatalites, who pioneered Ska in the 60s.

Are there other acts you enjoy listening to that you would love to support?

We love modern bands too such as Gentlemen’s Dub Club, Chainska Brassika and more, we would love to support GDC and we’ve just confirmed that we’re supporting Chainska Brassika at The Hope and Ruin on November 7.

What has been your favourite venue in Brighton?

Our favourite venue in Brighton has to be Concorde 2, we are playing with Neville Staple there on the 7th September and have played their in the past with some great names. As we all know about Brighton there are so many places to hear live music, and each one has it’s own quirks. Most of the venues we have played in Brighton have been special shows. We will always remember Will at The Prince Albert for giving us our first ever gig.

With your upcoming performance at the House of Fun Weekender supporting Madness and recently touring Europe, do you enjoy travelling to your gigs or performing where you’ve studied in Brighton?

The adventure of travelling to gigs has to be the winner there. Europe was an eye opener and such a great experience for us as a band, we had so many unforgettable days and hanging out with your best mates for weeks in Europe is something every band should get themselves involved with.