When you think of bass music acts one of the world’s most sough-after artists would have to be the Montreal-based Snails, a producer/DJ who has made a name for himself by combining hip-hop beats and off-kilter sound design into a new style he affectionately calls ‘vomitstep’. This fresh new sound has introduced the producer to a wider audience and saw him receive support from scene heavyweights like Skrillex, Diplo, Datsik, Excision, Flosstradamus and many more. Snails will head to Australia this April to perform in Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney and Perth as a part of the inaugural Touch Bass tour, so we caught up with the vomitstep pioneer for a quick 5 questions before his arrival…
Snails! You’re so very soon coming to Australia. Bass music attracts some pretty wild crowds, what’s your experience of fans Down Under? Has there been a country of late that really blew you away with it’s crowd energy?
Ever since my first show down under, Australia has always been one of my favourite places to play. There’s a certain energy that they have that is hard to find elsewhere. I think that my hometown of Montreal in Canada has a similar feel to Australia, only it’s usually much more colder! Montreal has always loved bass and me being from there makes my connection with the crowd more special. I’ve played there a lot and the crowd never disappoints!
You recently worked on a tune with Flux Pavilion titled ‘Cannonball’, it’s fair to say it is an absolute face-melter. What are you up to at the moment? Do you have some new music on the way?
I have lots of new music on the way. I recently took a break from playing shows for a bit so that I could relax at home and focus on producing. From solo and original productions to more collaborations, I worked on as many songs as I could!
How did you get into music? Did you (or do you still) play any instruments? When did electronic music catch your ear?
Well, I first got started in music by teaching myself to play guitar so I could play my favourite metal tracks. From there I got into music production which is about 4-5 years ago. That’s when heavy bass music like Skrillex really blew my mind and I knew that’s what I wanted to do.
On tour, in the car or chilling at home… What do you like to listen to? Do you listen to bass music or something completely different?
It all depends on my mood. I can go from metal to hip-hop to all different types of dance music – and not just bass music. I’ve always listened to different genres, but as I’ve grown I’ve branched out further and further.
If you could give some advice to your former self, what would it be?
I would tell myself to start developing my own original style earlier. It was good when I started to try and make songs similar to artists I was listening to and helped to show me that what I wanted to do was different, but who knows where I would be if I had started developing vomitstep earlier! I think it’s good for every artist to have their own signature sound that’s different from everyone else’s.
Snails 2017 Australian Tour Dates
Friday 14th April: Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide
Saturday 15th April: Belvoir Amphitheatre, Perth
Sunday 16th April: Valley Block Party, Brisbane (SOLD OUT)
Sunday 16th April: Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Tickets available from here: www.touchbass.com.au