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Mystery Skulls
Mystery Skulls performs in Dallas
Mystery Skulls performs in Dallas
Background information
OriginDallas, Texas, United States
GenresElectronica, indie pop, Minneapolis sound, electronic rock, soul
Years active2011–present
LabelsWarner Bros. Records
MembersLuis Dubuc
WebsiteMystery Skulls on Tumblr, BandCamp page

Mystery Skulls is an American indie pop/electronica act by Luis Dubuc that originated in Dallas, Texas but now operates out of Los Angeles, California.[1]

History

The project was formed in 2011 by Luis Dubuc after his previous project, The Secret Handshake, was dissolved.[2] Dubuc initially announced the project on August 8, 2011 via the Mystery Skulls official Tumblr account, where he posted a video of the song Amazing.[3] He later followed this post with a five-song EP on December 30, 2011.[4] Since then, Mystery Skulls has performed in cities across the country, signed with Warner Bros. Records, and has collaborated with noteworthy artists such as Brandy Norwood and Nile Rodgers.[5][6] Dubuc continues to perform shows across the country.

Chart history

  • Ghost (charted at 15 on the Billboard US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart)[7]

Videos

Mystery Skulls have had six official music videos so far. The first three released were for the first album "Forever"; "Ghost" released on February 5, 2014, which is a parody of The Exorcist; "Paralyzed" released on July 30, 2014, which is shown as a Japanese video game featuring mystic monks playing basketball at night; and "Magic" released on February 19, 2015, which is CGI animated and presents an alternate telling of how the galaxy came into existence. The last three released were for the second album "One of Us"; "Music" released on July 25, 2017, which is a love story in a futuristic world that is both a utopia and a dystopia; "Erase Me" released on October 12, 2017, which features Luis Dubuc with some surreal imagery; and "Endlessly" released on December 19, 2017, which is animated and features blue-skinned humanoids battling an inverted alien all-seeing eye with Gundam-like mobile suits. The only official videos to have at least a million views on YouTube is "Paralyzed" with a total 1.8 million as of August 31, 2018 and "Magic" with 1.3 million views as of August 25, 2018.

Mystery Skulls Animated and fan-made videos

Several videos have been created for Mystery Skulls' songs by their fans. On May 6, 2012, the YouTube user Ben Mangum, under the username MysteryBen27, released his first animated music video featuring music by Mystery Skulls entitled "Turntable Turnabout" which featured the Ace Attorney characters Phoenix Wright, Miles Edgeworth, Godot, and the Judge dancing along to the song "Money".[8] As of October 1, 2018, the video has 19.5 million views on YouTube and it has been said that Dubuc loved the video so much, that he gave permission to Mangum to use his songs to make future music videos.

On October 26, 2014, Mangum and a group of friends called "the Ghost Crew" released an animated video for the song "Ghost", which featured original characters and a plot heavily modeled after the Hanna-Barbera cartoon Scooby-Doo.[9] The video follows "Mystery Skulls", a group similar to Scooby-Doo's Mystery Inc., made up of members Vivi (Velma/Daphne), Arthur (Shaggy), and their dog Mystery (Scooby-Doo). The group's van breaks down and they find and explore a haunted mansion, but find themselves chased by a skeletal ghost and other apparitions; a flashback reveals that the ghost is Lewis (Fred), a former Mystery Skulls member killed by a possessed Arthur, which in turn resulted with Lewis returning as a ghost, Vivi's memory wiped of Lewis and their love, and Arthur having his possessed arm ripped off by Mystery and replaced with a mechanical prosthetic. Now in present day, Lewis desires revenge against Arthur and to reconnect with Vivi, but he is denied as the group escape the mansion, which fades away along with a heartbroken Lewis. The video is still popular and as of October 1, 2018 has 32 million views on YouTube.

