What essentially started off in 2019 as a side project for most of its musicians, eventually evolved into a full-blown band once Snakeout found their sound. "We were all playing in heavier bands at the time and wanted to play something a little more melodic and less self-serious," vocalist Brett Dierolf told me in an email last week.
"It was kind of an experiment in creating something with relative strangers as most of us were little more than show acquaintances at the start. The idea was to start a band that had elements of indie rock and hardcore similar to End of a Year or Fucked Up. The music has evolved quite a bit since the beginning but we’ve all gotten really close in the process."
Brett elaborated on the Snakeout sound: "We’re kind of a post-hardcore band with alt.rock influences. I feel like we sort of fall in line with bands like Drug Church, Squint, Gumm, etc. Our influences are kind of all over the place though. When writing songs you might hear us reference The Lemonheads in the same breath as something like the Suicide File."
Snakeout's latest release just dropped at the beginning of the year, a 5-song collection called The Holy Ghost EP:
"Our new EP was co-released by Setterwind Records and Cold Fade Records. It was a lot of fun to write. Most of it was actually written in a cabin in northern Michigan in the middle of winter. We all pitched in on a rental and just spent a weekend writing. There was definitely a lot of work put into finishing these songs. Our friend Joel Otte from the band Worst Self recorded some of the instruments and mixed/mastered it.
"The rest of it was recorded at home by our guitar players Jeremy McClary and Sam Rottschafer. A lot of the lyrics were written about a former version of myself that still haunts me. Whether it be beliefs that I no longer hold or regrettable decisions that seem impossible to move on from. It’s actually where the title The Holy Ghost EP comes from."
Brett also offered some thoughts on Snakeout's local scene: "The west side of Michigan has been experiencing a huge boom in creativity recently. There are a lot of bands doing really interesting things. Everyone seems to be excited about what everyone else is doing. I feel like we’re always pushing each other to level up in a competitive yet supportive way.
"Some West Michigan bands to check out would be Novice, Split Up, Pain Divine, Tunnel of Love, Levity and Pink Pout. Also a massive shout out to Sawchuk, the best band on the east side of the state."
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The Holy Ghost EP vinyl is available for pre-order at both Setterwind Records and Cold Fade Records.
Hit the Snakeout Linktree to find all of their social media pages.
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