Biography

Skull were a Turkish heavy metal band formed in 1985 in Ankara by Bastepe and Ersoz on guitars, Mustafa “Musti” Erman on bass, and Alper on drums. The band’s name was later changed to Dr.Skull when all members started medical school. Their mascot was a punk skull called Vehbi, which was placed over the bass drum in concerts. Dr.Skull released their first album, Wory Zover, in 1990 and the second one, Rools 4 Fools, in 1992. After the departure of Bastepe, Serdar joined the band as the lead singer. Their third studio album Hershey Yolunda!? was published in 1994, and thereafter the group disbanded owing primarily to the growing demands of their academic work. Their last gig was with Die Toten Hosen in Istanbul in 1994. Dr.Skull were influenced by various American and British rock groups, and the band’s sound evolved in time from hard’n heavy to Turkish punk-metal. Initial recordings were done between 1989 and 1993 in Ankara, and in 2018 all tracks were remastered in Prague for the 2019 release of Dr.Skull Trilogy. In 2019, i.e. 25 years after their last appearance, the professors took the stage in two sold-out concerts in Istanbul and Ankara, and their live album, Showy Zover was released in 2021. In 2022 a tribute album for Dr.Skull entitled Under Cover was recorded and released by 15 rock bands with various styles. Photo Credits: Seda Açıkoğlu, Fatih Çakmakcı, Cem Gaygusuz, Melis Gözüyukarı, Kaan Koçakoğlu, Barbaros Pakar, Slim Rödrigüez, Serkan Tuna, Kıvanç Yarangümeli