Snapcase
Progression Through Unlearning (Victory)
An interview with vocalist Darry Taberski
by Tim Creter
I’ve liked this band from the minute I heard the beginning of “Drain Me” off their first full-length, Lookingglasself (that’s fun to write), about two and a half years ago. Originality, aggression, and innovation make up the base for the band I’ve come to know and love called Snapcase. Okay, it’s time for some bold sweeping statements: this is Snapcase’s best release, their best audio quality, and this is this best hardcore release of the year. It’s a superb continuation of the stop-and-go rhythms, heavy dual guitars and urgent vocals that is the Snap sound. They’ve already been playing some of these new ones live, like “Caboose,” “Vent,” and “She Suffocates,” and other tracks like “Harrison Bergeron” and “Killing Yourself to Live” (not a Sabbath cover) do not disappoint. If you’re a fan, stop reading this and go buy it. If you’ve never heard Snapcase, finish reading this and go buy it. This is a band and an album that blows most others into dust. Snapcase are something to believe in.
I caught up with ‘case vocalist Darry Taberski at their last show at Boston’s Middle East Cafe with Sick of it All. Be sure to catch Snapcase live. Their show is an experience in positivity and hardcore that can’t be missed. Darryl has big, beautiful eyes that reflect the honest nature and all around decency of his personality. Check it:
What do you think of the barricade in front of the stage?
I hate barricades. They take us out of the swing of things when we play because the crowd is just as big a part of the show as the band as far we’re concerned. We just love getting everyone involved and having everyone all over the place, and it just separates us, which sucks.
Where and when was the album recorded?
We recorded in January at Trax Fast in New Jersey with Steve Evetts. It’s the studio where Deadguy did Fixation on a Co-Worker, and where Lifetime did Hello Bastards and their new album.
Any new directions or influences in the new songs?
I don’t know about specific new influences. I think we just tried to write a record that was more energetic and more upbeat. The recording is so much heavier than anything we’ve done. It’s way more raw and it’s not all processed and effects-sounding like our other ones were because we really hate those. They didn’t have any of the energy of our live performance. The new record is pretty energetic-sounding.
How have the crowd reactions to new songs been so far?
They’ve been great, better than we thought. Tonight was a little weird because we lost a little momentum with technical problems, like Frank’s guitar went out, and Tim’s really sick. We couldn’t hear any of the drums on stage so we didn’t feel all together. This was actually our worst performance of the last six or seven shows we’ve done on this tour.
You coulda fooled me. You guys big fans of Sick of it All?
Oh yeah, of course. We got a big break because they took us to Europe right after Lookingglasself came out. We’d never met them before. They were just looking for an unestablished band to take on the road that could help them out. It was totally cool. We shared a bus with them for seven weeks, and they taught us how to really enjoy being in a band and to enjoy what you’re doing by playing your ass off every night. I think they’re one of the best live bands, definitely.
What new bands or new CDs do you like right now?
I really like the new Threadbare, I’ve always liked them. I’ve already heard the new Cast Iron Hike, and the new Integrity and Strife, so as far as Victory goes, I like all those releases. I like the new Sick of It All, of course. So many good new records just came out, like the One King Down record. There are also a lot of cool Buffalo bands right now like Despair, Envy, and Union.
Do you like playing Boston?
Yeah, it’s weird. We hadn’t played here in years because we’d been doing Northampton and Providence, then we suddenly went and played in November and we’re back five months later. We like the scene, it’s amazing how this place packs in with kids who are cool and dedicated, but we feel we haven’t played our best yet.
If you could play a show with any band, who would it be?
Anytime I think these things and then we end up playing with those bands, sometimes it’s a letdown, you know? So I don’t want to jinx it. But, Ozzy, Kiss, Mötley Crüe, I’d like to play with any of those bands. Mötley Crüe is a big favorite of mine, and Van Halen with David Lee Roth. That’s the kind of stuff I listen to when I’m at home. But the bands we’ve played with, we’ve been really lucky. We’ve played with Avail and they’re amazing live, they put on a great show. I love playing with Sick of it All. We’ve been on the road with Lifetime, Turmoil, Despair, Earth Crisis, Strife, Refused, and we’ve been lucky to play with great live bands.
How did you hook up with the Misfits tribute album?
One of the guys at Caroline called and said they were interested in having us do a song. It sounded really cool because we want to expand and get out to some new kids. We hoped it would get a little momentum going for our new album, that and the Anti-Matter comp. We actually might do some tour dates with the Misfits this summer. We’re not sure, but that would be interesting.
Do you have any advice for young bands just starting out?
The best thing is to take things one day at a time, remember why you started the band initially and keep that with you as you progress. If you don’t, you’ll just turn into a bunch of jerks and your band is going to argue and not get along and break up. Bands get too big and start taking themselves way too seriously. The band becomes a job and a business. You originally start because you want to play hardcore, have fun, and put a message out. Suddenly, your band gets more popular, you get cocky and start to get all these expectations and forget why you originally started. Don’t think “by next year I want to be this popular.” You have to be happy with what you have and that’s the way we’ve always treated things. I did an interview earlier today and the guy asked me if we’d expected that when we put out Lookinglasself, that we’d be as popular as we’ve become, and I said no, we didn’t at all. It’s nothing we expected, it just happened and we’ve been very fortunate.
