Greyskull

Greyskull is a punk band from Dallas, Texas that started in 2001 with two friends writing songs in an apartment and eventually found themselves on Texas stages, indie releases, and even a Nokia phone campaign across the Pacific.

How The Band Got Started

Greyskull began in July 2001 when longtime friends Chris Smyers and Brad Bevill came back from Warped Tour fired up and decided to start a band. They barely knew their instruments but wrote a song that same day, picked a name during an instant message conversation, and spent the next year trying to turn a two person idea into a functioning lineup. Finding a drummer who actually wanted to play fast punk turned out to be trickier than it looked.

In early 2002 a key detour fell into their laps. Veteran musician Allan Aguirre decided to revive his band Scaterd Few for a record and a trip to Cornerstone Festival. Through a mutual friend, Smyers and Bevill ended up joining him, recording the album Omega No. 5 and playing shows as part of that lineup. The experience gave them studio time, road practice, and a better sense of how to run their own band once they got back home. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}

That same year they recorded the Better Off Dead demo with drummer Joe Sidoti, who had also worked on Omega No. 5. A few months later they added drummer Josh Dacus and finally had a working live lineup. In March 2003 Greyskull played their first show at Dreamworld Music Complex in Arlington, Texas. The next night they won a Battle of the Bands at The Door in Fort Worth, which did not hurt their confidence. Guitarist Kane Kelly filled in at those first gigs while the band tried out different combinations on stage. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}

During a stretch of shows as a three piece, they met drummer Robbie Estill and guitarist Roy Hudson through another band, 10w30. The four joined forces in mid 2003 and built a lineup that held together for several years, giving Greyskull the stability they needed to record a full length and start working the regional circuit.

Key Releases and Career Growth

The first big step was the Better Off Dead EP in 2003, recorded with Sidoti. It captured the band’s early sound, which pulled from 1990s punk groups like NOFX, Pennywise, Bad Religion, No Use for a Name, and Descendents, but filtered through a Texas point of view. The EP helped Greyskull book more shows and laid the groundwork for a larger project. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}

Next came their debut album, State of Ruckus, recorded in a cabin on the banks of Lake Travis near Austin. Sidoti handled recording again while the band knocked out fourteen songs that leaned into fast, melodic punk and blue collar themes. A pre release version surfaced in 2004 before the full album dropped the same year. Greyskull supported it with steady gigging around Texas through 2004 and 2005. :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}

Things went quiet in 2006 until an unexpected phone call changed their trajectory. Nokia tapped Greyskull to be the face of a campaign for the N93i mobile phone in the Asia Pacific region. The band wrote and recorded a new release, the Pretty in Ink EP, for the campaign and shot two videos to showcase the phone’s camera. Their faces and songs ended up on prints, TV spots, and online ads across eight countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand. :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}

Nokia flew the band to Singapore for the launch event in early 2007 and again for a finale concert later that year. Footage from the show became part commercial, part Greyskull video, and aired on music channels throughout the region. Back home they spent 2007 playing more shows around Texas and doing radio appearances. After the Asia push they shifted focus toward writing new material and played occasional dates while planning the next phase.

Members

• Chris Smyers – lead vocals and bass, co founder and constant member since July 2001
• Brad Bevill – guitar and backing vocals, co founder and constant member since July 2001
• Robbie Estill – drums, joined in 2003 and solidified the rhythm section
• Kane Kelly – lead guitar, originally a fill in during early shows, later a full member from 2006 onward
• Roy Hudson – lead guitar from 2003 to 2006, part of the first stable four piece lineup
• Josh Dacus – drums from 2002 to 2003, helped Greyskull make the jump from apartment project to live band

Discography

• Better Off Dead EP (2003) – early demo and introduction to the band’s fast, melodic approach.
• State of Ruckus (2004) – first full length album, recorded at Lake Travis and supported with regional touring.
• State of Ruckus Pre Release (2004) – advance version of the album circulated ahead of the full release.
• Pretty in Ink EP (2007) – written for the Nokia N93i campaign and backed by extensive promotional footage across Asia.