The popularity of the "Ghost" video was so great that fans and followers of YouTube and other mediums asked for a sequel, and on April 15, 2016, Mangum and "the Ghost Crew" released a sequel to "Ghost" using the song "Freaking Out", thus starting the Mystery Skulls Animated series. Shiromori, a supernatural plant witch, who is hunting after Mystery (the dog who in the previous video was revealed to be a kitsune/fox spirit), comes first to the cave where Arthur's arm became possessed and killed Lewis (briefly crossing paths with the entity still possessing the severed arm). After finding some essence that blooms into a flower, she follows the trail to the location of the vanished mansion and finds Lewis's heart locket. She uses the locket to create essence flowers of each Mystery Skulls member before finally finding Mystery's trail only to awaken Lewis, who engages in a brief duel before Shiromori uses Mystery's essence flower to pursue him, as well as Lewis using Vivi's discarded essence flower to pursue her by jacking a semi-truck and transforming the truck into his image, the video ends with him flooring the gas pedal. While all that is happening, Arthur has been secretly looking for any traces of “The Ghost” on the web and erasing Lewis from all photos separately not knowing they’re one and the same; as well as a petal of Mystery's essence flower finding him, as he cringes knowing Shiromori is coming. The sequel to "Ghost" is popular as well and as of October 1, 2018 has 16.2 million views on YouTube.

The third Mystery Skulls Animated video, using the song "Hellbent" featuring Snowblood was released on October 13, 2018. As "Every Note" plays in the background, Arthur comforts a worried Mystery as they and a sleeping Vivi drive off. Lewis's spirit electricity shorts out the van as he and Shiromori catch up and pursue their quarries, before Arthur bashes the dashboard with his prosthetic and continues to drive before crashing at his uncle Lance's mechanic shop; Lance hears the commotion and grabs a shotgun (which he then cocks). Lewis and Shiromori's backstories are revealed in flashes, with Shiromori being abandoned by the then kitsune Mystery while Lewis was murdered by the possessed Arthur (who's possessing entity was supposedly acting on Arthur's jealous impulses). Shiromori attempts to kill Mystery until he's saved by Vivi (revealed to be a descendant or reincarnation of a kunoichi/female ninja who fought the then evil Mystery in the past), realizing the connection Shiromori attempts to now kill Vivi, with Lewis spiritually recreating the cave where he died in the back-end of the semi as Arthur tries to run only to find a cliff. As Lewis throws Arthur over the edge, the electricity from earlier returns to him as Arthur mouths, "Lewis"; an end frame shows Lewis brokenhearted again realizing what he's done as Arthur falls to his ambiguous fate, Shiromori about to kill Vivi with Mystery about to transform, ending with an equally ambiguous gunshot. This video has yet to get a million views on YouTube.

Besides the official videos and the ones made by Mangum and "the Ghost Crew", there is one other video of greatest mention, which is "Magic" made by Marisol Aranda under the username yuramec and released on June 5, 2015. The story follows a necromancer/magician and his impish assistant as they go to an abandoned mansion's cemetery to summon forth ghosts from their graves to sing only to disturb a three-eyed dragon spirit which chases after the necromancer throughout the mansion. When the necromancer gets cornered (and his wand destroyed), the numerous ghosts he previously summoned including the master and his wife surround the spirit and attack it with their music causing the ghost to transform into its original form, the daughter of the previous owners. With a joyful reunion, lights illuminate the sky; the necromancer nods to them as he and his assistant watch them ascend to heaven. The video is presented in a rough-draft storyboard format which states it is unfinished and as well as a rumor that Aranda did not receive permission from Dubuc to use his music. Though the video was taken down briefly, Ben Mangum has said that he and Dubuc both enjoyed the video and hope that Aranda completes it someday. The current video has received 7 million views on YouTube as of August 25, 2018.

Discography

Albums

Year Album Chart positions
US
[10] 		US
Heat
[11] 		US
Dance
[12]
2014 Forever[13] 141 2 3
2017 One of Us[14]
  • Released: August 4, 2017
  • Label: Warner Bros.

