“It’s A Communal Release” SNAYX… With Snakes!
The famous Raiders of the Lost Ark quote “Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” springs to mind today. “Couldn’t we have been called ‘Bunny Rabbits’ instead?” says Lainey, drummer of Brighton trio SNAYX, as she finds out that I intend on taking their band name quite literally and wrapping them in live snakes for this interview.
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We meet in The Great Frog in Shoreditch and are joined by a seven foot boa constrictor and a four foot python. The boa constrictor wraps itself around vocalist Charlie’s neck as the python wraps itself around bassist Ollie’s leg. Lainey looks on nervously before taking the snake into her hands and posing for the photos. Lainey is the most recent addition to the Brighton band, joining the duo last year. The line up originally consisted of just Charlie and Ollie after the pair met in college and played in bands together. But although the three of them are a recent-ish combination, it feels as if they have been pals forever. This is shown by the way Charlie and Ollie support Lainey as she overcomes her snake phobia today.
Charlie is undoubtedly the seasoned pro with the snakes. After having pet snakes of his own (hilariously named Pinky, Kinky and Randy), he shows Lainey how to hold the reptile and wraps it around her arm. “If you’re calm, he’ll be calm” he advises. I chose not to mention to her that the handler told me moments ago that the snakes do in fact bite.
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You can’t help but forget that Charlie has a snake crawling over his bright green hair and sliding around his neck as he supports Lainey. Wearing the reptile as a scarf, he struts around the shop showing that this is second nature to him. With Lainey showing strength and Charlie showing calmness, Ollie stands there with his sunglasses on as the snake slithers around his body, avoiding his bright pink hair. Everything seems to be going fine so far, and this might not actually be the worst idea I’ve ever had.
The trio are fresh off their UK tour in which they brought along charity organisation, Safe Gigs For Women – an organisation working to reduce sexual harassment in live music. If anyone has ever attended a SNAYX gig, they’ll know the efforts this trio go to to ensure safety and fun is had from all. “We really don’t want to be associated in the ‘lad culture’, it’s something we actively try to avoid,” Ollie states.
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When seeing SNAYX live, you can expect buckfast, energetic live crowds and a sweaty room. However, safety and inclusion for all is an important element for this band. “There have been a couple of shows where we’ve had to stop playing because of someone, but it’s rare. We encourage bouncing more than anything” explains Charlie as they talk through the decision to invite Safe Gigs for Women on the tour with them.
“I like to get into the crowd at the gigs, but there was this one show in the Netherlands where I got absolutely slammed and winded. As I got out, I was like, ‘Jesus, this is rough- we have to stop, this ain’t right’. So, we stopped the guys who were doing it and I was like, ‘look, we want everyone to have a good time, right? This song we’re gonna make really inclusive- so you guys can just sit this one out for a minute. Everyone else, all the women or people who want to come in who didn’t feel safe before, this is your inclusive mosh pit’”.
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Bringing Safe Gigs for Women was just another way of the band continuing to show their passion for inclusivity. “I’d encourage more bands to do it” Ollie says. “It was amazing,” Charlie continues. “We had people coming up to us after the shows saying they had been inspired to join as volunteers. Everyone should be able to come to a gig and enjoy it. It’s a communal release”.
Speaking of a show they once played in Brighton he adds, “I noticed as I looked around there were benches around the side of the room and all of the benches were occupied by women, stood on them to get to the side. And that was one of those times where I was like, this gig isn’t inclusive for everyone”.
With a year between the release of their last EP ‘Weaponized Youth: Part 1’ and the release of their forthcoming EP ‘Better Days’ (coming February 9th), the upcoming music itself has taken on a more melodic approach. “[Weaponised Youth: Part 1] was probably our heaviest stuff yet. That EP was all sort of like us trying to find our ‘SNAYX’ sound and the elements that we like. Then we went really heavy with ‘Boys in Blue’ and ‘Hang’. We wanted to make a bit of a statement- our ‘political’ sort of sound as it were”.
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With a new, subtler approach to their songwriting, the forthcoming EP strays a bit away from their pack-a-punch original releases. “It was like we wanted to show that we have a bit of versatility in the way we write, but still, we didn’t want to be put in a box”. Produced by Tigercub’s Jamie Hall, the sound is still easily distinguishable as SNAYX – sticking in the rock lane – but swerving into the more dancey sounds of Gorillaz and The Prodigy. “[Jamie’s] got such a musical brain and when we brought him in he was quite excited by the demos”. But this partnership isn’t something completely out the blue, as with SNAYX track ‘Boys in Blue’, it has very clear comparisons to Tigercub’s ‘Beauty’. “Yeah!” Says Ollie. “Beauty – that was surely the riff of the year when that came out!” Charlie adds.
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Working with Jamie is just one of the many Brighton connections the trio have. The band are well connected in the scene alongside bands such as Kid Kapichi, Lambrini Girls and snake eyes.
Speaking of Brighton bands and the importance of supporting your local scene they say, “there are so many gigs happening in Brighton, there’s no excuse not to go. If you’re going out in town, you might as well pop in and see the local band that’s playing down at like Green Door on a Wednesday or something. Shout out to Green Door.” Wrapping up with the snakes, the two boys seem sad to put them back away in their homes. Lainey, the photographer and I on the other hand breathe a sign of relief. Samuel L Jackson famously said “I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane” but it seems the three of us have had it with these motherfucking snakes in this motherfucking shop.
With 2025 being the Chinese Year of the Snake, the release of the ‘Better Days’ EP will in fact make 2024 the year of the SNAYX. Check out their new single ‘Better Days’ and watch this band go down in hissssstory.
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Words: Jazz Hodge
Images: Paul Grace
Also, special thanks to The Great Frog Shoreditch
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