Snarky Puppy bassist and bandleader Michael League is driving through Italy when he joins the call.
In the passenger seat is his bandmate of nearly 20 years, pianist Bill Laurence, who joined the jazz fusion collective shortly after its formation. They are touring Europe as a duo before League reassembles Snarky Puppy for an Australian tour.
Driving and conversing seems no challenge for League who is a habitual multitasker. The multi-instrumentalist is also bandleader of the world music leaning Bokanté, an accomplished record producer, founder of record label GroundUP and artistic director of its festival offshoot.
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With 19 musicians credited on the last Snarky Puppy record, it’s unfeasible for them to tour at once. “At the beginning of the year we carve out everything and we offer certain shows to certain people so that stuff gets spread around equally, more or less,” explains League. “Then I fly in and I see who’s playing.”
League attributes this system to the longevity of the band. “Having a rotating line-up allows everybody to pursue their own projects because they don’t have to be at every show,” he says. “I think everybody having their own little plot of land allows them to come into Snarky Puppy every time there’s a tour or an album with fresh energy.”
Many members met at the revered music school at the University of North Texas, where League founded the group, but since then it has grown and dispersed around the world. “That’s where the band has its superpower,” says League who now resides in Catalonia, Spain. “You have so many different people who have studied so many different things and have such different personalities… which creates the group sound.”
It was a teacher at the university that encouraged League to persevere with bass, who is the first to admit was lacking experience. “He was very honest with me at my first audition and was like, ‘You’ve been playing for a year and most of the people in the school have been playing for 10, so you’re going to have to improve very rapidly or you’re not going to really fit in here,’” he recalls.
“I tried to bust my butt… and within a year or two I developed a bit of a niche as a person that could play both electric and acoustic [bass], and could play groove stuff,” continues League. “There was never a moment where I thought “okay, I’m good” but I guess I got less crappy every day.”
It wasn’t until after university that League became more confident in his playing. “I became a part of the black music scene in Dallas, mostly playing in gospel churches,” he explains. “From being a part of that scene and playing with that community of people, I began to develop my own sound inside of that world that was different from other people.”
League estimates he’s produced “between 60 to 80 records,” with Snarky Puppy’s debut being the first. “I didn’t really know what producing was when I started… I didn’t know anything about microphones, recording techniques, about workflow,” he recalls. “So, I just trusted the engineers and tried to learn as much as I could from them.”
Having honed his producing skills when unable to tour during the pandemic, League says he loves the process and considers it an integral part of his career. “I learn so much every time, I could do it all day, every day and I would only feel like I know less,” he beams. “It’s an endless world and there’s so many different ways of doing it.”
In 2022 Snarky Puppy released their fifteenth record Empire Central. Recorded in Dallas live in front of an audience, it pays homage to the R&B and gospel sounds of the city that helped shape their sound. Capturing all 19 musicians in a confined space with such clarity is a masterful achievement. “It’s intense for them,” says League. “But we have some of the best sound engineers in the world, so for them it’s a day’s work.”
The band interchanges between recording their albums live and in the studio. “I like doing it like that and I like doing it in the studio where we can really spend six hours agonising over a sound that’s going to get muted later anyway,” he laughs. “They’re both fun, they’re just different and they yield different results.”
The resulting album scored the band the Grammy for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, the fifth win for the band. “We appreciate it very much when it happens, and we do see a change in the way that people treat us… so it’s nice to be respected,” says League. “It would be great if a piece of metal didn’t have anything to do with that, but we’re human beings, so it makes sense.”
“At the same time, I think we try to not put too much stock in that stuff because in the end… it doesn’t have any bearing on the quality of the music,” he continues. “You don’t become a better band when you win one, you’re the same band that you were five minutes before, so I think everybody has a pretty realistic attitude towards it.”
League’s aspirations remain simple for his upcoming visit to Australia. “The coolest thing I’ve done in Australia is pet a koala, I would love to do that again,” he says. “I would also love to hug a wombat but I think but I think they’re not as social.” Let’s hope he doesn’t run into any snarky wombats.
Snarky Puppy are playing Bluesfest from March 28 to April 1. Buy tickets here.
