Happy Skeleton

"It was a day like any other and it was raining. I was in my car with two old friends. The radio played "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" by The Clash. An overtaking, that blind curve: the car crash. In those moments you don't think, you just don't think. The time expands, seconds become centuries, glasses become projectiles, trees become cement. Then you open your eyes and you understand that you are still alive. The car had literally flown, but the fate didn't want our lifes: we landed on a marquee, over a vineyard, in front of a cemetery. We were unharmed: alive. I came back home and I stopped there, in front of a mirror, to ask why. In a few months' time I recorded a demo of 11 songs, I signed a contract with the Seahorse Recordings / Red Birds Records and then I recorded "Coffee & Cigarette Club", my first album, released in September 2010. I did all this only because I knew well that I could have died right there, at 15:30 or so, in a fucking car. I wanted to play music and then I decided to do it".

Happy Skeleton is the pseudonym of Davide Delmonte. This alternative rock / grunge / electro musical project starts in winter 2008, after the breakup of the Delmonte's garage band My Chronic Dope, in which he was singer, rhythmic guitarist and composer. After the band breakup and after a car crash, Delmonte decides to keep playing and to go out on his own. Happy Skeleton is born.

COFFEE & CIGARETTE CLUB [2010]

In 2009 Delmonte signed a contract with the Seahorse Recordings of Paolo Messere and then he recorded "Coffee & Cigarette Club", his debut album. The album consists of 11 songs and it was recorded and mixed on July 2009 at Mercatale di Cortona (AR) and finally it was mastered at Fiumedinisi (ME) by Paolo Messere [with the exception of "Le Rouge", "Smoking cigarettes" and "There is no reset to me ", that were recorded and mixed by Davide Delmonte at his home from 2008 to 2009 and later they were supplemented with other instruments recordings, remix and master by Paolo Messere]. All the tracks was composed and played by Happy Skeleton. The album recording was performed by David Delmonte (vocals, guitars, synths, some drums), Mauro Cassarà (drums), Giuseppe D'Angelo (bass) and Paolo Messere (acoustic guitars). The album cover was drawn by Valerio Pastore. "Coffee & cigarette club" was released in September 2010 by Red Birds Records / Fridge.

“Listening to "Coffee & Cigarette Club" is a bit like being on a creaking roller coaster. The rusty rails and all that cold gray metal support the path, inevitably made by jolts, that drags into the abysses of a rough sea, to then bring you back up with your heart in your throat and the desire to scream under the cold rain with open arms [ ...].” (LoudVision 4/5)

“[...] The burning six minutes of the initial "Ann, revolution isn't here" are one of the best things heard in this first half of 2010, while the desperation of "Cut this vein" and the swirling melodies of "Me and you" leave you breathless. Warmly recommended to all those who shun the banality of the current radio offer” (Rockerilla 8/10)

“[...] Eleven songs that refer to the slowcore of Seam and Bedhead ("Ann, revolution isn't here"), to Polvo's indolent postcore ("32Noir"), to the Swervedriver shoegaze ("Cut this vein") and generally to that generation of American and British 90s bands with their melodies, their dissonant angularity and their poetry. Emotional and dramatic.” (Rumore 7/10)

“[...] It is like the Baroque Arcade Fire clashed with the gloomy Bauhaus. Coffee and Cigarette is hypnotic and obsessive and the repeated riffs ("Smoking Cigarettes") communicate this sense of creeping sickness. They are the Wire that find themselves catapulted into the shaky 2000s and try to describe them. [...] Coffee and Cigarette Club is an album that knows how to photograph shaky and uncertain times which we live.” (Shiverwebzine)

“[...] After the rebirth of the grunge that is evident these days with the return of Soundgarden and Alice in Chains, with the birth of Violent Soho and others, Happy Skeleton could be the Italian answer to this movement. A great debut, with strong melodies and a perfect sound. Deep and sentimental, sincere and spontaneous.” (Rockit)

“[...] The first two minutes of the opening track (" Ann, Revolution isn't Here ") are enough to understand what Happy Skeleton is made of. Just hear "Cut This Vein" to quickly return projected in the disillusioned and angry nineties and thinking that maybe not, they weren't so bad. ” (MusicAttitude)

THE WHOLE DAMN SYSTEM [2015]

In summer 2013 Delmonte decided to start the recordings of the second album with the intention of self-production. "The whole damn system" is the second studio album of Happy Skeleton and it contains 16 tracks.The album has been performed, recorded, mixed, mastered and self-produced by Davide Delmonte at his home from 2013 to 2015. During the recording Delmonte has played electric and acoustic guitars, bass, synth, drums and he has sung. The album has been self-published by Delmonte on 1 May 2015. The cover photo has been made by Delmonte's mother and the child in this photo is the same Delmonte when he was young.

