If you haven’t already heard, Snooze dropped a strong contender for album of the year last Friday in the form of I Know How You Will Die. It’s hard to say enough good things about it: If you love math rock, you’ll love this. If you love djent, metal, and mathcore you’re going to love this. If you like choirs and incredible vocal arrangements, you’re going to love this. Oh, and if you want to know you will die, we assume you’re probably going to love it.
But road leading up to I Know How You Will Die was far from smooth – making the right moves, getting the timing right, and even just feeling enough energy to move forward after losing a bandmate can be next to impossible. In a way, the band’s last record Still captured a perfect snapshot not just of grief, but the anxiety, grief, and overwhelm surrounding it. As hard as it is at times to take it all in, the healing magic Still is undeniable. And that’s part of what makes IKHYWD so great.
We’re so grateful to have had Snooze bandleader Logan Voss answer a few questions about the album below, but if you have some time (and potentially a reserve of tears), go listen to Still, and then listen to IKHYWD. The growth is undeniable in so many ways, almost becoming a strange full circle when you consider the impact of Familiaris, the debut that put them on the map. We’ll have more words about the album throughout the year for sure, but for now, dig into a deep dive with Logan about metal influences, working with choirs, healing one’s inner child, his taste for juke music, and a hell of a lot more.
FB: First off, congratulations on a truly incredible record. Can you describe how these massive / global choir sections came about and what directing that experience was like? What was it like translating these performances into the record?
Logan: It was honestly magical, one of the coolest and most special experiences in my entire life. It basically came from a random instagram story post where I basically was like “WHO TRYNA SING IN A CHOIR FOR DA NEW SNOOZE ALBUM” or something like that. The interest was kind of insane – I made a lil google form trying to gauge who’d be willing to show up, their vocal range and whatnot, and then basically did my first actual choir arrangement, SSAATTBB. I originally wanted to be a choir director when I first went to community college, so it was amazing to direct and compose something like that for the first time. Rachel from PianoForte helped set up the recording session, and our friend Kyle also helped the day of – recording and micing and with getting an IR of the room.
The day of was a transcendent experience, part of why I love choir so much is that there is no other feeling like being pummelled by a bunch of voices, and everyone that came through was so talented and wonderful. We had some people send in tracks for both the choir and orchestra sections. We basically just took the IR from the room and applied it to a lot of different sounds on the record whenever we wanted like the Furulya and shakers and coconut etc. on “Expectation” to more match the choir reverb sound. All in all it fucking ruled.
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FB: When did you start writing the songs that are featured on IKWYWD? What are some of the biggest differences between how this one was recorded and Still?
Logan: I started writing the first song “Overheard from the Void” in like 2020/2021 I think – at that point it was largely the same process as on “Still”. I had the guitar parts and programmed drums all laid out, and the process at the time was to have our boy Anup Sastry write and record live drums that improved upon (and made much more human) the programmed drums. He also did the mix and master for that single, which was originally for a Choke Artist compilation with a ton of sick bands. We followed this same workflow for “Contingent”, one of two singles with Anup’s drumming and mixes.
Once Alex joined, it gradually became clear that he would absolutely shred the drum parts on the album, and once the album was fully done being written, we largely followed the same process as before – I had some programmed parts, Alex refined them, and we eventually went to Bricktop to record them live. Everything else was kinda the same as well, I’d record guitars and vocals and all the other fun stuff at home, we had Mike and Demetri put their parts in to a couple of the songs that we’d worked on together, and we reamped the guitars with our friend Adrian at Ohmstead. Then we essentially had everything to hand over to Corey who just completely killed the mix.
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FB: Snooze has always had a deep end thematically, but IKWYWD balances storytelling and catharsis with outright joy on tracks like “I existed” and “Expectation.” Did you intentionally set out to write a musically diverse experience or was it a matter of embracing what was coming to you?
Logan: So it’s largely a chronological concept, like if you put the songs in the order that they were written, they mostly reflect what I was feeling at the time. The song titles also read out a poem if you do so * eyeball emoji * Some are very topical, like “Expectation”, and some much more reflective like the title track and “On a Precipice”. I originally had a way more contrived and complicated concept for the album, some of the remnants of which are still in the lyrics to “Void” and “Contingent”, but it eventually dawned on me that the concept of the album didn’t need to (and shouldn’t) be forced into a certain like, headass concept.
Eventually it just became a series of both conversations between me and the ones I’ve lost, and conversations between me and a sort of symbolic personification and manifestation of all of my struggles with things like suicidal ideation, mental illness, all that FUN shit – but eventually kind of embracing that other entity as not only a part of me, but forgiving him and recognizing that the only way forward is to give myself patience and grace, and starting fresh with the inner child that I’d left pretty much abandoned for years.
FB: Snooze has also been one of the few bands to slay extended range instruments in such a melodic way, particularly when throwing you in with math rock. What’s your favorite part of playing extended range?
Logan:I think the best part of having an extended range instrument is just that – it’s just more instrument, as corny as that sounds. We play with a Drop A and the rest of the guitar is in standard, so it allows you to pretty much do anything that you could with a 6 string plus more extended chord voices and deeper chuggier riffs. I keep my low A at a super high gauge to minimize any unwanted pitchiness when I’m going really ham on some of the djenty parts, but honestly at this point I just have my chord shapes totally coupled with this specific tuning – a lot of it can fit into pretty general drop tuned chords, with the exception of having to change the chord shapes around the B and G strings, but I really just love the versatility of being able to go heavier when it counts.
