Biography
Born as Matthew Thomas Skiba in Chicago, the musician moved with his family to a suburban home at age three. Early on he took up drumming, with Public Image Ltd. providing his introduction to live shows and Social Distortion performances leaving a strong impression. As a founding member of Alkaline Trio he singled out Joey Ramone among his primary influences. Before and alongside that group he played in several other punk outfits such as Jerkwater, Blunt, and the Traitors. A short stint at art college concluded when he withdrew, after which he worked as a bike messenger in Chicago and entered the local music community. From 1996 onward his role in Alkaline Trio—handling guitar and sharing vocals with Dan Andriano—produced multiple full-length albums and extensive touring across North America and Europe.
In 2002 he stepped away briefly from the trio to record a split acoustic EP with Kevin Seconds of 7 Seconds; the release, titled Split, came out on Asian Man Records. He also appeared on records by Hubcap and the Atari Star. After moving to Los Angeles in 2005 he began a new side project, Heavens, with Josiah Steinbrick of F-Minus, writing the songs while Skiba handled vocals; their album Patent Pending surfaced on Epitaph that fall. By 2009 he had rejoined Alkaline Trio to complete the band’s sixth studio album, Agony & Irony. The next year the group issued This Addiction, its first release on the Heart & Skull label it founded.
Following that album Skiba put out his first solo effort, Demos, assembled from home-computer recordings. Two years later he released the full-length Babylon with his backing band the Sekrets, whose members included AFI bassist Hunter Burgan and My Chemical Romance touring drummer Jarrod Alexander. He rejoined Alkaline Trio once more for the 2013 album My Shame Is True. In 2015 Matt Skiba & the Sekrets delivered their second studio album, KUTS, which included the single “Krazy.”
In 2002 he stepped away briefly from the trio to record a split acoustic EP with Kevin Seconds of 7 Seconds; the release, titled Split, came out on Asian Man Records. He also appeared on records by Hubcap and the Atari Star. After moving to Los Angeles in 2005 he began a new side project, Heavens, with Josiah Steinbrick of F-Minus, writing the songs while Skiba handled vocals; their album Patent Pending surfaced on Epitaph that fall. By 2009 he had rejoined Alkaline Trio to complete the band’s sixth studio album, Agony & Irony. The next year the group issued This Addiction, its first release on the Heart & Skull label it founded.
Following that album Skiba put out his first solo effort, Demos, assembled from home-computer recordings. Two years later he released the full-length Babylon with his backing band the Sekrets, whose members included AFI bassist Hunter Burgan and My Chemical Romance touring drummer Jarrod Alexander. He rejoined Alkaline Trio once more for the 2013 album My Shame Is True. In 2015 Matt Skiba & the Sekrets delivered their second studio album, KUTS, which included the single “Krazy.”
Albums
Singles
