2008 Woodie Awards
Artist spotlight: Pete Snyder
Issue date: 10/14/05 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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Gracing just about any stage that will have him, "Speedy" Pete Snyder has become a familiar face to any fan of benefit concerts, ORC parties, and LUCC presidents. This week The Lawrentian delves into the creative mind of one of Lawrence's most enigmatic performers.
Where are you from and what are you studying at Lawrence?
I am from Flossmoor, Illinois, and I study government, economics, and environmental studies at Lawrence.
When did you start playing guitar and/or writing music?
I started playing guitar and writing music in high school. The first writing I did was a "concept album" with a metal-head friend about a guy who sells his family to the mob to feed his gambling habit. The sound was high art, late "Loaded"-era Metallica, with a German electro-clash twist. It turned out just as good as it sounds.
After that I started writing music with a different friend in a band called Teddy and Albert. We wrote songs about selling lemonade, putting on raincoats, driving in cars, bobcats on bobsleds, and nuclear fission. We were doing childish-unironic-woe-is-me-twee-revival before Morrissey made it fashionable again.
What previous musical or nonmusical experiences have contributed to your recent musical endeavors?
Most of my recent musical "endeavors" have been driven by my discovery that many of my friends are nice/altruistic/bored enough to come to see me perform, regardless of how asinine my songs are. For example, in all honesty, the most clever song I have managed to write so far is about sandwiches, and I seem to be incapable of writing about anything other than shopping or food. I once actually patted myself on the back for working the rhyme "yo, give me a calzone / put it in my hand zone" into a song. William F-ing Shakespeare I am not.
Long story short, at least in my case: having good friends and forgiving band members seems to be way more important to being a "musician" than writing good songs.
What are your recent musical endeavors?
Where are you from and what are you studying at Lawrence?
I am from Flossmoor, Illinois, and I study government, economics, and environmental studies at Lawrence.
When did you start playing guitar and/or writing music?
I started playing guitar and writing music in high school. The first writing I did was a "concept album" with a metal-head friend about a guy who sells his family to the mob to feed his gambling habit. The sound was high art, late "Loaded"-era Metallica, with a German electro-clash twist. It turned out just as good as it sounds.
After that I started writing music with a different friend in a band called Teddy and Albert. We wrote songs about selling lemonade, putting on raincoats, driving in cars, bobcats on bobsleds, and nuclear fission. We were doing childish-unironic-woe-is-me-twee-revival before Morrissey made it fashionable again.
What previous musical or nonmusical experiences have contributed to your recent musical endeavors?
Most of my recent musical "endeavors" have been driven by my discovery that many of my friends are nice/altruistic/bored enough to come to see me perform, regardless of how asinine my songs are. For example, in all honesty, the most clever song I have managed to write so far is about sandwiches, and I seem to be incapable of writing about anything other than shopping or food. I once actually patted myself on the back for working the rhyme "yo, give me a calzone / put it in my hand zone" into a song. William F-ing Shakespeare I am not.
Long story short, at least in my case: having good friends and forgiving band members seems to be way more important to being a "musician" than writing good songs.
What are your recent musical endeavors?