Artist Spotlight: Snailmate
Continuing on with the artist spotlight feature brings a local Nerdcore duo into the light. This is one you may not see as often locally because they have been doing a lot of trekking around the country since they started. My history with them goes back to when April was drumming in this fantastic blues and soul style band, Sister Lip. When that band ended up calling it quits, a few members went onto new projects with April joining Kalen for Snailmate.
In the more than a decade since I started listening to Nerdcore, the one thing I have seen is how every one of these artists tends to be unique. For some it is done by their musical influences in their past. Examples can include Metal, like Schaffer the Darklord, Punk and Ska, like MC Lars, or their love of regular hip hop with numerous I could recite. For Snailmate it seems to bringing in hardcore punk and synth rock for their style of the genre. You have Ariel drumming while injecting the hardcore vocals. Meanwhile, Kalen takes lead vocals and keys. Of artists I’ve watched in the genre, it is the first time I’ve seen a drummer who participates further by being support vocals plus a kazoo. Both of them truly engaged with their music, animated to their lyrics and full of energy. The songs they play are an entertaining play on words and satire on life. With that, I highly recommend you track down a Snailmate performance while they are back in town or out on tour near you.
