Snakadaktal – A Fun Handful of Friends

By John Bones on December 9, 2011 in Arts

To say that 2011 has been a big year for the five teenagers in Snakadaktal would be a giant understatement. Having been recently thrust into the limelight through their victory in Triple J’s Unearthed High competition courtesy of their stunning single ‘Chimera’, the young five-piece are just about to release a brand new EP before hitting the road to promote the hell out of it.

During the month we caught up with Snakadaktal drummer Barna…

Snakadaktal in a sentence is… A fun handful of friends who enjoy playing dreamy pop music that people can shake their hips to.

First memory of music… When I was taken to my first ever piano lesson in Year 1 – tears all round.

First album you bought… I remember the first CD I bought was Craig David’s single ‘What’s your flava?’ The first album I ever purchased was ‘Get Born’ by Jet.

Song that gives you goosebumps… ‘Maps’ by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It still gets me every time. And pretty much any song off their record ‘It’s Blitz’.

Fave driving album/s… Tame Impala – ‘Innerspeaker’; Phoenix – ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix’; and Miami Horror – ‘Illumination’.

A Snakadaktal highlight… Recording our track ‘Air’ with the Triple J music team in ABC studios in Sydney. It was an unforgettable experience. Also, holding the first copies of our brand new EP for the first time. It was such a rewarding feeling that all our hard work could finally be summed up in this one CD.

If you could pick a super group its members would be… Julian Casablancas (The Strokes); Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs); and Lovefoxxx (CSS). Dreams can come true!

Aussie bands giving you the good tingles at the moment… Big Scary, Kimbra (though technically a New Zealander), Husky and Cut Copy.

Fave Sydney venue… Being a Melbournian, I have only experienced two venues in Sydney. Although I have no basis for comparison I would have to say the Metro and Goodgod. However, I hear Oxford Art Factory is a babe too.

Band or genre that gives you an ice-cream headache… Aussie hip-hop. Grrrr. And death metal blows my head off. I wasn’t made to enjoy that.

If you bowed to corporate sponsorship it would be to advertise… Coca Cola. This summer would be incredibly refreshing. Or any company where we could get lots of music equipment for free. That would probably be the one we would bow down to.

Your dream bill for a night (Snakadaktal included of course)… Metronomy; Kings of Leon (2003-2007); Yeah Yeah Yeahs; Daft Punk; Radiohead; and Led Zeppelin.

An unknown Snakadaktal fact… Not only is Sean Kelly (vocals, guitars, synths) a member of Snakadaktal, he is also a scuba diver! He is often late to practices as he has been off exploring caves and weird things under the ocean. Unknown Scuba-Sean.

What next for Snakadaktal… Our debut EP is being released on November 25, and to launch it we are embarking on a tour up the east coast of Australia in December! We will be playing a handful of headline shows interstate, which we are very excited about. In fact, we will be playing at Goodgod Small Club on December 14. Next year is still a hazy plan but it looks to involve more shows and then writing and recording some new music.

To find out more about Snakadaktal, search for them on Facebook (they have a page but the URL is ridiculously long) or visit www.myspace.com/snakadaktal.