by Jason

Introduce yourselves to our readers.  When did you form?  What brought you all together to make music in this particular band?

The band actually came together physically in the summer of 2003.  I’d been working on tracks for years and they had finally made it to a level suitable for display.  My brother had a dance rock night and he would play a track or two at the end of the night.  He found the first member that way, our old bassist Brandon.  Brandon introduced his friends he jammed with to the music, they dug and we meshed.  A keyboardist later the band was complete.

We booked two gigs at the end of the summer and practiced hard.  I’d never really been in a serious band before so this was new to me. The others had messed around but for the most part we were all really fresh.

Your S/T EP is great!  Can you tell us what went into the recording and writing that disc?  When were the songs written and how were they written?

Long story behind it! And which version!

But I won’t bore you.  I demoed all of it in my bedroom in Athens my senior year using a computer and some cheap mics.  A lot of the drums were fake.  Almost all of the guitars were Amplitube(modeling softwarer) Finally there was a chance to record it all proper in a nice studio known by a member of the band.

We cut tracks the old fashioned way: everyone playing on a single take in a single room…all effects straight off the amp.  As we’re really getting into it I realize that it’s not going to work with that guy.  I’d paid half the cost and the mixes were “almost done” and they were a mess.  A lot of stress around that time.

So I felt rushed and found a young engineer through a friend who remixed the old bedroom tracks.  I rushed the process, burned the cd’s and hated myself for it.  Some people liked it but I couldn’t deny how mushy it was and how low the vocs were so six months later I remixed it myself, recorded real drums in my living room and rereleased it for free download off our site.

How do you approach songwriting in general?  What do you think makes a good song?

I’ve always tried to make epic songs.  Big arrangements and big reverbs.  Sometimes that’s still there and other times I can apply “less is more”.  It’s very easy when you’re tracking stuff alone to over do it because the track sometimes never feels done until everything is perfectly in place.

Lately I take those big songs and I strip parts away and make other parts more powerful.  It’s always different though.  I hate riff rock.  The bassline almost never follows the rhythm guitar if there is one.

“Come Around” is one of my favorites from the S/T.  What is the story behind this song?

Like a lot of the songs, the lyrics are a collage, in this case concerning how jaded and skeptical people become throughout a lifetime to romance or any other kind of relationship for that matter.  People don’t approach things with wreckless abandon as they get older.

You get really great tone from your guitars.  What sort of gear do you use in your live performances and your recording sessions?

Live we use tube amps and mostly delay and reverb.  I’m on a fender deville(great reverb and drive) and Dave just bought a peavey classic 30 which is really cool for its size.

Recording wise I use Amplitube less now than I did in the past but it is still what I model my live tones after.  I don’t have the skill or patience to stereo mic all my guitars and to recut them when I find out there’s too much delay or whatnot.

What made you want to make music?  What drives you to write songs?

My life is a constant sountrack.  I want to make something that fits in someone else’s soundtrack.  I want to move as I have been moved.  It’s simple.

If you could name some, what artists would you consider influences on your art?  Do you see any writers as influential in your music?

I love good music that is also unique and innovative.  I’m not big on throwing out cult critic’s faves so I won’t.  I love Radiohead.  I love Beck.  I love The Clientele.  That’s all I’ll give.you.

Writers….hrm…Toni Morrison?   The Bible folks?

What are you listening to right now?

The Clientele and old Dismemberment Plan.

In the future, do you plan on releasing a full length?  If so, when?  Do you already have songs waiting in the wings, or will there be totally new tracks for the full length?

We’re waiting for a label to put out a full length.  We have a lot of songs but I’m never satisfied, so I just keep writing.  I’ll let Nigel Godrich decide what goes on the LP!!!

How is the indie-scene in Georgia?  Is it thriving and do you find it amicable to a band like yours?

It’s up and down like most scenes I guess.  I’ve only ever known Athens, Atlanta and New York.  I’ve complained in the past about the scene in Georgia but I’m done with that. Everyone in every town has a hard time trying to break.  It’s hard to bring people out to shows and sometimes you wonder if it’s you or the scene.  We’ve been supported by a lot of people in Atlanta who continue to support us to this day and we’re very thankful for that.  It’s all in your perspective no matter where you are and I’m looking at Atlanta in a better light now.

What is your hope for the future of Snowden?  Where would you like this particular project to be in five or ten years?

I want to have three albums out in the next five years.  I want to write pieces for films.  I want to tour Europe.  We all want to quit our day jobs.  I’d like to open a small studio one day.