Snakadaktal Interview

Having met at school and gaining notoriety throughout Australia, Snakadaktal are the go to band who are bringing a new sound to the table. The five school friends; Joseph, Sean, Barna, Pheobe and Jarrah have toured Australia extensively playing their dreamy and unusual music to the masses. BBM catches up with vocalist Phoebe to get the inside scoop on what exactly a “Snakadaktal” is.

Hi Phoebe, so tell us what have you guys been up to recently?
Hi Hannah. The five of us have been in the process of writing our full-length for many months now. Through that time we have also been fairly busy traveling, studying, and welcoming the summer air.

You’ve got your new single ‘Dance Bear’ out at the moment, what’s the response been like to it?
It is lovely to release some various colours that will be spread through our album, and also a little daunting… ‘Dance Bear’ seems to have gathered plenty of kind responses and regard.

So you guys got together in 2010, how did you all meet?
Our friendship begun during school, which then sprung into playing music together. A kind of ‘playground love’… Ha!

We must ask, how on earth did you end up with the name Snakadaktal and what does it mean? It sounds like some sort of Cookie monster – pterodactyl hybrid. (BBM has a wild imagination)
It is surely a kind of hybrid. In fact there were a collection of hybrids amongst it… Sean Kelly and his friend once created them. The one which somehow ended up as our name is a snake-pterodactyl. They’re very fun to draw.

You’ve had noteable success in Australia, have you got any other pockets of fan base in the world, anywhere particularly surprising? What are your plans to take things to the next level?
Australia has been our only direct audience so far, which is delightful. The odd friendly message from Mexico or Cambodia is always mind-blowing! Other than the planning of Australian tours next year, we have the shaping of some other sneaky little ideas.

You guys are from Australia, and there has been a more global recognition for Australian music of late with the rising popularity of artists such as Gotye, Kimbra and San Cisco in the UK and US, what do you think has changed to make this happen?
The recognition that these artists are receiving is so wonderful. The way word spreads round-the-clock has always changed unrelentingly as people do. The ways of communication now seems to be… Immortal.

Do you think the globalisation of the internet has played a key part in this, or do you nod your head to trail blazers such as Gotye for writing such an infectious song such as ‘Somebody’?
Yes, some people seem to be a little wired now, by the internet, and that has contributed to the song’s international success, but is certainly not responsible for it. The song is, outrageously compelling. People just spread it and ate it up, so quickly. Maybe a little like fashion, we feel groovy if we’re wearing it.

What was it like touring with The Jezebels? Any crazy stories from the tour?
It was a fantastic tour. They were lovely people to travel with and even presented us with a beautiful card and gift the night of our last show together. That memory will stay with us.

Snakadaktal’s music can be described as Dream Pop, but how would you pigeon hole it into a genre…what elements would you say are present?
Maybe it’s Pigeon – Pop? It is tough to use generic genre names to categorize and suggest sound, and especially hard to find these words when we’re so connected to creating the sound. Collectively, we seem to capture elements of intimacy, wideness, depth, some clumsiness and the colour blue, in our writing.

Who does the majority of song writing, or do you all contribute to the process?
We don’t have a writing formula, but rather rely on the creative process itself. Mostly we all contribute to that process, each in different ways, depending on where the song has come from. It is an ever-changing formula… the kind that relates to each of our individual spaces and musical perspectives.

When did you decide you wanted to do music?
Each of us connect to music in quite different ways, and we are each crazy about fairly different styles. Somehow we musically met, like any group I suppose, to collect our unique approaches to music and also to reflect our influences. Although our aim was never to make music for other people’s ears. We create music for the fun, and sharing it around feels more like a valuable accident, or a wonderful twist of fate.

Your voice is quite haunting, how did you “find” your voice? Did you listen to any particular artist growing up that you feel shaped your voice?
I never tried to create a haunting voice. Ha ha. Many, many musicians have had an impact on the way that I hear and form sounds, but the expression of each story is different, I am always discovering new aspects of that. The songs we have released so far were recorded before I turned 18, and people now notice the change of timbre and mood in my voice. I suppose it is just ever changing.

‘Boy’ is quite different from ‘Air’ and ‘Dance Bear’ what kind of music do you want to put out there?
I never thought about it like that. We are yet to put our heads together “before the game” and hype to each other about what we want to put out there, and how we want to “play”. Our journey was never about creating a strategy or a wave of new-fangled sound. We are creating the story as it comes, and trying not to neglect the diversities.

Your makeup in the video for ‘Chimera’ is awesome, did you get a say so in the styling?
The Chimera shoot was like going to a dress up party and not quite knowing the theme… The makeup, styling and clip design was decided around us, we were like little puppets.

What’s it like being in a band with all boys? Do they treat you equally?
Yes, entirely. Our friendship is the boss, the giant, of it all.

Is there a real Diva in Snakadaktal? Who would you say it is?
Ha ha, I would heartily hope not… Perhaps a Diva role amongst us would cause more of a stir, with a wig and a bikini and a big bright face.

Is there a mum and a dad? Who fills those roles?
People often say we seem like a family but I don’t think I could nominate a mother or father figure amongst the five of us. We are too playful.

What’s the ultimate dream for Snakadaktal?
The ultimate dream… I don’t think we have discussed that one yet.

Obviously you’ve got to be quite tough to stay true to your sound and your band when you’re an attractive female in a band and try to not become something that isn’t you. How important do you feel it is to control the level of commercial success in order to protect yours and your bands image?
Staying true to who we are seems to happen naturally. We feel earthed, in that sense, and won’t be swept away by the nonsense. I guess we try to avoid things that make us uncomfortable, or shy.

Now let’s get to know Phoebe a little better…
Quick fire questions…

River or Ocean?
Ocean
Beyonce or Debbie Harry?
Beyonce
Fries or salad?
Ah! Both.
Dogs or cats?
Cats, on laps.
Heels or flats?
Flat
Paul Simon or Ed Sheeran?
Paul Simon

By Hannah Shakir

Check out the BBM Exclusive Dance Music Podcast