Coming To Get Some Down Under With JOHN FAHNESTOCK From SNOT

Few bands in history have left such a lasting impression in music
as Santa Barbara funk metal outfit Snot.
Forming in 1995, Snot released just one album before having their
career cut short by the tragic death of frontman Lynn Strait.
Despite their short time as a band, such was the impression left by
Lynn and Snot that after his death, a tribute album called Strait
Up was recorded in his honour, featuring everyone from Slipknot to
System Of A Down to Sevendust paying tribute to the man and his
music.
Snot's fusion of genres - before it was common to do so - stood
them out from other bands of the era, with their blending of
hardcore, punk, nu metal and funk combining for the masterpiece
that was their debut album Get Some.
The band have flirted with the idea of reigniting the flame with a
new frontman several times since Lynn's passing, but until
recently, and buoyed by the resurgence of nu metal, have failed to
find that elusive spark that ignited three decades ago to create
pure musical magic.
Next January, for the first time in over a decade, Snot return to
Australia for a run of shows with Soulfly and Nailbomb - including
Froth & Fury Festival - with vocalist Andy Knapp (Stronger Than
Machines) to introduce a new generation to the power of music.
HEAVY spoke with bass player John Fahnestock to find out what to
expect. We start by running over the three touring bands - Soulfly,
Nailbomb and Snot - and reiterate the quality of music in one
package.
"Soulfly and Nailbomb, right," John laughed. "They are good friends
of ours. We have known each other for, God, going on 25 years or
more. Mikey (Doling, founding member and guitarist) also played in
Soulfly after Snot, after Lynn had passed. So, we're out on the
road with family again. We played with Soulfly in Mexico City back
in May and rekindled our friendship, and here we are coming to
Australia now."
We ask John about their new vocalist, Andy Knapp, and what they
were looking for in a frontman after trialling two previous
vocalists in Tommy Vext and Carl Bensley.
"I think the whole thing is a lot different now," he measured. "We
are pretty much saying Snot is back at this point. We finally found
in Andy what we basically were dreaming of having, and I'm not
saying anything negative on the past singers that we had. Before,
when we put Snot back together, it wasn't like 'we're reforming,
we're back', anything like that. We were just more doing it for
fun, for the love of music, the love of Jamie and Mikey and myself
playing together.
And we were like, let's go out and play the songs, you know? But it
wasn't seriously saying we're back and coming back here to stay,
like we are now. It's a blessing to have found Andy and what he's
doing, and obviously, the response from the fans has been nothing
but positive."
In the full interview, John spoke more about the upcoming
Australian shows, what has changed with the band in the decade
since they were last here and what we can expect. He spoke more
about welcoming Andy Knapp as frontman and what sorts of things
Snot were looking for in their new vocalist.
He told us about the first show with Knapp and how old time fans
reacted, how Snot's music relates with modern audiences, and how
their sound shaped a generation of bands. We talked about the early
days of Snot and the musical climate that gave birth to the band,
their initial sound and how they found the balance between genres,
including how to know when or if they had gone too far in one
direction or not far enough in another.
We spoke about the impact of Snot's debut album, Get Some, and the
band's initial feelings on the album, including Lynn Strait's early
vision for Snot and his musical passion. John delved deeper into
the tribute album Strait Up and the contributions of the many
bands, new music the band have written and if that will translate
into a full album and more.


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