Jackson Wargo, Jake Rodriguez, Chad Timblin e Evan Dykes formam a mais nova trilha sonora para embalar os sonhos do aficionados por dreampop e shoegaze, o Snowball II é daquelas coisas que chegam suavemente e envolvem a todos, e com o TBTCI não poderia ser diferente.
I Can Come é o cartão de visitas para o debute dos caras que muito em breve virá ao mundo.
Aguardamos ansiosamente e enquanto isso, hora de conhecer a banda por completo.
Q. When did Snowball II start? Tell us about the history...
Snowball II is pretty new, actually—at least the name is. I (Jackson) had been putting out music I had written under other monikers for a few years. There were no set band members or anything, usually just people I could round up to play on a recording or at a particular show. Nothing was really catching on, and it all started to feel pretty stale, so I wanted to re-brand everything. I'd already recorded the album we're about to put out when I decided to do that, but I felt like this record would open up a cool new chapter for my "band," so I got the name and called everyone I knew within 50 miles until I found some people who knew what shoegaze was and were open to rehearsing more than once a week.
Q: Who are your influences?
I really love this band Infinity Girl. I went to college with them in Boston and they blew my mind—I think maybe six copycat bands (Snowball II included) popped up at our school when they started releasing stuff. Infinity Girl and Lilys are tied for my favorite band ever, and have been for some time. When I listen to either of those bands, I have this obsessive compulsion too try and make something that sounds like that immediately. The same thing happens when I listen to artists like Harry Nilsson, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Spacemen 3/Spiritualized/Spectrum, The Magnetic Fields, all the old Death Cab for Cutie records. I try to steal as much as I can from these artists because they're much better than I am, and maybe someday I'll forget that I stole it and be really impressed with myself for coming up with something so rad all on my own. [laughs]
Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
In no particular order, my personal top 5 albums would—reluctantly—be Spark Large by Marching Band, The Age of Adz by Sufjan Stevens, Smile by The Beach Boys, Double Up by R. Kelly, and Abbey Road by The Beatles. I definitely have some unconventional stuff on that list, but I think I can defend each one under hard questioning. Aside from being pretty bluntly intoxicated just by the sounds on these albums, I attest that they're each masterpieces of artistic vision—the music, the lyrics, the production. Everything. I want everyone to love these records as much as I do.
Q. How do you feel playing live?
I think I usually feel like I probably shouldn't've had that last drink before going on stage.
Q. How do you describe Snowball II sounds?
Noisy, but nonabrasive. I like to think it's music that doesn't necessarily jump out at the listener, but rather it's music the listener has to look into—or at least that's what I've set out to make. I think it's substantive, but perhaps not at a glance; it is intended to reward active listeners, I suppose. This album has a pretty wide dynamic range and pulls from a variety of styles, but it's pretty common for us to hear comments like "yeah you guys sound like My Bloody Valentine," which isn't all I was going for with this one, but it is an honor to be on the receiving end of statements like that.
Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
It's funny—all of the recordings on our upcoming album '?' started out as demos that I made really quickly right after I wrote each song just to get my ideas down, but they turned out much better than I'd expected. When I was finished writing all the songs, I went back and listened to the ones I thought would fit nicely on an album with the intention of starting from scratch. But it already pretty much sounded like an album. So I just deleted the MIDI drums I had programmed and had my drummer come over and track live drums, then I layered some more guitar parts and redid the vocals and the thing was essentially done. The entire record was tracked and mixed at my home studio that I call The Doughnut Shop in Long Beach, CA. I like to work alone in the studio and didn't have a band at the time, so I recorded it all myself and played all the instruments except the drums and some background vocals. A friend of mine from college mixed it with me. It was all pretty low-maintenance, but I think it came out the way I wanted it to sound, and I'm excited for people to finally hear it.
Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Infinity Girl. They are the only band I've found who has yet to make a single mistake.
Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
A couple years ago I put out a cover of The Magnetic Fields' entire album 'i'. I sent it to them and they told me it sounded "nice" and then quickly told me I wasn't allowed to generate any income from it in any medium. Then I got the band ready to record an entire album cover of Weezer's 'Pinkerton,' but we never got around to tracking it. Hopefully we will someday. There is a Snowball II cover of a song by our friend Cloud on a cover compilation coming out on Practice Room Records later this month.
Q: What are your plans for the future?
We're putting '?' out in March and will be booking as many shows as we can get on, mostly around Los Angeles. That said, we're playing a Daytrotter session in April and will be playing a few shows in the Mid-West around then. We've also got a song (that isn't on this album) in Gavin Weisen's upcoming film 'The Runaround' (starring JK Simmons!!), which will be going to Cannes this year. The next Snowball II album is already recorded and has a completely different vibe than '?'. I think you can expect a lot of action from us.
