#1 Interview questions for Dan Snyder. Just some added info: Dan was
in the now defunct local band Dog's Life with his brother, Dave.
After stints in some other groups that you will read about below,
( note: Shop Class Squares rocked too), they both are now in the super
snappie local band, The Quitters. Dave on lead vocals, Dan on
guitar/bg's. The Quitters kick ass. If you ever get the chance to see
the Quitters, go. They will make you wish you were that cool.
(note: some of these pertain to band bio stuff in the Vintage Vault
Dog's Life review)
-Are there any other albums after "Queenie Gots a Pinworm"?
No. Dog's Life didn't release anything else, but a friend of ours did put out a Dog's Life live CD. I don't know if they're still available or not...but I'll find out for you.
-To what extent did the band's touring reach?
We didn't really "tour" per se...we booked shows all over the place and made weekend trips to play shows out of town / state. We played CBGB'c in NYC, and some place in Boston - stuff like that, but mostly campus bars.
- Were any of the members involved in other projekts (together or solo)before or after Dog's Life? (*Besides* the Quitters)
While in Dog's Life; I played drums in a band called Jack The Baptist for about a year, and I was also in KooKooBoy, as the guitarist, for about the first two years of that band. Actually, Scott Coblio (KooKooBoy) and I invented that band...almost all of the releases were just he and I recording on a four-track at my house. You can get almost everything he and I ever did on a CD called "Welcome to Monster Island" (Bop Shop) which was put out after KooKooBoy broke up.
Before Dog's Life, Lee Chabowski played guitar in a band called The Resisters, and my brother Dave was doing mostly acoustic punk-a-billy around town as Howlin' Jed. Dave later became the drummer for the legendary Shop Class Squares (which I eventually played bass for).
-As the sound of the band evolved from the first to second record, didthe audience basis change much?
Actually, our fan base changed over several times during our eight-year stint. There were people who came to see us constantly who eventually graduated from college, moved away, grew up, got jobs, ...or what ever. But yes, there were some people who really loved the "old" Dog's Life, and others who loved the later sound, so our audience was always morphing.
-Looking back on the experience/group, is there anything that you wishhad been done differently by you or the band as a whole?
Well, I wish I hadn't personally put so much stock in "making it" or getting famous. It wasn't until way after the band broke up that I realized what a great band it was...and then it was too late to enjoy it. You know, everything seemed like a failure to me because the goal was to "make it", which never happened. I would probably have been much happier through those times had I just enjoyed the band for what it was - a really great band.
-What is the most valuable thing that you learned from being in a band like Dog's Life?
Do everything you WANT to do, and pay very little attention to the things you think you HAVE to do. In Dog's Life, there was all this pressure to make everything RIGHT and to do everything RIGHT - to do everything we had to do to get noticed and get a record deal. In the Quitters, we make music...that's all. We enjoy it for the great band we think it is, and mostly just pay all of our attention to what we want to do. No pressure...I've NEVER been happier, and I've never been in a band I love as much as the Quitters...I guess I learned my lesson.
-What type of advice would you give to someone aspiring to be in a bandsomeday?
DO IT. Don't ever second guess yourself...what ever you're thinking - play it - don't get bogged down by what is COOL. Just do your thing.
