Get tickets for Skinny Living's support shows here.

Wakefield four-piece Skinny Living have so far released two EPs on Spotify and a few other singles, but with a tour of the UK currently ongoing supporting Dodie, it’s an exciting time for the band.

Ryan Johnston is the lead singer and has been since he formed the group with Will Booth back in 2013. Originally a duo, the vocals of Ryan accompanied Will’s guitar for a few months, before the turn of the new year saw Rhys Anderton and Danny Hepworth join the band, creating the line-up we know today.

Don’t expect a typical guitar/drums/bass sound from the band, though. Indeed, we hear Ryan’s vocals, Will’s backing vocals and guitar, and more of the same from Danny, but Rhys has a trick up his sleeve. As their Facebook line-up shows, he specialises in the Cajon.

The Cajon can be materialistically described as a box. It’s a Peruvian percussion instrument that belongs in the drum family, but it isn’t your usual arrangement of different drums and cymbals, it’s just a box. The Cajon is a calm instrument, which is shown through their music. It comes out in live performances, as you can witness on YouTube, adding that extra bit of intrigue to the set.

In some ways this epitomises the Skinny Living sound. They manage to produce music which could easily fall into the same category as other indie artists out there at the moment, such as BANNERS, Tom Grennan and Lewis Capaldi, but they have an extra special quality about them. 

Their most popular song on Spotify, for example, is ‘Why’, a track that could easily fit on the EPs of Tom Walker and Banfi. It would hardly look out of place on Ed Sheeran’s Divide either, to be honest.

By stark contrast, in a band which features such an exotic instrument, lead singer Ryan had not picked up a guitar, or indeed any other instrument, in his life when forming the band. Having tried and failed to learn the keyboard at 16, he had been in several vocal and a cappella groups, so it is no hindrance to his skill as a performer and singer.

It’s not a simple road to creating the band, however. Ryan left home at 19 and was immediately troubled with problems financially. Involvement at open mic nights was how Skinny Living materialised, and these stories and personal experiences of the band are what inspires their music. Each track can be traced back to a certain period or specific event in the group’s history, and that is what makes them such a wonderful listen.

Various bands have influenced Skinny Living’s sound, including Panic! At The Disco and McFly, while Ryan himself was somewhat inspired by Michael Flatley. This is another thing that epitomises their sound; the range of influences creates music valid for a range of listeners. It’s not solely one genre, it’s every genre. You hear some guitar, but it’s not limited to rock.

The personal and emotive lyrics form a perfect partnership with the guitar and the Cajon, blending their quirky nature, wise personalities and diverse influences all into one lovely sound.

‘Why’ comes from their second EP 6, with their first EP titled 3. The latter is a full-on mixture of everything at the surface, while the former takes a step back from placing everything in the spotlight at once and exposes more of Ryan’s voice and the gorgeous harmonies from his backers.

6 was released in 2017, but since then another single ‘Fade’ has been released, which is a perfect balance between these two descriptions. It’s proof that the Wakefield group are learning and improving, and once that special niche is found, fireworks will follow.

Their support on Dodie’s tour continues until early April, and we would highly recommend you catch this group before they explode onto the scene.

You can get tickets for these shows here.