Q: Any parting words?
Vote Schmote & never stop eating doughnuts!
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*
Thanks
https://www.facebook.com/snowballiiband
https://snowballii.bandcamp.com/
***** Interview with Snowball II *****
Q. When did Snowball II start? Tell us about the history...
Snowball II is pretty new, actually—at least the name is. I (Jackson) had been putting out music I had written under other monikers for a few years. There were no set band members or anything, usually just people I could round up to play on a recording or at a particular show. Nothing was really catching on, and it all started to feel pretty stale, so I wanted to re-brand everything. I'd already recorded the album we're about to put out when I decided to do that, but I felt like this record would open up a cool new chapter for my "band," so I got the name and called everyone I knew within 50 miles until I found some people who knew what shoegaze was and were open to rehearsing more than once a week.
Q: Who are your influences?
I really love this band Infinity Girl. I went to college with them in Boston and they blew my mind—I think maybe six copycat bands (Snowball II included) popped up at our school when they started releasing stuff. Infinity Girl and Lilys are tied for my favorite band ever, and have been for some time. When I listen to either of those bands, I have this obsessive compulsion too try and make something that sounds like that immediately. The same thing happens when I listen to artists like Harry Nilsson, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Spacemen 3/Spiritualized/Spectrum, The Magnetic Fields, all the old Death Cab for Cutie records. I try to steal as much as I can from these artists because they're much better than I am, and maybe someday I'll forget that I stole it and be really impressed with myself for coming up with something so rad all on my own. [laughs]
Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
In no particular order, my personal top 5 albums would—reluctantly—be Spark Large by Marching Band, The Age of Adz by Sufjan Stevens, Smile by The Beach Boys, Double Up by R. Kelly, and Abbey Road by The Beatles. I definitely have some unconventional stuff on that list, but I think I can defend each one under hard questioning. Aside from being pretty bluntly intoxicated just by the sounds on these albums, I attest that they're each masterpieces of artistic vision—the music, the lyrics, the production. Everything. I want everyone to love these records as much as I do.
Q. How do you feel playing live?
I think I usually feel like I probably shouldn't've had that last drink before going on stage.
Q. How do you describe Snowball II sounds?
Noisy, but nonabrasive. I like to think it's music that doesn't necessarily jump out at the listener, but rather it's music the listener has to look into—or at least that's what I've set out to make. I think it's substantive, but perhaps not at a glance; it is intended to reward active listeners, I suppose. This album has a pretty wide dynamic range and pulls from a variety of styles, but it's pretty common for us to hear comments like "yeah you guys sound like My Bloody Valentine," which isn't all I was going for with this one, but it is an honor to be on the receiving end of statements like that.
Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
It's funny—all of the recordings on our upcoming album '?' started out as demos that I made really quickly right after I wrote each song just to get my ideas down, but they turned out much better than I'd expected. When I was finished writing all the songs, I went back and listened to the ones I thought would fit nicely on an album with the intention of starting from scratch. But it already pretty much sounded like an album. So I just deleted the MIDI drums I had programmed and had my drummer come over and track live drums, then I layered some more guitar parts and redid the vocals and the thing was essentially done. The entire record was tracked and mixed at my home studio that I call The Doughnut Shop in Long Beach, CA. I like to work alone in the studio and didn't have a band at the time, so I recorded it all myself and played all the instruments except the drums and some background vocals. A friend of mine from college mixed it with me. It was all pretty low-maintenance, but I think it came out the way I wanted it to sound, and I'm excited for people to finally hear it.
Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
Infinity Girl. They are the only band I've found who has yet to make a single mistake.
Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
A couple years ago I put out a cover of The Magnetic Fields' entire album 'i'. I sent it to them and they told me it sounded "nice" and then quickly told me I wasn't allowed to generate any income from it in any medium. Then I got the band ready to record an entire album cover of Weezer's 'Pinkerton,' but we never got around to tracking it. Hopefully we will someday. There is a Snowball II cover of a song by our friend Cloud on a cover compilation coming out on Practice Room Records later this month.
Q: What are your plans for the future?
We're putting '?' out in March and will be booking as many shows as we can get on, mostly around Los Angeles. That said, we're playing a Daytrotter session in April and will be playing a few shows in the Mid-West around then. We've also got a song (that isn't on this album) in Gavin Weisen's upcoming film 'The Runaround' (starring JK Simmons!!), which will be going to Cannes this year. The next Snowball II album is already recorded and has a completely different vibe than '?'. I think you can expect a lot of action from us.
Q: Any parting words?
Vote Schmote & never stop eating doughnuts!
*
*
*
Thanks
https://www.facebook.com/snowballiiband
https://snowballii.bandcamp.com/
