The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Matt Lynch of Snail & Mysterious Mammal Recording

—

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I’d say I’m an artistic enabler. I’m not the rock star in the band, but I help the rock stars create their vision and make it sound as best it can be in the process. I play bass, keys, program drums, engineer, mix, and master. Along the way I end up producing if I’m tracking the band, being a sounding board and decision maker. I’ve always liked working with more underground music so I suppose I’m a producer by default since the bands I work with never have a budget for a separate producer and engineer, and being in LA for so long now I can put a band together for people in the studio if needed. I’m also a graphic designer and photographer so I’ve done a lot of album art and layouts for clients as well as shooting and editing videos and doing band photos. So yeah, creative enabler.

I started playing bass back in 1990 or so and quickly hooked up with local musicians Mark Johnson and Marty Dodson, eventually forming Snail. I moved to San Francisco and after Snail broke up, I started recording my band Plugusher in our practice space with an ADAT and a Mackie board. Word got out to other bands in our circle and that started my recording career. Fast forward to 2008 or so, and Snail got back together and recorded Blood at my spot after I had moved to L.A. I had already been recording a lot of bands and artists at that point, but the Snail reunion connected me with Eddie Glass and Nebula, and through him Ed Mundell of Monster Magnet and the Ultra Electric Mega Galactic and Ruben Romano of Nebula, Fu Manchu and The Freeks. Snail and moving to LA gave me a chance to work with some great people that I never imagined I’d be friends with. From that scene and really the scene around the Obelisk, I’ve gotten to work with other folks like Bevar Sea all the way in India, Circle of Sighs, and most recently Somnus Throne.

Describe your first musical memory.

Wow, that’s a tough one. I’m an old guy now so the memory is not what it used to be. Also, music was just always part of my life so it’s tough to pick out one thing. My parents were young and I grew up listening to my dad’s records. A few things that come to mind are listening to Purple Haze and Jimi Hendrix Smash Hits a lot, since my dad was a bass player and he and his buddy Ben would play that tune at our house and it was a favorite in general along with Cream’s Sunshine of Your Love. I also remember putting on Abbey Road quite a bit and loving Oh Darling! and Octopus’s Garden. ELO’s Face the Music and that opening backmasked intro to Fire on High freaked me right out. That kind of informed that Snail tune “Thou Art That” a bit.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Oh man, so many, but I think all of mine are as a fan and not a performer. Probably seeing Elliot Smith do Between the Bars at The Fillmore, just him and his guitar, so intimate. That song is just crushingly heavy to me, and I feel privileged now to have been able to witness it now that he’s gone. So many of the greats are gone now and I’m so happy to have been able to see some of them. John Lee Hooker, Aretha, Ray Charles, Tom Petty, Ellliot Smith. I’m hoping to finally see Tom Waits before it’s too late, as he’s a hero of mine.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

I’m basically a non-violent person. I feel that putting violence out into the world invites it to come back, karma-style. But recent events here in the U.S. have me contemplating what I will do if a civil war comes to my door. I’ve even had a very disturbing conversation with a dear friend recently, spawned by Covid response difference of opinion, that brought up the old “brother against brother” sentiment. It’s very disheartening.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

A broader palette means the artist can make more specific work. Sometimes it’s overwhelming though, and it can lead to more bland work. It’s a delicate balance. Some people are good at self editing, while others need a collaborator. Some people self edit way too much! I see and hear that often while making records, where an artist will ask if this feels “like a (Band) song”. I usually site the Beatles’ white album as a remedy against this. It’s all over the place, but it still sounds like The Beatles because it’s them. All you can do is be honest with your art. If you’re honest, the progression will be a positive thing.

How do you define success?

Being able to do what you love the way you want to do it.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

The last time I saw Elliot Smith play, he was a mess. His voice was gone and he had to start several songs over again. He was loaded and probably hadn’t slept for awhile. It was just so sad and messed up after having seen him just destroy a room in the past.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

I’d like to write a book about my high school years, although I’m held back by thinking it’s quite egotistical and would piss off some old friends. It’s a pipe dream, and if I did it, it would only be for myself.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

I think art in general is a process that for the artist, is independent from the final product. Many times, it’s wordless communication that can’t exist any other way, because the feeling conveyed doesn’t translate to verbal language, unless you’re a writer of course. The viewer/listener/reader will have many different translations, and that doesn’t mean that the art is any less singular; it’s just that good art is complex and can be universal. It’s a conversation between the artist and the viewer/listener/reader that happens independently of time and space. So I believe art leads to better understanding, and ultimately a more rich culture. Does it mean the artist is happy? Maybe not, but it’s a moment in time for the artist and it can be both a moment in time for the viewer/listener/reader as well as an ongoing conversation as people age and connect different experiences with old and familiar pieces.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

