Article and photos by Lori Sky Twohy
Lori from JamBandsOnline: Ethan Heller, thank you for taking the time to talk to me today. As a fellow Ashevilian, I’ve been seeing your band live for a while, and I’m such a huge fan of your music that I finally had to interview you. Doing it as Hulaween pre-coverage felt like the perfect opportunity.
I’ve told you many times that I’m blown away by your guitar playing and style, and I so admire how you promote yourself, too. I’ve often thought to myself that you’re going to be big one day, because this band jams on a whole new level. You’ve already “made it” in my eyes. But you know what I mean — you’re one of those bands that should be even bigger than you are. It’s a blessing living in Asheville because we have some of the best music in the world here — including you guys — so let’s just start there.
When did you start playing guitar, and are you from Asheville originally?
Ethan from The Snozzberries: I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and I started playing when I was about 14 or 15. I was in punk-rock bands all throughout high school, so I was really a punk-rock guitarist at first.
JBO: That explains so much about why I’m drawn to your music — that’s what I grew up on too, until I saw my first Phish show! Go on.
Ethan: I was in punk bands — that was what I loved, and I still love it. I really didn’t start taking my technical playing more seriously until I moved to Asheville. I got here about 10 years ago, in 2015, and started going to the weekly Funk Jam. Then I realized that everybody was way better than me, so I had to step up.
JBO: You were just inspired?
Ethan: Yeah — I was really inspired by all the Empire Strikes Brass guys. They gave me a chance and are the reason I’m playing now. They invited me to join their house band and learn new songs every week. That’s when I really started to progress as a player and get to know everybody in the music scene here, eventually starting my own band.
JBO: So basically you just started sitting in with them and other bands, and at open-mic nights and jam sessions until you got better? We definitely have a lot of that here.
Ethan: Exactly. I started going to the weekly Funk Jam every Tuesday night and eventually joined somebody else’s band for a while. When that ended, I started The Snozzberries and began gigging — and eventually taking it really seriously. I’d learned about booking from my previous band, so I was able to book us a tour out in Colorado. We toured in an RV with five band members, including a married couple, a giant pit bull, and two cats.
JBO: That’s hilarious. Sounds like you’d need a family therapist for that road trip!
So why did you choose the band’s name? Obviously it comes from Willy Wonka, but what made you decide that was the name for you guys? (I personally love bands named after food, even if it’s fictional.)
Ethan: Honestly, that tour in Colorado ties right into it. Ian Taylor — our keyboard player — I’d just met him at the Funk Jam, and the band needed a keyboardist to fill in. So I was like, “Ian, do you want to hop in this band and learn these songs with two cats, a dog, and some guy and his old lady?” It was crazy — but he did it.
Halfway through the tour, the band started falling apart, of course, and I was booking bar gigs in Asheville. I asked Ian if he wanted to play some local bar gigs with me, and he said sure. So basically half the band decided to do those gigs with me, and I just thought it’d be funny to call it The Snozzberries. It started as a joke — I said, “What if we booked it as The Snozzberries?” Once we had a solid lineup and started taking it seriously, we thought, “This name is fun — let’s stick with it.”
JBO: Wow! So it just kind of happened organically?
Ethan: Yeah — once we started writing our own music, we took it even more seriously. Then we started getting booked at festivals and shows, and eventually touring.
JBO: Including Hulaween, which I remember a few years ago. I, of course, went and saw your set — you even had Brock Butler from Perpetual Groove sitting in for some songs. That was epic! How did that happen — getting big gigs like Hula?
Ethan: Honestly, I just started sending emails. I wish there were a magic story, but that’s how I’ve done a lot of things — by reaching out and trying. When we finally got into Hula, we were so excited. This time we’re even more excited, because we have Josh Clark in the band now.
JBO: Yeah, I noticed you’ve changed band members a few times. So do you feel like you have a solid, committed crew now that’s going to stick it out?
Ethan: The crew right now is awesome. It’s me and Ian (keyboards) as the original members since day one. Josh Clark joined about two years ago on bass and vocals.
JBO: He’s really good.
Ethan: Yeah — he used to be in the Travers Brothership, and he’s got such a great voice. He does a lot of the lead singing now. Then Logan Jayne (drums) joined at the top of this year, and he’s not going anywhere either. We all get along so well. Since he joined, we’ve written about a full album’s worth of music that we’ve been releasing throughout the year.
JBO: You’ve been recording with the new drummer and just haven’t put out a full LP yet?
Ethan: The album we put out last year still had Paul on it. After Hurricane Helene, Paul moved to Dallas — I think he’d been thinking about leaving Asheville for a while.
JBO: And that sealed the deal? No surprise there. It was traumatic for everyone, even those of us who were out of town or whose homes were okay. There was collective trauma all around — everyone knows someone who lost everything, if not their life.
Ethan: Yeah, we’re still friends. We just played in Dallas, and he came out to the show.
When Logan joined, we started writing, and we’ve put out four singles from the new album so far. I feel like we have another five or six songs that are done.
JBO: Awesome! So when do you think it’ll be released?
Ethan: We’re trying something new this time. Instead of recording the whole thing at once like we normally would, we’re doing it at Logan’s home studio, a little at a time. He’s also a really good producer. We’re calling it Raw Berries. Essentially, we record each song as a live play-through until it’s perfect. We don’t do overdubs — it’s all exactly what we recorded, then we mix and master it. We’ve also got multi-camera videos for each song, so people can watch us play each one through.
JBO: That’s amazing! That footage could be used for future music videos. So you’re releasing one song at a time, and once you have enough, you’ll put it all together as an album. Any idea when it’ll drop?
Ethan: I’d say probably by spring — that’s a safe bet.
JBO: Sounds smart. Then you can start planning a summer tour from there.
Ethan: Exactly. We’re excited. It’s been challenging — we’ve had to record some songs a dozen times!
JBO: I listened to the last album today to prepare for this interview, and it got me thinking about your style and influences. Subconsciously I should’ve known you had a punk background, but that doesn’t really come across in the songs. They feel more like progressive metal meets jazz, with a lot of jamming — which is why I think you fit perfectly in the jam-band scene. Am I right, or off base?
Ethan: You’re 100% right. When we first started out, we were more of a straightforward jam band, but with a prog-metal edge. As time’s gone on — especially after our drummer Sean Mason passed away — the music evolved. When he died, we weren’t really a band for a while. When we restarted, the songwriting was darker from the grief, and it gave us a whole new sound that I love. Now we’re much less in the “jam band” box, even though we still improvise a lot and have long songs. We’re like prog-metal meets soul.
JBO: Soul! Yes — that’s probably the word I was looking for. Like a jazzy kind of soul on the slower songs.
Ethan: Exactly. All the other guys have jazz backgrounds — so there you go.
JBO: That’s why I think you guys are so underrated, and why I believe you’ll do great things.
The Snozzberries play Saturday at 4:15 on the Spirit Lake Stage! Don’t miss out!
You must be logged in to post a comment.