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FB: Snooze also grind away pretty heavily on “A Mysterious Voice,” and it’s amazing to hear you get nasty in the vein of BTBAM, Inside The Beehive, The Contortionist, Save Us from The Archon, etc. Who are some of your all time heavy favorites and influences?
Logan: You nailed some of them right there, Exoplanet from The Contortionist is one of my favorite albums of all time – otherwise I really love B>Cloudkicker, Meshuggah, BTBAM, After the Burial, Elder, Car Bomb… I really love this band The Central from Madison, ever since we were introduced to the guys from Mathcore Index I’ve kinda been absorbing by osmosis all of the cool stuff they’ve vouched for, there’s so much cool heavy music constantly coming out but I also really like a bunch of other stuff, like I’ve been obsessed with footwork and juke ever since moving to chicago and learning more about Teklife crew and DJ rashad and RP Boo and that whole sphere.
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FB: Speaking of influences, were there any composers or arrangements that were influential on mixing the choral parts, classical sounding parts, etc?
Logan: The big one that I loved when I was little was Eric Whitacre – The chord change in “Sleep” honestly changed my brain chemistry, I almost tear up thinking about it. I also really love this song “Daemon Irrepit Callidus” by György Orbán, kind of my first introduction to kind of “mathy” and dissonant choral music when I was in choir in high school. I really enjoy writing super crunchy chord clustery harmonies, but hopefully in a way that isn’t super high brow and too much. It’s a subtle thing, you gotta spice your shit up carefully and with intention.
FB: What was production like ie. mixing and mastering? As a front to back experience, IKHYWD keeps you hooked on every moment while also making sure the record is sort of sandwiched with really cool little details.
Logan: So in terms of production, we tracked the drums live and reamped the guitars with bigass emperor cabs and like 80 billion mics for each, but when I was writing and recording the stuff at home, it was just a fuckton of obsessing and iterating and getting it to feel right, but even at that point honestly the mixes just sounded like my mixes – like ass. It wasn’t until Corey got his hands on it that it sounded like I’ve always kind of dreamed it would, like extremely chunky, pushed, and modern, but very organic. Like we didn’t replace any samples for the drums, the real amp and cab tones I feel shined through, it honestly sounds fantastic and I couldn’t be happier. Kris Crummett also took it to the next level with the master, I don’t think I’ve ever been happier with the overall sonic image of our music.
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FB: Considering the band’s musical range has increased even more, have you guys started doing things differently to for live shows and tours? What are rehearsals like now? Are you doing vocal warmups and eating lays potato chips before shows?
Logan:HAHAHAHA honestly when our last bassist Andy (shoutout Pleasantries) was taking on more of the vocal parts, it was an all around easier time, he was an incredible vocalist and took a great deal of the pressure off of Mike and I to sing while playing, but when he left and our best boy Demetri joined, I assured him he wouldn’t be doing much singing (I lied). We’ve got it down now that we sort of map out which parts each of us will cover, who has the (relatively) easiest part and who can pick up a vocal part here and there, but Demetri has really come an absurdly long way in the short time he’s been singing, all the vocal parts sound so good live. Mike and I trade a lot of the parts off for the old material, which was mostly written for a standalone vocalist, so it’s come a long way. Everyone in the band has also inspired me to, I don’t know, not be as much of a fuck before shows – actually warming up, not drinking 3 beers before our set, just generally infecting me with their professionalism and their talent. I love them, they’re the best.
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FB: You guys are about to start the IKHYWD tour and announced slots at Pug Fest III, Choke Artist Fest, and Gnargaritaville – all of these are sick. Are there any shows you’re particularly stoked for, whether it’s a venue, band sharing the bill, local food, etc.?
Logan:Honestly every show on the upcoming tour is going to be a banger – Thotcrime is playing one of their last shows ever, we have a bunch of Alex’s good friends playing in St Louis with us, Gnargaritaville is going to be killer – I’ve been listening to Pet Symmetry since I was like an actual child
We’re stoked to hit El paso for the first time, we’re meeting up with our pals in Sloth for a couple shows, Kaonashi in houston is going to be an absolute madhouse, we’re playing with Via Luna again, we’re playing my brothers release show in may, we’re booking a tour on the way to and from Choke Artist Fest in july, and even CRAZIER things to come very soon.
FB: Would you describe IKHYWD as a difficult album to make? Is there a song you’re most proud of, and if so is it because the song was challenging, or because of the song’s emotional content?
Logan: Oh insanely difficult, both from a technical and emotional perspective. There was a year or two where I made absolutely zero progress. It honestly felt impossible to finish. “I listened” almost killed the whole album. That being said, “Wondered” is thr most emotionally cathartic thing I’ve ever written, and it reflects my feelings at the time of writing, and “Until” wraps up the album with a big fuck you to the process that is a consequence of my obsessiveness, perfectionism and irrational self judgement – this life is just supposed to be about hangin out and doing shit with your friends.
FB: Now that it’s out, how do you feel? It feels silly asking because we’ve already talked about a bunch of upcoming shows, but after that, sometimes it takes a few days to process. Any idea what’s next? Any predictions?
Logan: It feels nice, it feels like a weight off my shoulders, breath of fresh air, all of the colloquialisms – I pretty much instantly was flooded with new ideas the second the album was out of my hands and released, it feels nice to just let it exist out there in the ether. I’ve been spending time with my cats, chilling before the tour, trying to let myself enjoy the outrageously generous outpouring of support while it’s here, trying to just be in the moment, excited to play our upcoming run of shows, hoping for more. I’m excited for the future again.
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