We had an opportunity to chat with Columbus, OH four-piece Snarls! They just dropped a great new album 'Burst' that you need to check out. But first check out our interview with the band!
1. How did you come to pursue music and how long have you been at it?
"Mick, Max, and Riley have always been influenced by the music their parents listened to while growing up. They all picked up various instruments as kids. Chlo grew up listening to pop music and always wanted to be a singer. She picked up guitar in high school. We all developed as musicians in Rock Band class at our high school, The Arts & College Preparatory Academy. We all started playing together in late 2017."
2. Could you walk us through your process of writing music?
"We are very collaborative. Typically, someone will come to practice with the spark of an idea, usually just a chord progression or a groove. Though it has happened, we rarely have times where a song is written before it comes to our rehearsal space. Each one of us is completely in control of our own part and everyone has a say in writing the form of the song. Chlo writes most of the lyrics but often gets input from Riley or Mick if she’s stuck!"
3. What artists have inspired you in your career?
"We take inspiration from artists of many different genres and our individual styles of playing are influenced by a number of different artists that differ pretty greatly. Some bands that we all like are Wolf Alice, Courtney Barnett, Citizen, Turnover, and The Greeting Committee."
4. Do you have any favorite music gear (guitars, amps, effects pedals, keyboards, etc.) that you love to use? If so, what’s the story on them?
"Mick and Chlo are total Fender hoes. Chlo loves Telecasters and Mick won’t play anything but a Mustang. We have come to love the sound of those two guitars interacting. We also love experimenting with lots of pedals, one of Mick’s favorites is from the Columbus, Ohio builder Rare Buzz Effects and the pedal is the Cranberry drive! We love to support local builders as much as we can."
5. Can you describe the vibe at your live shows? Also, what do you enjoy most about a venue when you do a show?
"Our live shows are electric! We enjoy dancing on stage and interacting with the crowd. We try not to ever let a snarls show be boring. Our favorite venues have great bars, lighting, and sound systems, but we can definitely get by in a grungy basement. The most important thing is making sure the crowd has a good time."
6. What is one thing that you want the public to know about your music?
"We make music for ourselves. Not to say that we don’t care about people liking it, but our music is a documentation of our lives and where we are at a certain point. It’s like our diary. It’s really cool that other people can relate to it, that’s something we’ll never really get over!"
7. Can you tell us about the writing, recording, and promotion process for Burst?
"From start to finish this process took almost 2 years. We began writing for this record the summer of 2017, but didn’t start recording until November of 2018. We wrote the record at a very transformative time in all of our lives, and that definitely comes across in the writing as it is a “coming of age” story. We recorded it at Relay Recording in Columbus, Ohio with our good friend Jon Fintel, who also co-produced the record. It was really incredible working with Jon, he had great ideas for how to enhance the songs without compromising who we are at the heart of our band. We spent almost a year label shopping, and got no responses. It was a real bummer but we weren’t giving up just yet. We nearly decided to do a self-release, but sent one more email to Joe at Take This To Heart Records - and we got lucky. We’ve developed a great relationship with the label and they’ve done tremendous work to help us promote our record, like getting us connected with press such as Rolling Stone, MTV, Stereogum, and more. Unfortunately a lot of the opportunities we all worked so hard on fell through due to COVID, but we’re trying to make the most of it still."
8. What’s next for Snarls?
"Right now we’re focused on writing new songs and making our live set an even better experience for our fans. As soon as we are given the okay to tour again, we’ll be jumping into a van and making that happen. Fans can follow our Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (@snarlsband) to be up to date on any live stream performances we may have in the meantime!"