I’m looking forward to going out to Massachusetts in a week, getting out of the house and seeing old friends and family. Going out to Cape Cod, parking the car for a week and riding bikes everywhere, eating lobster rolls, chowder and ice cream and taking photos of the beautiful country.

https://mysteriousmammal.com/
https://www.facebook.com/mysteriousmammal

www.snailhq.com
www.facebook.com/snailhq
https://www.instagram.com/snail_hq/

www.argonautarecords.com/shop
www.facebook.com/argonuatarecords
www.instagram.com/argonautarecords

Snail, Fractal Altar (2021)

[Click play above to stream the premiere of Snail’s video for ‘Mission From God.’ New album, Fractal Altar, releases April 30 on Argonauta Records. Video edited by Matt Lynch with footage by Kevin Spencer, Jennifer Hendrix-Johnson, Weston Radcliffe, and Laura Chavez and art by Ella Lynch.]

It is fitting and perhaps not coincidental that Snail‘s fifth album, Fractal Altar, should arrive on the cusp of the band celebrating their 30th anniversary next year, since it is arguably most the work they’ve done since to harken back to their beginnings as a band. Their 1993 self-titled debut (review here) and 1994’s All Channels Are Open EP document those early days and even as its Seldon Hunt/Ella Lynch front and back covers embrace a yet-unseen complexity of design, the eight songs of the release itself work to in part to pare down some of the layering aspects and push the buzz tone of Mark Johnson‘s guitar to the fore with Matt Lynch‘s bass and Marty Dodson‘s drums accompanying with punkish speed on opening duo “Mission From God” and the righteously Fu Manchu-y “Nothing Left for You” — the latter also previously released as a single — before “Not Two” urges with proto-grunge-meets-desert-rock backing, “Bring your appetite/And we’ll devour each other.”

Of course, Fractal Altar, which is released through Argonauta Records some six years after Feral (review here) came out on Small Stone, has its dynamic and still finds the band trying new things. With recording by Lynch at All Welcome Records in Inglewood, California, and mixing/mastering at his own Mysterious Mammal studio, as well as some home recording by Jennifer Hendrix-Johnson in Seattle, and Lynch‘s daughter handling the back cover, Fractal Altar is nothing if not a family affair, but that perhaps emphasizes how much the band itself has become a kind of family, if one spread between Los Angeles (Lynch), San Diego (Dodson) and Seattle (Johnson), and it makes the elements of growth they showcase in their songwriting, be it in more nuanced arrangements of backing vocals from Lynch in “Hold On” or the subsequent “The False Lack,” or the rhythmic patience that allows for a sense of space in the latter there without resorting to an effects barrage, feel suitably homegrown.

No doubt part of the idea that Snail have stripped down somewhat on Fractal Altar comes from the fact that, at eight tracks and 37 minutes, the record is a full 10 minutes shorter than was Feral, but it’s also the band’s second long-player since returning to a three-piece configuration, their lineup having included guitarist Eric Clausen for their 2009 return-from-ether second album, Blood (review here) and its 2012 follow-up, Terminus (review here). To listen to the relative sprint with which they execute “Mission From God” at the outset or the later mellow-Nirvana-into-rolling-nod of the penultimate “Draining White,” Snail don’t sound like anything so much as themselves, and they sound free in terms of their craft. On their fourth release since coming back from a 16-year break, the most immediate attitude one can glean from listening is that they’re doing what they want to do.

It’s not necessarily a turn toward the humble, but as the video for “Mission From God” finds Johnson playing the lead role of someone having taken enough acid to meet with the divine, the band come across as both willing to have fun — see also the Queens of the Stone Age-style handclaps and strum as “Not Two” approaches its midpoint and the all-out low-end-showcase lumber of the eight-plus-minute closing title-track, on which no less than Ed Mundell turns in a guest appearance on backward guitar — and aware of what they want to do and who they want to be as songwriters. “When the Tree Spoke,” which follows “The False Lack” and opens side B, is elemental Snail through and through. Johnson‘s vocals are melodic and laid back, topping a fervent but not necessarily aggressive groove, and the tones are subtly rich without being overdone. There’s flourish of keys and backward sampling and a call and response hook, but nothing that couldn’t be reproduced faithfully on stage, and they bring it all back around to the chorus in a way that’s atmospheric without veering into such overly cerebral fare as to be inconsistent with earlier pieces.

Further evidence that Snail know exactly what they’re doing here? The progression of the album. Even Feral, which was their most accomplished record to this point, didn’t draw the listener in with as much clarity of purpose as does Fractal Altar, and speaking as a fan of the band, these songs are a trip that’s a pleasure to take, from the hestitate-to-call-them-“simple”-bit-will-anyway-for-the-turn-of-phrase simple pleasures of the choruses in “Mission From God” and “Nothing Left for You,” down through the slowdown in “Not Two” and the bit of Pacific Northwest that shows up in “Hold On” (that main riff calling to mind earlier Red Fang all the more with the backing vocal treatment) ahead of “The False Lack” and “When the Tree Spoke” setting up the longer-unfolding “Draining White” and “Fractal Altar” itself, which, true to classic LP structure, prove to be as stratosphere-bound as Snail push on the album.

