Super Snake isn’t necessarily your typical New Jersey band, but they’re certainly a standout, and their horror-influenced new album, Leap Of Love (released back in February) is proof of just that. The band didn’t hold back on this release either, trekking out into the woods with Kevin Antreassian (guitarist of Dillinger Escape Plan) to record in a haunted hunting cabin, a location that can be felt in each song. With Leap Of Love out now, Super Snake are already looking toward the future. With plans to hit the road for a fall run of tour dates this year, you’re bound to hear more from these guys before 2017 is over.
Interview by Dom Vigil
The Prelude Press: Can you tell us a little bit about Super Snake for any readers who might not be familiar?
Joe Laga [guitar]: Super Snake is a five piece that has been described as a psychedelic doom pop band, we’re not really sure what that means but it’s fitting.
How do you feel your home state of New Jersey has shaped or affected you as a band?
New Jersey at one point was so over saturated with pop punk, that it drove us to do something completely different. We wanted to challenge ourselves musically and do something fresh. New Jersey was always such a competitive scene so we needed to be as unique as possible to build the Super Snake brand.
You guys recently released your new album, Leap Of Love earlier this year! What goals did you have in mind for these songs when you first started working on them?
We wanted big, scary, and fun essentially. The songs were piecemealed and then kind of sewn together before being put under a microscope for your listening pleasure. We added a lot of ear candy to make it sound as eerie and alluring as possible.
Were there any messages that you wanted to convey or stories that you wanted to tell on Leap Of Love?
There was a concept running through Leap of Love– there’s a lot of good stories to tell here, essentially it’s the seedy underbelly of a fictional world where all of the characters are thoroughly flawed. This includes stalkers, kidnappers, obsessives, dead beat dads, and a whole bunch of murder.
Yeah, we recorded the record in a barn in the wilderness, miles away from any neighbors or cell service (still managed to bother the neighbors and their horses). This gave us the freedom though to record when and how we wanted, like recording bass at 4AM around a bonfire as big as the sky. We overcame issues by not overthinking things, keeping the process simple.
On the flip side, what was the highlight of working on Leap Of Love?
Again the highlight was also being isolated in the woods of Virginia. To make a dangerous sounding record make sure you’re doing it in danger.
For this album, you also worked with Kevin Antreassian. What do you feel he was able to bring to the table?
Kevin has been a great friend of the band for years, he’s an absolute delight to work with. He thinks outside the box and was willing to take on the challenge of packing up his whole recording rig and drive it to Virginia for a week. He had a great grasp on the sound we wanted for this record. He also brought an AR15.
Now, I read that you guys recorded the album in a haunted hunting cabin… How did this location end up becoming the place that you chose to record the album? Do you feel the location had any effect on the final product?
Our bassist Jesse Mariani went to a party on this property about a year prior of us recording there. He knew immediately this is where we needed to lay down the tracks for this record. Completely unbridled autonomy; you could really use your imagination. The creative process was never an issue. No cell phones, no internet, no distractions, no rules. It was like a summer camp for derelict rock and rollers. I think people that listen to Leap of Love will hear the location throughout the entire album. The album sounds like the mountains of Virginia.
Now that Leap Of Love is out, you’ve played a few hometown shows, but do you have any plans to hit the road any time soon as well?
Absolutely. We are in the midst of routing a fall tour.
What’s next for Super Snake? Do you have any other big plans for the rest of 2017?
We are midway trough writing our second full-length. It’s turning out to be even more invigorating than the material on Leap of Love.
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