In 2000, Askeleton was founded during the breakup of Knol's former bands Kill Sadie and The Hidden Chord. Using a free version of a digital audio program he wrote songs based on samples, simply arranged keyboard and guitar parts and left over Hidden Chord lyrics. During 2000 and 2001 Knol made two records released in 2002 as the Sad Album full-length CD and a CD/EP called Modern Fairy Tale. A modest amount of favorable press and reviews followed both releases. In order to promote these releases, Knol assembled a band to play the songs live. Many different versions of the live band were formed and finally, in 2003 the line up that is now known as Askeleton was in place, making it no longer a solo project. Askeletion has toured with bands such as Seattle's Minus the Bear, The New Trust and Velvet Teen, and Che Arthur. They have also had many local shows with local and national bands like of Radio 4, Dosh, Mark Mallman, Kid Dakota, 12 Rods, One AM Radio, Har-Mar Super Star, Motion City Soundtrack, Ted Leo, The Soviettes, and Detachment Kit. In 2004 Askeleton released the second full-length album called Angry Album -or- Psychic Songs on Atlanta's Goodnight records. The final album of the trilogy was released in 2005 it was sarcastically called the Happy album. After some success, positive reviews and winning Minneapolis weekly’s Cities Pages “Song Writer of the Year” for 2004's Angry Album, bandleader and multi-instrumentalist Knol Tate went straight into his own recording studio to work on the follow-up. Ever-changing sounds and aesthetic, Tate moved away from the sample and lo-fi based digi-pop sounds of Sad Album and the digital rock meets minimalism of Angry Album. The Album utilizes the Twin Cities community of musicians and the Askeleton live band. No longer a one-man band. Askeleton leaps out of the world of the computer composers. Keeping with some of the aesthetics fans of Askeleton have come to know, the music and lyrics are simple yet to the point. With songs about simple subjects like cities, cars, rock n’ roll and the idea of individuals and groups becoming simply “some people” Tate draws complex and sometimes abstract pictures with simple ideas and words. Album is true to its name. The songs are brighter and more positive than past efforts and yet have the parenthesis around the songs to clarify some of the meaning behind the underlined sarcasm of the happiness of the record. In a sense Album is the perfect ending to the trilogy. The music Askeleton makes is deconstructionist or simple. Some people call it pop music, some people call it punk, some people call it rock, some people call it new wave.
Band members
The band, although starting as a one-man project and becoming a 5-person band works in recording primarily as a large orchestra of indie musicians. That list is as follows:
