Snollygoster
Derek, Dan and I formed Snollygoster in the Summer of 1996 out of the ashes of all the other shitty bands we'd tried to start. The scene: Albany, NY. The players: me, Derek and Dan, dumbass. We were spread up and down the Eastern seaboard during the school year. Dan in Albany, Derek in NYC and me in Atlanta, then Maryland. We started Snollygoster determined to climb out of Dan's basement and actually play shows. The name, initially meant for an instrumental song, referred to a mythical creature who's diet consisted of poultry and small children. It captured the true essence of the band: slightly demented and extremely stupid. Derek covered his bass amp in white wool carpeting. Dan hung a small stuffed bunny on his bass drum and threw stuffed tomato's at us when we fucked up. While most people direct their humor over as many heads as possible, Snollygoster aimed below the belt- somewhere around the shins. After practicing three times a week we played our first two shows the same weekend, opening for the now-defunct Trauma School Dropouts. At the first we were booed at the end of our set, and at the second we were quietly tolerated. Some kids were jumping around, probably making fun of us but we invited their band, AKA Fuck, to play a show we were setting up. It was at the now-defunct North Lake Club (no smoking, no alchohol- turned out to be a drug front) and we not only went over really well, we earned high praise from the now-defunct All Fall Down, me and Dereks' favorite local band. We began to talk about keeping things going past the Summer. Over the next month we played shows in MA, NYC, PA, live on WMUC in MD and with the Thumbs at the now-defunct Happy Hardcore House in DC. It wasn't very happy; we were shitting fire from Panda-something chinese food and played a fucking horrible set. Regardless, before parting ways for the school year, we recorded two songs for a 7" for $100. Despite our humiliating performance with the Thumbs, Dwayne from Latebloomer suggested I give Sneezeguard a tape of the 7", even though we were in the process of putting it out ourselves. When I saw Bobby at a J-Church show, he said he'd check it out and when I called him on my 21st birthday he told me we'd be Sneezeguard #12. I think I drove to Albany for another lousy QE2 show in October and over Thanksgiving break we recorded two songs for a comp on Stinkbox/Rottenroll Records. January was our next break from school so we set out on a ten day tour with the Useless Fucks. They were from Portsmith, NH, hometown of the Queers. They sounded an awful lot like the Queers. Our first show was with the Casualties and uh, we didn't go over so well. Other stops included Red Bank, NJ (where we met Boxcar), Boston (where we played downstairs at the Middle East for fucks sake), live on WFMU in NJ and with the Thumbs at the Laff n'Spit in Baltimore. Geoff from the Useless Fucks had a subscription to MRR (??!) and when we slept at his house we saw our name in print for the first time in a Sneezeguard ad. The same issue had a rave review of the Useless Fucks and listed their name in Tim Y's top 10. Over the Spring I set up a show at the Laff n'Spit for us, Latebloomer, Lemon Joy and Webster, who we were also setting up a Summer tour with. Dan and Derek got in around 11 pm the night before the show and we practiced until 3:00 am in Atomic Music cause Dwayne from Latebloomer worked there. The next day Kevin called me and told me Webster was breaking up. We barely knew our songs, the headlining band wasn't playing and our tour was off. Bad day. Before the show some guy across the street started waving his gun around, not the best omen. I'd placed a last minute call to Crispus Attucks who'd agreed to play if Matt could get off work. "We might show up." They did and the show was great and Latebloomer almost broke through the floor. Snollygoster celebrated its one-year anniversary the same tried and true way we celebrated every day in Albany- we drank fucking coffee until 1:00 am at Gateway Diner. I think we played a couple of shows before the tour but they probably sucked. The tour was three whole friggin' weeks with Red Bank's own Boxcar. Many many lousy things happened during these couple of weeks. Since we'd brilliantly stuck to the snowy North-East in January, it seemed only logical to cover the South and Midwest during the hottest month of the year. We crammed a bass amp and bass, a guitar amp and two guitars, a complete drumkit and box of records plus sleeping bags, pillows, backpacks and lots and lots of anti-depressants into a 1988 Nissan hatchback with a rooftop carrier (dubbed, the Brain). Our first show was in lovely Baltimore at the now-defunct #1 Club. Other stops included Richmond, Chapel Hill, Jacksonville, FL, New Orleans, Louisville, Cincinatti, Lafayette, and Bedford, PA where tensions peaked and Snollygoster decided to pack it up. We played one last show live on WFMU and that was it. Epilogue: Derek and I started Malachi and just got back from a tour with Crispus Attucks. I heard Dan moved to Boston and if this is true I hope he's tracked down the girl who ripped us off after promising to book us with the Queers. Speaking of the Queers, Geoff from the Useless Fucks is their new bass player. Most of the people associated with the above mentioned bands and scenesters are doing new and cool shit now and I encourage everyone to follow up on everything except the Panda chinese place which was condemned by the Board of Health last year. -Dave