Est. 2008 - San Francisco Bay Area

The Flying Skulls are an internationally recognized West Coast production crew.

Their live show features live MPCs, synths, grimy breaks, dubstep, crunked out beats, electro, and hip hop.

Live improv
Dubstep / breaks
West Coast bass
MPC + synths

Wormhole Mix Series Vol 13 — SoundCloud

Story

The Flying Skulls — F8 era (Jerome at the controls)

The Flying Skulls are an internationally recognized West Coast production crew from the SF Bay Area, playing improvisational dubstep, grimy breaks, and electro. Writers tagged the sound "Mutant Electro Crunk" and "Improv Beat Bashing". Their first release on 1320 Records was called "a heavyweight collection of nasty synths, wobbly basslines and crunked out glitchy beats so dirty you'd swear they robbed their MPC players off a crack dealer" — ChromeKids.

The project first performed together in April 2008 , originally the brainchild of Lowpro Lounge co-founder Jeff Wareham (J.Tonal) as a way to get the precision of the studio on the dance floor.

Pre-Skulls roots

The Flying Skulls — Jarvez and J.Tonal (archive)

The members met in the San Francisco underground in the early 2000s. Jeff Wareham (J.Tonal) and James Christopher Lacek founded Lowpro Lounge in February 2002 — eventually throwing 150+ events across the Bay Area, Las Vegas, the Pacific Northwest, Arizona, the Midwest, NYC, and beyond — known for tight A/V integration, progressive spaces, and live electronic music. That ecosystem drew collaborators like Snareface (live MPC), Ribotto, Jerome Forney, Audio Angel, Citizen Ten / The Zap Tap, Abstract Rude, Mochipet,and DJ Life-1. J.Tonal and Andrew Ribotto started playing live sets together in 2006, opening for DJ Krush, and hit rooms like Mighty and 1015 Folsom, Symbiosis, and The Freaker's Ball.

Early Flying Skulls (2008-2011)

When Ribotto moved to Toronto in 2008, J.Tonal formed The Flying Skulls with Jarvez Turnage (Snareface) and Jerome Forney — MPC, synths, live sampling, and sweaty dance floors. First show: Red Devil Lounge , SF, March 2008, featuring Audio Angel.

Within a year they released Lift Off! on STS9's 1320 Records . The buzz reached Colorado and booking agent Jake Schneider (Madison House), per Celebrity Access (2009) . Ribotto returned from Canada, rejoined the crew, and toured. The Skulls shared bills with artists including The Black Keys, The Glitch Mob, Les Claypool, The New Mastersounds, and Pretty Lights; opened for STS9; and played venues such as Great American Music Hall (SF), Fox Theater (Boulder), Summit Music Hall (Denver), and The Pageant (St. Louis). Placements included Tap Tap Revenge (2008) and a BBC Radio 1 spin for an Astroid Boyz remix (2011).

2010-2018

The Flying Skulls — Anthony at KXCI (archive)

On April 21, 2010 , Snareface relocated. Ribotto and Jerome launched the garage project Smash & Grab. Jacob Hernandez (Esau) and Ian Luo (Lokae) joined J.Tonal for West Coast touring with guests like Citizen Ten / The Zap Tap, Foster Duval (guitar), and Mike Reed (drums). Anthony Auzenne (DJ Life1) joined in 2014, and The Flying Skulls continued to play shows in Denver, Tucson, SF, Mendocino, Santa Cruz, Reno, teaming up with Abstract Rude, Mochipet, Audio Angel, and more.

Reunion

Reunion shows hit The Boom Boom Room SF (Ribotto, Jerome Forney, J.Tonal, Audio Angel, 2022) and Cascade Equinox Festival, Bend OR (Ribotto, Jerome Forney, J.Tonal, Life-1, 2024).