Skew who? Screw what? These, and other assorted misconstrued versions of the name SKEW SISKIN are thrown at the band with irritating regularity. Their music, however, is always clearly understood. ANDY BRADSHAW chews fajitas and tortilla chips with lead singer NINA C. ALICE Germany has produced some ludicrously pompous Metal bands in recent years, none of them even coming close to matching the success of The Scorpions. Skew Siskin however, just might. This is a band blessed with remarkable luck. Formed in berlin late 1989, Skew Siskin fast developed a reputaion as a hot band on the live circuit. Their one-and-only demo was duplicated and passed on by virtually every person who received one, a third-generation copy of which arrived in Metal Hammer's german office and subsequently received glowing reviews. With tapes circulating throughout Europe, word soon spread to America. The buzz on this bizarrely-named band reached the ears of the likes of Bon Jovi's manager Doc McGhee and Aerosmith's manager Tim Collins who, while not signing the band themselves, helped to pass on the word. Eventually Skew Siskin were asked to showcase their talents in Boston, which left them within fingertip reach of a deal. Soon after, Giant Records committed themselves and signed the band in the spring of 1991. All of which brings us to the present day, in a small Mexican restaurant off Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, the band's current city of residence. Lead singer Nina, a woman possessed of a voice which could shred your speakers if you went one Db too far, almost chokes on her Margarita when I ask the most obvious - but necessary - of questions. "You should know where it comes from!" she laughs. "It's old English. Skew Siskin means 'Crazy Bird'." Okay...hands up everyone who's ever heard that brought up in everyday conversation. See, it's not exactly common parlance, now is it? Anyway, Nina has more to say on the subject. "I can't believe how many people get it wrong. One magazine called the band Screw Sister, which is unbelievable!" The moniker certainly hasn't prevented the band attracting major attention in the States, where radio stations have been falling over themselves to play the band's debut single 'If The Walls Could talk', a song so powerful, Saddam Hussein has been thinking of using it as a weapon to get 'round the UN arms embargo. But this is only one of a multitude of riff-nasty songs on the band's selftitled debut album. Wether it be 'Out Of Control' or the twelve-minute epic 'In Another World', Skew Siskin leave little doupt that they mean mean business. Certainly listening to Nina you would think she would rather rip your spleen out, than shake your hand. This proves not to be the case, her roots harking back to her Hippy parents' ideals more than anything else. "There's no flower power anymore," she sighs "except in my dreams. Now there are so many gangs and things. People are seperating, dividing up into factions. Back in the Sixties, people wanted to come together and be at one. "I used to be a Punk at one point, which is the antithesis of flower power. I guess it all shows through in our music...the anger of Punk and the gentle nature of flower power. The anger comes from the disappointments and bad luck I've had in the past. I have learned to build a wall around myself and be hard when I need to be, but underneath all of that, I am still basically a gentle person." Nina is the personification of what Skew Siskin are, a black-to-white pendulum-swing of emotion. It is the emotional cauldron that boils over through this petite, flare-wearing singer that provides the driving force for the band. "It's not just me," states Nina. "The power and passion that comes through Jim Voxx' guitar-playing perfectly reflects the words and feelings that I want to convey." For the moment, Skew Siskin are living from day-to-day. They can't believe the attention they are now receiving and are not taking it for granted. "We don't know how far this thing is going to go - or grow for that matter," admits Nina. "All we know is that whatever it is we are doing, people seem to relate to it and that's enough for us right now."