Snydley was my second really good (in my opinion) original metal band and my first original band to play live gigs. It was also the first band I ever tracked with in the studio. It consisted of Duggo Jackson on vocals, Joe Chavez on guitars, Chad Anthony on bass and me on drums.
I really loved this band. All the guys were pretty cool and we really tore it up. It was kind of a Sabbath meets Metallica style band. Very heavy, very fast. Lot’s of double bass runs and gallops. Very challenging.
We played a lot of gigs. There was a club called Louie’s Zoo back in the day that used to have original metal bands. It was the center of the Fresno metal scene. Everyone played there. In fact, that’s where I first met Jim Kelly from St. Holland and also Alan Yerxa who I would play with almost 20 years later.
My best memory of this band was the time we spent tracking our demo. Chad had a brother who lived on the river in Stockton and so we spent a weekend up there swimming in the river, drinking beer, and tracking songs in his basement. It was one of the best weekends I can remember. Relaxing and recording music with good friends. Doesn’t get much better than that.
The only downside of this band was that the Doug and Joe had problems getting along. Joe was very particular about his playing and his music, almost to the point of insecurity. Doug was kind of a bum actually. Didn’t work steady, kind of flakey. So those two constantly fought. On several occasions Chad and I sat there at our instruments while Doug and Joe rolled around on the ground fist fighting. It was a weird deal.
Eventually, for reasons I can’t remember, the band broke up. I think some of it was friction, but also the scene was changing. Metal was on it’s way out, Louie’s burnt down, and the music scene was dying in Fresno.