Compilations

Year Album
2015 Ultra Rare Vol. 1
  • Released: September 22, 2015[15]

EP

Year Album
2011 Mystery Skulls
  • Released: December 28, 2011[16]

Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions† Certifications Album
US
Elect
[17] 		US
Elect-Dig
[18]
"Amazing"[19] 2011 — — Mystery Skulls
"Ghost"[20][21][22] 2013 15 20 Forever
"Paralyzed"[23] 2014 — —
"Number 1"
(featuring Brandy Norwood and Nile Rodgers)[24][25][26] 		— —
"Magic"
(featuring Brandy Norwood )[27] 		— —
"Music"[28] 2017 — — One of Us[28]
"Endlessly" 2018 — —

References

  1. ^ Jude Lee, Joyce. "Interview: Mystery Skulls Talks Brandy, Frat Gigs, And Music". Neon Tommy. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  2. ^ Abbate, Jake. "Mystery Skulls will perform songs inspired by past influences". PSU Collegian. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  3. ^ "Mystery Skulls Tumblr First Post". 2011-08-08. Retrieved 2012-09-27.
  4. ^ "5 Song EP Available On Bandcamp". 2011-12-30. Retrieved 2012-09-27.
  5. ^ "Day Off: Mystery Skulls". 2013-06-12. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
  6. ^ Gabrielle Nicole, Pharms. "Mystery Skulls Talks New Album And Collaborating with Brandy & Nile Rogers". Life+Times. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  7. ^ "Ghost". Billboard. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  8. ^ Blackburn, H. Drew. "MYSTERY SKULLS HIT THE MAJORS ON FOREVER". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  9. ^ Kucera, Kelly. "Mystery Skulls' new animated music video revisits Scooby-Doo". Vanguard. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  10. ^ http://www.billboard.com/artist/6304642/mystery-skulls/chart
  11. ^ http://www.billboard.com/artist/6304642/mystery-skulls/chart?f=322
  12. ^ http://www.billboard.com/artist/6304642/mystery-skulls/chart?f=324
  13. ^ Blackburn, H. Drew. "Mystery Skulls Hit the Majors on Forever". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  14. ^ Music News Desk (June 23, 2017). "Mystery Skulls Ventures Into Dystopian World with New Album 'One of Us'". Broadway World. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  15. ^ https://mysteryskulls.bandcamp.com/album/ultra-rare-vol-1
  16. ^ https://mysteryskulls.bandcamp.com/album/ep
  17. ^ http://www.billboard.com/artist/6304642/mystery-skulls/chart?f=1234
  18. ^ http://www.billboard.com/artist/6304642/mystery-skulls/chart?f=1099
  19. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/mystery-skulls-mn0003314744/biography
  20. ^ Loza, Larissa. "Exclusive: Mystery Skulls Reveals His "Ghost," Talks Warner Bros Deal, Nile Rodgers Collab". Vibe. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  21. ^ Barkan, Jonathan. "Mystery Skulls Spoofs 'The Exorcist' With "Ghost" Music Video". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  22. ^ "EXORCISE YOUR DANCE DEMONS WITH MYSTERY SKULLS' NEW VIDEO". Vice. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ Young, Killian. "A Grim Basketball Game Sets the Scene for Mystery Skulls' 'Paralyzed' Video". Spin. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  24. ^ Daw, Robbie. "Mystery Skulls, Brandy & Nile Rodgers Just Dropped "Number 1," The Best New Track You'll Hear This Week: Listen". Idolator. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  25. ^ Augustin, Camille. "New Music: Mystery Skulls Links With Brandy & Nile Rodgers For 'Number 1'". Vibe. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  26. ^ Anderson, Trevor. "Mystery Skulls, Lion Babe & Zella Day: Emerging Picks of the Week". Billboard. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  27. ^ Daw, Robbie. "There's Another Mystery Skulls, Brandy & Nile Rodgers Song, And It's Appropriately Titled "Magic": Listen". Idolator. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  28. ^ a b Skulls, Mystery (2017-06-10). "NEW ALBUM COMING SOON!!". @MysterySkulls. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
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