The Snails interview in Last Day Deaf by Dimitris Koutoukakis

On 27th of January The Snails are going to participate and play in Merlin’s Music Box rock fest night at ILION Plus. As a band of pure garage / rock’n’roll is going to electrify your senses and purify your mind…But before entering the club to listen and dig their music…let’s have a conversation with  The Snails… 

Hails to The Snails…Well guys welcome to Last Day Deaf and I hope success in all your music efforts!!! Now let’s begin…Could you give us a short bio of the band and then tell us what led you form The Snails? How did you come up with such a name?

We were formed officially as a band in 2005.  After a few member changes, the current composition of the band is:  Chris (vocals and rhythm guitar), Lambros (guitar, vocals), Stavros (bass) and Anestis (drums, vocals).  We created the band based on our love for music and music creation and our influences come from the 1960s rock and garage scene and its 1980s revival.  Our name was given by our bass player at the time, casually, in reference to an after rain rehearsal we had.  We liked it and so we adopted it.  Later on we discovered there was a band with the same name during the 1960s!

Your sound and play is for sure garage (and rock’n’roll of course). However, how would you describe in your own words or do you think that music isn’t about genres and definitions but it’s all about energy and feelings?

Our songs express the explosion of our emotions and describe our experiences.   We play garage music in our own way by breaking the mold and without following trends. Our guide is only music.

In order to play garage music do you have to follow a certain way of life and thinking or it’s just notes to be learned and played?

Every man acts according to their experiences and influences.  Music definitely is a determining factor for the attitude and behavior of each person since it is experiential and therefore uncontrolled.  Just like everybody else, we live and work in this society so we create music within it.

What’s your inspiration when you compose a song concerning music and lyrics? Also describe us your writing process…

Inspiration is an arbitrary notion, it appears when you least expect it, in various situations, love, circumstances etc.  All of our music is created using everybody’s participation.  Every track begins as an idea which evolves during the rehearsals until it takes its final form.  By then usually someone writes the lyrics and the rest of us add or subtract something until that part is also complete.  So, you can say that our songs are the result of team effort and improvisation during rehearsals.

What are your influences? Name us 3 of your beloved bands (old or contemporary).

Our members come from various musical backgrounds but we all agree that our great loves are: 13th Floor Elevators, The Seeds, Love, Dead Moon.

How hard is not only to make a record in Greece but also to run a “non commercial” band? Is there solidarity among garage bands in Greece in the manner of creating a musical movement or is such a thing a utopia?

It is extremely difficult in Greece today to be in a band, let alone to try to record your ideas.  The cost is huge but it cannot prevent your need to create.  Therefore, during the crisis, a lot of new bands were created and their desire to express themselves came above anything else.  It is a certain craziness that leads those bands to insist on making music so it is hard to see a musical movement getting created.

After 11 years of musical presence what do you think about the so called Greek underground scene in general

As we already said, the bands are trying to express themselves in any way they can.  But the situation in general is tragic and the specific scene is small.  Internet has helped in certain matters since it gives the opportunity to the bands to be heard even to the most unlikely places.  Things are tough but the fact that some bands are performing in European tours and live concerts in the USA is very encouraging.

Your first album ‘The Snails’ (Action Records, 2012) was re-released  in 2014 by Beluga Records (Sweden) on vinyl format. What led you to this decision and how was that experience? Is there more professionalism abroad?

Our experience with Beluga Records was very good because there was a timeframe for everything (the “when”, the “how”, the “what”) which was by all means met.  Certainly there is more professionalism and a greater financial flexibility because it is a larger market.  These are the reasons why we gave Beluga the right to release it on vinyl format.

On 27th January  you ‘re going to play in Merlin’s Music Box festival with Birthday Kicks and Youth in Outer Space. How do you feel about this gig? Do you prefer the live playing more than the studio recording? Are you going to present some new stuff,  and if so, please tell us some things about your new work.

We are very honored and looking forward to playing in the festival organized by the historical fanzine of Merlin’s Music Box.  Live performances are so different than rehearsals and studio recording.  We enjoy both.  In our most recent live concerts we have introduced our new songs from the album  currently released digitally on our page in bandcamp.  Having released 14 new songs, entirely our own, which show our musical evolution and seeing peoples’ reaction to them, we can say the messages we are receiving are very encouraging.

Would you like to share with us some of the coolest moments of your musical experience either from live appearances or from anything that is related to the band?

Definitely our live concerts with Baby Woodrose and Vibravoid have been exciting experiences since we had the chance to also meet them on a personal level.  We have enjoyed the collaboration with friends from the domestic music scene, during live appearances and recordings.

So guys this is it….thank you for your time!!! Enough with talking and asking (hahaha)… I’ll let you make some fine garage music….But before that tell us your future garage plans and how people can find and listen to your music.

We give live concerts, introducing our music to the people and we are expecting the release of our album in vinyl somewhere in the beginning of the summer.  Until then, you can listen to our songs and learn our news through our official website which will very soon have a completely new form.

Photo credits: Tasos Tsoukalas (1st one), Nick Kalivas (2nd one)

Dimitris Koutoukakis

http://lastdaydeaf.com/the-snails-2/