Lynch, who you’ll recall also mixed, seems to have been saving his bass punch for the start of the title cut, and fair enough. If the band are in direct conversation with Feral anywhere on Fractal Altar, it’s in the song that shares the release’s name, but they’re more willing to freak out in the apex here than they were on, say, “Thou Art That” or the similarly-extended thudder “Psilocybe” from the prior record. Ed Mundell shredding guitar in another dimension is never going to hurt either as regards setting that mood, and it’s as fitting as anything could hope to be that they end the lysergic march with a sudden stop as though, having finally tipped off the end of the world, there’s nothing left to greet them but vacuum. One wonders how long that section actually went, but cutting it cold serves its purpose, and perhaps the last message they’re sending to their audience is that Snail realize that too. Fractal Altar is the offering through which they are most themselves in songwriting and performance. They may dip here and there in terms of influences or pick out aspects and vibes as they go from others — hello, Blues Brothers — but there is no master being served here more than the songs, and that is as emblematic of their work on the whole as anything could be. Far out.

Snail, Fractal Altar (2021)

Snail on Thee Facebooks

Snail on Twitter

Snail’s website

Argonauta Records website

Argonauta Records on Thee Facebooks

West Coast fuzz heavies Snail will release their new album, Fractal Altar, through Argonauta Records. The announcement and pickup comes after the Spring 2020 unveiling of the single “Nothing Left for You” (posted here), which will also feature as the second cut on the eight-song long-player. The Los Angeles and Washington-based trio’s last full-length was 2015’s Feral (review here), so they’re well enough due an album, particularly as they’re approaching the 30th anniversary of their originally getting together in 1992 — their self-titled debut (review here) came out in ’93, the All Channels are Open EP (review here) followed in ’94 and then they disbanded until 2009’s Blood (review here; discussed here) — and as a fan of their work across the board, news of a fifth full-length is only welcome as far as I’m concerned.

Spring release, so maybe April? May? Whenever it arrives, it will be greeted as a fuzzy liberator.

From the PR wire:

SNAIL Signs Worldwide Deal With Argonauta Records! New album “Fractal Altar” due out in Spring 2021!

Six years since their last album, heavy psych prophets SNAIL have announced the worldwide signing with Argonauta Records for the release of a new and hotly-anticipated full-length studio album!

Entitled “Fractal Altar” and slated for a release in the Spring of 2021, SNAIL’s forthcoming, fifth record picks up where their last LP “Feral” left off — heavy, fuzzy melodic tunes with floating harmonies and lyrics that explore both inner and outer space. But this time, the band comes recharged and rejuvenated, enthusiastically triumphing over their dark side and reveling in their power trio roots.

Six years in gestation, recording for “Fractal Altar” led all three original SNAIL members Marty Dodson, Mark Johnson and Matt Lynch to convene the brotherhood to record their new album at All Welcome Records in Inglewood, CA. Since the members are spread out all over the West Coast ranging from Seattle to Los Angeles and San Diego, the proceedings took on the air of an astrological event. SNAIL in the studio is a celebration of both sonics and friendship, and after 30 years of playing together, it didn’t take long to lock in and feel the synergy ignite.

During the last year, the masters of heavy slowness have already shared a sneak peak of the fruits of their labors, but showcasing faster driving rhythms and Stooges-style leads with the track “Nothing Left for You”.

“We are very excited to be working with Argonauta and feel honored to be a part of their amazing roster of talent.” SNAIL comments. “Their enthusiasm and dedication to realizing our vision for this release means so much to us and we can’t wait to deliver this new record to our fans all over the world.”

Dropping the needle on the LP’s opening track “Mission from God”, the listener gets a nod to the Blues Brothers, while the song turns the line on its head with a hard rocking tune about going “far out” to bring back the psych knowledge for the less experienced masses. After ranging from poppy jangle to fuzzy singalongs and Camaro rocking proto-metal, the record closes with the album’s title song, “Fractal Altar”, a nine minute sludge behemoth that will leave listeners renewed and satisfied that they sat down to commune with the elders.

Welcome back the kings of fuzz, and stay tuned for many more details and new tracks to follow in the weeks ahead!

Snail is:
Matt Lynch (Bass/Vocals)
Marty Dodson (Drums)
Mark Johnson (Lead Vocals/Guitar)

www.snailhq.com
www.facebook.com/snailhq
https://www.instagram.com/snail_hq/
https://snailhq.bandcamp.com/
www.argonautarecords.com
www.facebook.com/argonautarecords

Snail, Nothing Left for You / Fearless (2020)

Snail, “Nothing Left for You” official video