“[...] Entirely self-produced, The Whole Damn System is a set of grunge and alt-rock sounds that brings to mind groups like Soundgarden or Blur. Starting from "Goalkeeper" with an emotional and introspective theme, we pass by "Time", with his initial guitar riff that sounds like Gallagher, and "Good" with more marked distortions and riff. [...] Step by step this artist is demonstrating to have the necessary ability to evolve and consolidate in the grunge scene.” (Ondalternativa)

“[...] A grunge sound like Nirvana (" Mindfucking "," Mary "), with doubled voices, a sort of rudimentary Staley / Cantrell, and a pop sound like Cranberries (" Time " ). In short, the 90s in many variations, including a desert blues like Mark Lanegan ("Blue Morphine"), with post-rock openings like Slint [...]. All with a frank and honest language, which is captured precisely by the necessity of Happy Skeleton to always go out like this, alone, playing and producing his albums in a total DIY view. Honest, with himself and also with others. [...] Behind every haggard record signed by Happy Skeleton there is a coherent and pure idea. It is not a small feat.” (Rockit)

“[...] His music is a mixture of indie rock and Gothic punk attitude like the Cure, a strange and subtle melancholy, yet very sweet. When you listen to it you are enveloped in an estrangement that makes you feel embraced, it makes you think and then, in the end, you smile, everything is very intimate but not pseudo existentialist. [...] It would be too easy to call it a punk songwriter, but the attitude and urgency in saying is that. "The Whole Damn System" has so many things to say, it wants to tell them quickly and in depth and it succeeds very well. Self-produced and self-promoted disc, eliminating the barriers between singer and audience. ” (Iyezine)

“[...] There is so much substance in this "The whole damn system", between dark grunge and pop sounds. In continuous contrast between concept album charm and a certain musical maturity noticeable in every single track [...].” (Shiverwebzine)

EXIT STRATEGY [2019]

In spring 2018 Delmonte decided to start the recordings of the third album with the intention of changing sound. For the first time he decided to prefer the synth to the guitars and he started to record an industrial / electro album. "Exit Strategy" has not been published in a traditional way, infact every month(usaually the first day of the month) Delmonte has decided to publish a track of this album on his YouTube page. The publications started on 30 April 2018 and ended on 30 April 2019 , after exactly one year. The album has been performed, recorded, mixed, mastered and self-produced by Davide Delmonte at his home from 2018 to 2019 and it contains 16 tracks. The album has been officially published, with CdBaby digital distribution, on 1 June 2019. The cover photo has been made by Leonardo Delmonte, Happy Skeleton's brother.

"Good studio performance for Happy Skeleton, who explores new soundscapes in" Exit Strategy ". [...] This album has the peculiarity to experience different sounds of the same musical genre without inconsistent episodes, so the tracklist is concrete and organic. [...] The musical developments of Happy Skeleton, record after record, denote a living project which is able to renew itself . " (Rockit)

“Sun, the opening song, has a decidedly dark tone with industrial sounds and a repeated stop and go structure. [...] Underdog is a more extreme and heavy track which has the influence of bands like the Prodigy. [...] Because shit happens [...] is a song with a rhythmic loop structure and it sounds like Depeche Mode. [...] Surrounded by its own dark aura, the new Happy Skeleton record amazes for its versatility and for the awareness of the abilities" (MusicTraks)

SLOW PLAY [2022]

As happened for the third album, also for this fourth album,"Slow Play", Delmonte has decided to publish the different songs on YouTube, month after month, once completed. The first song "Dobermann" was released on 30 March 2020, while the last song "Brothers" on 30 November 2021. After some revisions, the album was officially released on 2 - 2 - 2022 with CdBaby distribution. The album was completely played, recorded, mixed and mastered by Davide Delmonte (aka Happy Skeleton) at his home from 2020 to 2021. In this album there is a return to the roots of rock, grunge and punk, after the last album in which electro and industrial territories were explored.

“Another reconfirmation for Happy Skeleton in his new work with alternative rock sounds, a concrete work in which all is expressed with extreme sincerity. [...] The Apulian artist is able to capture the emotions and the doubts with the same honesty and urgency of his debut, in sixteen tracks with great intensity. [...] In the macro category of alternative rock these songs create a small jewel, they are capable of expressing the most excruciating pain without getting lost in sentimentality. [...] A reconfirmation for an artist who manages to dive into the sounds of the past without being boring." (Rockit)

BIOGRAPHY