All Fired Up

Hey there Zoo Freaks, the Zoo Crew is cranking "All Fired Up" by Skew Siskin off their 2003 album Album of the Year, and man does this one hit like a straight shot of raw rock n roll fuel. This is the kind of track that makes you want to throw the windows down, hit the open road on your bike, and let the wind and the riffs do the talking. Nina C. Alice, the band’s powerhouse singer, has talked about how she wrote the lyrics as a full-on fantasy about her ideal rock n roll lover. She imagined exactly how she would feel about him and what she would do to have him, describing herself as a really cool chick yet too hot to handle. She made it clear she was ready to rumble and get all fired up, so the guy had better be ready for some action right then. And she was not talking about burning down houses or shooting anyone down in the literal sense. No, this is all about the soul, about how to impress someone and make him feel hot for her the moment she is hot for him. That kind of passion and attitude is pure rock n roll, the sort of thing that sticks with you long after the last note fades. The driving guitars and her gritty, no-nonsense vocals turn it into something that feels both seductive and rebellious, like the best nights spent chasing the next great song or the next open highway.

There is more to the story around this cut from Album of the Year. Nina has shared memories of the recording sessions from around 2002, sitting at the board mostly alone, singing against the monitors, with Jim Voxx popping in to guide her through drop-ins and sound adjustments. Those sessions also brought Lemmy Kilmister into the studio for parts of the album, and she has spoken about how much those good times meant, writing together whenever she had a lyric idea. Lemmy was a longtime admirer of the band and their raw edge, and that connection runs deep through their history. Fans on social media still dig the throwbacks from that era, and the song holds up as one of those tracks that captures the band’s unapologetic spirit. It is the kind of tune the Zoo Crew loves spinning because it feels alive, full of that hippie and biker rock n roll energy that never goes out of style.

Skew Siskin got their start back in Berlin around 1990 when guitarist Jim Voxx met up with singer Nina C. Alice. Nina had always wanted to play in a rock n roll band, and she had been searching under every rock for the right musicians. She had played in earlier groups, including one called Rubberbeat And The Baby Bones where she started on drums before stepping up to the microphone, and another called Big Sister. Jim was looking for a singer at the time, and when they sat down in his studio and he played her some tracks without vocals or with old ideas, it clicked right away for both of them. She started working hard on her vocals every night, and once the plan was set they went looking for the rest of the lineup. Drummer Nik Terry and bassist Jogi Rautenberg soon joined, locking in a sound that blended hard rock grit with a Motörhead-inspired edge and a healthy dose of that classic 70s rock feel. Nina, who had spent time living in Britain, came up with the band name. Skew Siskin means crazy bird or weird bird, drawing from the British slang where bird is used for a woman or girlfriend. She has said she was hooked on birds and loved the idea of seeing things from different angles, and the name stuck because it got reactions and fit the wild, playful attitude they were going for. People sometimes mispronounce it in funny ways, but that was part of the fun.

By 1992 they had signed with Giant Records and put out their self-titled debut, which got strong reviews for its aggressive hard rock sound that people compared to AC/DC mixed with Motörhead. The track If the Walls Could Talk even got some MTV airplay. They hit the road hard, touring Europe with Accept, Alice Cooper, Anthrax, and Saxon, and even doing dates in the US with Black Sabbath. Along the way they shared stages with Motörhead and Monster Magnet, and Lemmy became a real fan and collaborator over the years. That early momentum, built on those Berlin roots and the chemistry between Nina and Jim, set the stage for everything that followed, including Album of the Year years later. It is the story of two people finding each other in the right place at the right time and building something that has kept rolling ever since.

You can check out more from the band on their official website at skew-siskin.com, where the shop is ready to reopen for merch and updates. Catch them on Facebook at facebook.com/skew.siskin, where they share history, photos from the early days, and connect with fans. Their Instagram is at instagram.com/skewsiskin, full of throwbacks and rock vibes. And over on X you can follow @SkewSiskin for those spontaneous posts. These are the places where the real stories and the community keep the spirit going. All of it ties right back into the freeform rock n roll we keep alive right here at THE ZOO, where the Zoo Crew spins the deep cuts and the big anthems for all you Zoo Freaks out there. This is the music that was made for the open road, the late nights that turn into early mornings of pure rock energy, and the kind of attitude that never fades. So turn it up, let All Fired Up do its thing, and keep that flame burning bright.