Celebrating the release of their debut EP ‘Tangents’, filled to the brim with introspective, menacing garage rock combined with shoegaze undertones, Snakes With Tits are here to fly the flag for the radgewave mamgaze scene. Andrew McFetrich spoke with the band to find out more.
It’s a fantastic EP that seems to cover a lot of ground. Can you tell us about how it came about?
We had been doing a lot of songs from improv, just some bits and pieces really, and the songs all just came out of that. The songs grew from there into what we released on the EP. We crowdfunded it to get the recordings done.
Crowdfunding is an interesting way of doing it. It must have been great to know that people wanted you to release it.
Yeah, it was pretty humbling. We were starting out as this little band without a following and then people had faith in us. Those who had seen us play live wanted to hear a more professional recording of it.
Was it a bit scary to put it out there?
Yeah, it was. There was an understanding that they’d put their money down, so they were expecting something. But the North East music scene has been really supportive; we’ve made a lot of friends with different bands over the years.
Radgewave Mamgaze is a hell of a genre to identify with. Can you tell us about the sound that defines it?
We didn’t want to be pigeonholed into one particular sound. We can go from some pretty dreamy, ethereal soundscape stuff to some gloomy, punky stuff, so it’s an amalgamation of all those things. It’s not a sound; it’s a state of mind! We’ve all got our own individual tastes in music, so it’s somehow bringing all of that together and incorporating it into something a bit more original.
That variety definitely comes through on the EP, with some shoegazey stuff and 1970s stoner rock. Were there any particular influences that you brought with you?
Anything from ‘70s prog from my childhood (Shellie), to Black Sabbath, who we all love, shoegaze, grunge, ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, just everything that makes it a melting pot.
There’s a hint of the Pacific Northwest sound to it…
Put it this way, if I come up with a riff, there’s a good chance it’s going to have some sort of Soundgarden seasoning to it.
And how did you capture that sound in the studio?
We recorded it live because the songs came from improv. We did it that way and recorded overdubs as and when needed. We wanted it to capture the essence of what it is to see us live.
How did your recent EP launch go?
It went really well. It was great to play it live in front of an audience. For the rest of 2025? Well, it’s the year of the snake! We’ve got CDs out now and we’ve got some gigs coming up at the coast and at Little Buildings. I reckon I’ll need to buy a diary soon.
Any plans to release a full album?
Yeah, eventually, but we’re just taking it day by day at the moment. Maybe further down the line, we’ll do another EP before we do the album. Maybe we’ll do it how Fugazi did it: release two EPs and then combine them straight into an album, but I also think a live album would be good.
And to wrap it up, who did put the mould in the marmalade that your mama made (aken from the lead track ‘Tyranny’)?
Haha, that would be telling. Although we did have Indiana Jones at the EP launch – he was there with his bullwhip, and we had the boulder going after him. It’s quite an interactive experience seeing us live.
You can listen to ‘Tangents’ now on all major streaming platforms.
