Many bands choose to stick to a consistent sound throughout their careers, rarely deviating from one genre or another. But many do not mean all, a fact Snail Satan proves.
Not only does the undefinable band blend multiple genres within one song, but each song is almost completely different, with some leaning towards folk while others are almost fully punk. Singer and guitarist Cassidy Lakes, a fifth year studying integrated social studies education, said her songwriting style is very different from her bandmates.
“Our music is whatever the hell we feel like playing that day; it kind of changes up a lot,” she said. “We all have very diverse tastes in music, and our songwriting differs a lot. I tend to write slower folky acoustic songs, but Jane on the other hand tends to write a lot of punk songs.”
Pulling inspiration from artists on all ends of the spectrum, from Joni Mitchell to King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, not one sound can be prescribed to the group. Drummer Jane Hoover said King Gizzard especially influenced her writing.
“They play around with just not really giving a s--- about genre and just writing music,” she said. “I guess it's just like, ‘I wrote a song, let's see where it goes from there.’”
With all members having different tastes and influences, the band can come up with ideas it otherwise wouldn’t. Lakes said she was told to surround herself with musicians she looked up to so she could grow as a musician.
“Elliott Hogue of Little Guy and Rug once told me, ‘Play with musicians that are better than you, and you will get better,’” Lakes said. “I consider all the musicians I try to surround myself with better than me because I learned so much from them, and it makes me a much better musician.”
The band’s name comes from when they used to practice in guitarist Jon Slater’s basement. On the wall was a spray-painted snail, from which the band looked for rhyming phrases and eventually settled on Snail Satan.
Even when the band is not practicing or performing, they still try to surround themselves with the opportunity to create music whenever possible. Slater said he makes sure to have his guitar on him as much as possible whenever an idea hits.
“I don't know if it's just something that I learned from someone or I intuitively picked up over a long period of time, I carry my guitar with me everywhere,” he said. “For me, it’s just being able to have that thing in the moment, wherever that song is coming from.”
Part of experimenting with different musical styles is also learning that perfection is not everything. Bassist Haley Byas, a fifth-year studying applied math, said she would rather add interest to the song than play it completely perfectly.
“It's so important to play the dynamics and the expressiveness in band pieces more than it is to get every single note and rhythm right,” she said. “I think that when you root yourself so deeply in perfection, you end up getting something that doesn't sound like anything.”
Even though Snail Satan occasionally plays cover songs, the group tries to make each cover its own. Hoover said original music of any kind should be shared with the world, and bands should not rely on covers to perform.
“If you are too scared to even begin anything on stage, that's a good way to start,” Hoover said. “But it's still like, if you write original music, how dare you keep that all to yourself? Show me the art that you make.”
The band will be performing Saturday at Benefest at The Union. Doors will open at 7 p.m. and tickets will be $8 for those 21 and older and $10 for those who are not.
