The Skittles - Acoustic Guitar Duo

The duo formed in early 2011 with a mission statement that read something like 'let's make some music together'. Not the most explicit of opening gambits; nonetheless, working on a set of four compostions, the hallmarks of what would become them began to bare, and the pair started to air their material at Huddersfield's open mic session The Acoustic Club. Often coupled with extemporisation-inducing states of mild inebriation for both, it was these energetic first outings (one of which was captured on film!) that gained the boys a foothold in the local scene as an emerging and not-so-run-of the-mill talent.

Hallmarks became trademarks, and the their idiom of 'original standards' was born. Tunes would be merged into pairs in, often linked with an audacious modulation, and designated a (carefully-chosen!) suite name. In fact, at times it seemed as though the painstaking and impassioned processes of composition and arrangement were just folly to the real constuction: amusing titles!

But of course that is not the case. Several gigs and recording sessions later, the acoustic instrumentalists' output remains testament to the fact that their real commitment is to music. Passing a gruelling audition at the Kirklees Public Protection Office, they became licensed street performers, and started regularly to present their non-pedestrian performances at nearby precincts and piazzas.

Perhaps the most prominent feature of the music is the effortless connection of its creators. One of them, of Extra Curricular, plays rhythm guitar with the swing and groove that you would expect from somebody whose first instrument is drum kit, enhanced with the keen sense of arrangement and stylish decorations that you might attribute to someone who is also an excellent keys player. The other, melody-maker writes with the thoughtfulness and witty cunning that you might expect from a guy who spends most of his time playing chess.

But when you watch their perform, you're seeing a sum even bigger than its parts; something you might expect from two people who've been dedicated to music all their lives.

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