Where are you currently based?
Vancouver, BC.
How did you first start playing music?
We both started off with free writing and poetry. That eventually led to us writing our first songs together in our junior years of high school. It wasn’t until late 2016 that we formed Snotty Nose Rez Kids, but it felt like it was a long time coming.
What’s been happening recently and how has your Covid experience been so far?
The 2020 experience has been a weird ride that has taken a lot of adjustments to say the least. We were originally slotted to perform our first headline US Tour in April and had plans of returning to Australia this fall, but 2020 had other plans for us and our tours were derailed. We are working on new singles and collaborations with artists that we have a growing relationship with like Drezus, Dj Shub, Electric Fields and Mo’Ju. We’ve been taking our time with our new album too, figuring out concepts, themes and sounds that we want to explore.
Your new single ‘Where They At’ is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting?
If you are just getting familiar with our music you’ll come to realize there is an “Atlanta Trap” influence when it comes to the beats we use. Our latest full length album “TRAPLINE” is the perfect example of this and artists that want to collaborate with us have taken notice of our sound and often come to us with beats that fit our vibe. This is one of those instances, Drezus came to us with the “Where They At” beat from Canadian producer “Pops” and as soon as it played through those studio monitors, shit popped off!!! A lot like our critically acclaimed “Snotty Nose Rez Kids” sound, our lyrics and songwriting have their own signature style. The majority of our catalog comes with thought provoking lyrics that are meant to either challenge or empower the listener. “Where They At” is the mood we felt coming off an extremely busy 2019 into what we thought was supposed to be “our year,” 2020!
How did you go about writing Where They At?
“Where They At” is pretty much a lil’ flex on a society we were forced to grow up in, that often looks at indigneous people as less than. A society that think indigneous people either come from poverty or come from casino and government money. We tell ‘em we’re doing just fine in this world we were forced to live in while letting our fans/youth know there are financial opportunities in the arts. This is a celebratory song where we raise a toast toast to indigenous people succeeding in a world that was built for us to die out. We understood there would be a bit of backlash from some of our fans that hold us to a certain standard but we also have come to realize that this is our artform and that not every song we put out is like this one.
Where and when did you record/produce?
We recorded this near the end of this summer (2020). Pops and K Notes produced the beat and we all got into Nova Studios, based in Vancouver, with Jamie Kuse, who engineered, mixed and mastered it.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
‘Say Wait’ by Willow
‘Baptize’ by Spillage Village
What do you like to do away from music?
Covid has made life away from music kind of difficult but usually we like to get in the gym and get a few runs in a week on the (basketball) court. We have a lot of homies here in Vancity that we make sure we see regularly and a lot of them are musicians so we grab some drinks and vibe out.
What’s planned for the remainder of 2020 going into 2021?
We are finishing the year with a couple singles and videos. ‘Where They At’ is getting a video. We got a new track called ‘Screaming Indian’ out November 27th. We did that one with South Asian producer, Skinny Local, and the track blends Indigenous and South Asian cultures and sounds. We got a dope video for that one too. And, finally, we got a track with DJ Shub called ‘War Club’ dropping December 4th. The year has been rocky, but now we’re getting back into album mode and we’re eager to get more music out next year.
