Snõõper: On the Importance of DIY Spaces, Upcoming Tours, and their New Album [PENNY 4.2 PREVIEW]
- Emma Hintz
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
The following piece originates from Penny 4.2, arriving later this year. Read our latest issue, as well as former Penny issues, HERE.
Interview by Emma Hintz
Photo by Emily Moses
Nashville Tennessee's own Snõõper just released their newest album Worldwide on Third Man Records, and I couldn’t think of a more perfect album title for them. They, themselves, describe their sound as “not fitting into any genre” and it is very apparent when you take a look at the previous tours they have hopped on — from Basement, to Machine Girl, to the Hives, they can convert any audience; they really are that cool. Everyone and their mother is always talking about Snõõper, from the Hardcore boys in Orlando, FL to the DIY punk kids in Nashville , and they even pull the sceney New York crowd out to their shows.
Worldwide is just the beginning for Snõõper, “there is always more work to be done”.
We got to chat with the band about the release of the album, their upcoming tour with The Hives and more.
First off, can you introduce yourselves for the readers at home? How would you describe your sound to those who have never listened to a Snõõper song?
We are Snooper - a music and art project based in Nashville, Tennessee. Snooper was started by Blair Tramel and Connor Cummins. We play fast, but don’t really fit into any genre necessarily. The fun part about Snooper is the frustration people feel when trying to categorize our music - ha! Snooper is a creative project more than anything - more than a band. I like the word “project” because it implies that there is more work to be done and, with Snooper, there always is!
Can you tell us a little bit about the writing and recording process for Worldwide?
As always, we initially demoed the songs on Connor’s 8 track at home in our living room. We then took those songs into a studio with John Congleton. This was a huge growth opportunity for us as a band. Not for the growth of the band even, necessarily, but because we were able to grow and expand our knowledge of recording. Being that this was new for us, we were nervous and clung tight to our demo recordings, but John couldn’t have been more accommodating as it took us a while to open up to a new way of doing things. We are already ready and eager to record another album now that we have experience being in a studio- we know what to expect now, which feels creatively empowering!
What’s your favorite song on the album?
“Worldwide”! I imagine people dancing to it when I listen to it, and that’s the best part. Filming the music video for this song was a truly unbelievable experience. Watching people do choreography to one of our songs was so inspiring! Now, I only want to write songs that I can envision people dancing to! This might not be realistic, but that’s how I feel right now in this moment!
All of the music videos you’ve released so far are so fun (I am actually obsessed) can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration behind them? Any fun stories from set?
Haha, thank you!! I am obsessed as well, and I’m feeling so creatively recharged and inspired after working with Arius Ziaee, Kate Renshaw-Lewis, and Joe Sams! The three of them made a video a while back and posted it online with a Snooper song! The video was AWESOME. It had puppets, was super colorful, and I loved the way it was filmed. Had they not made and posted that video, I wouldn’t have found them online and reached out to them to work with me on the videos for this record. I am so thankful that we connected! I flew to LA to work with them for a few days and we filmed so much fun stuff. Joe Sams filmed everything live in his living room. He used some old, analog, public access video gear to film all three videos. His setup is genuinely incredible and I’m not doing it justice by speaking about it.
“Guard Dog” was inspired by the dog puppeteering of William Wegman (you have to check out his work if you’re not familiar), and the other two videos really came together in real time, in the moment. Joe is a genius with a green screen and is also an avid collector of random objects and small things. Coming up with ideas in real time and executing them with whatever random objects Joe had in his living room, was so much fun. We had a lot of fun making sets out of miniature objects and shrinking both human and dog bodies down to fit inside the tiny sets we made.
I think the beauty of working with Joe is that he really doesn’t plan things out much in advance. He is one of the most resourceful artists I’ve ever met. He uses whatever he finds to execute his ideas. The imperfection and randomness of everything makes working with Joe very special!
You guys have a European tour coming up supporting The Hives, what can fans expect to see from your set? Any fun plans?
These shows will be the biggest shows we’ve ever played! We are really excited, but we will be farther away from the crowd than ever before. We love being close to the crowd, but are taking this opportunity to dial in our live sound! We are so inspired by The Hives’ crowd work and energy, so we look forward to being in their energy orbit again!
You’ll be on that tour during Halloween ... do you have your costumes picked out?
We are playing inside a tiny venue in Barcelona on Halloween. We will most likely have to visit a costume shop in Spain before the show. This is the most exciting thing ever for a costume lover like myself (Blair)!!! Stay tuned...
You guys are based in Nashville; would you say the Nashville scene has had influence on the way you have progressed as a band?
Nashville really is a small town and everybody knows each other. We have a strong DIY scene, and every member of our band comes from that scene. Even the people who we know that work in music business on a larger scale now, also came from the DIY scene at some point. I think within the past 10 years, the DIY scene here has ebbed and flowed more than ever and it’s felt as though it was thinning out at times, but there are so many people in town who really work so hard to maintain all ages, DIY spaces.
Because it’s a small city, everything feels so interconnected. Even the large venues here recognize the importance of the small venues, and there is a lot of community support. Politically, people have more to fight for in the South, and these DIY spaces are so important as they give people a platform who might not otherwise have one and bring people together through art.
Piggybacking off the last question, any Nashville bands you wanna shout out? Who should people be listening to?
Shout out Baby Wave, Massie 99, Pressure Heaven, and Total Wife!
There’s a very heavy visual component to everything you guys do as a band, are there any films you can name that have inspired you?
Parents (1989 horror movie), Edward Scissorhands, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, A Bugs Life
Anything else you want to tell the world?
Start a band! You don’t need to know what you’re doing.