They made a huge impression on Melbourne audiences in 2016 and most recently at the Melbourne Recital Centre in April 2017. The outfit’s core leader and frontman Michael League reflects on what makes their shows so hypnotic
and refreshing.
“We try to craft a completely unique experience each night. It’s normally a mixture of music from all of our albums, never the same setlist, with each song played differently from the last time.”
League founded Snarky Puppy in 2004 and has since acquired an ocean of wisdom and experience as an artist in an ever-changing music industry. His mantra amidst the transforming landscape has been to “take care of the music first”.
“There’s no question that streaming, and the corresponding catastrophic decrease in recording revenue, has changed the shape of live music over the last decade. In order to make up for recording losses, musicians have had no option but to tour more,” League says.
“This has resulted in a noticeably more vibrant live music culture, with a renewed interest on the audience side – for the first time since the ‘90s – in seeing human beings playing instruments. It’s become a groundswell, and now we’re seeing more and more music festivals, new venues, and Instagram channels devoted to people playing music, and an increase in independent artists who have built their fanbases through their ability to perform.
“Cory Henry, a former member of Snarky Puppy, was successfully touring for years with The Funk Apostles without even having released an album under that band’s name. Jacob Collier had a similar path. It’s a different paradigm now.”
League is a big advocate for artists letting their belief in their art take precedence above audience expectations. He trusts the audience to develop an interest in the music they dedicate themselves to and bravely share to new audiences, rather than curating to already established tastes.
“The irony is that people like the music more this way, even if it’s a new sound for them. They feel the honesty in it despite the unfamiliarity.”
2016 saw Snarky Puppy release their 11th album, Culcha Vulcha. The record was a tight, irresistibly rich and detailed body of work that took away a key element of their former releases – the live component.
“There were overdubs, no audience, and we took our time over the course of a week. At the same time, since we’re so accustomed to recording and playing live, I feel like we brought out that energy the whole time. We had the whole band there so there was a lot of creative input, conversation and stimulation.”
It’s evident in so many ways that League and the rest of his musical enclave are, above anything else, most passionate about sincere creative expression that touches others and most importantly, evokes inspiration. League believes that the most significant support in creative communities comes from feeling moved by someone’s art.
“Snarky Puppy has been very fortunate in terms of our career path,” League admits. “We have a fanbase who doesn’t judge our music based on accessibility.”
Going forward, Snarky Puppy will continue to push the boundaries and probe, without getting ahead of themselves in the process. “We’re just trying to keep exploring, make new mistakes, and hopefully push ourselves forward. More than anything else, we want to inspire people to make their artistic visions a reality. The world needs brave, creative music. I hope we can help encourage others to create it,” League says.
