THE SNATCHERS

On Saturday, September 15, 2024, the three members of the Snatchers came to my apartment for their second-ever interview as a band. I knew them all before, though. It was March earlier this year when they took to the stage of Bar Bluedog for their first performance as a band alongside Seven Gardens, Supersum, and the Dead Flies. I couldn’t believe this was the first time any of them, Nolan, Sam, or Thomas, ever took to the stage. The absolute energy and passion emanating from the Snatchers’ music was powerful.

         Rewinding the clock to before their first show, the Snatchers formed in October 2023, after Nolan and Sam had left a previous musical project. In December, the two met Thomas, their soon-to-be bassist at La Sotterenea, introduced by Cedric of the band One Trillion Bees. The three quickly became friends and fully created the Snatchers together, a name chosen by Nolan (stage name Taz) after watching the classic movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

         The major inspirations for the Snatchers are broad. Thomas, the bassist, lists Flint and My Chemical Romance as his two major inspirations, saying “it’s a little corny, but [My Chemical Romance] is a great inspiration”. He also mentions Chop Sue Me, Oktoplut, and Autre Part, all Quebecois bands adding to his catalogue. However, the band as a whole derives most of their inspiration from Les Marmottes Aplaties, saying it is the most important band they listen to from Quebec. They also find inspiration from Truck Violence, another up-and-coming Montreal band.

The Snatchers have an explosive sound, not dissimilar to the Chats, a popular Australian punk band which has seemed to cause a renaissance for punk amongst the youth. Nolan told me, “I was listening to [punk] earlier, but I wasn’t familiar with the music, only basic rock music”. Sam remarked, “When the guy [meaning Eamon Sandwith, singer of the Chats] sings, his voice is so agressive and so catchy at the same time”. He continues on to say the Chats’ catchiness of their songs inspired them to fine-tune their noise, going from messy vocals to a more clean-cut composition. The Snatchers go on to tell me that they would like to have the same influence on the younger generations; they want to inspire youth to play punk like the Chats did for them.

The Snatchers proceeded to break down some of their songs beginning with Flake, a track by them I love. The song has such an irresistible ‘chug’ to it in a very classic punk way. Opening with Thomas’ bass the song quickly accelerates into a mosh-inspiring frenzy. Nolan tells me the lyrics were based off a past experience in another musical project where the frontman and him clashed on artistic directions constantly, always telling him what to do. As mentioned previously, Flake is a classic punk track with a huge “don’t tell me what to do” attitude all over it. “When I wrote the lyrics, I was listening to Amyl and the Sniffers and thinking they’re not here to complain, they’re here to say ‘fuck you, you make me angry’”, and Flake captured that perfectly.

The Snatchers recently released an EP, Ventilation Kid, of four demos, only available on CD. “Ventilation Kid” was born of a dream by Nolan which quickly inspired this new collection of tracks.

Catch this new release at one of their upcoming shows!

By Kain Steele-Gaffney, 2024