Industry Weekly

[Soundscape]

Snails brings his sludgy sounds to the Joint

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Montreal-based DJ and producer Snails plays a RVLTN show at the Hard Rock Hotel on November 26.
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Hip-hop and dirty bass heads unite: Snails is sliding into Vegas. Not familiar with the trap-loving gastropod? He’s been referred to as a “twisted trap monstrosity” by Billboard, and his debut fall album The Shell has received plenty of accolades for its blend of U.K. garage and sludgy, grimy, frog-like bass. Give “Into the Light” a spin, and you’ll see what we mean.

Since first appearing on Kannibalen Records in 2012, the Montreal-based DJ and producer born Frédérik Durand has garnered a devout following—“snail heads” indebted to Durand’s deep drops and glitchy, turbulent samples. It’s like the thick, soul-crushing sounds of dubstep, but on acid. And it’s lovingly referred to as “vomitstep” by his legions of fans—wheich grew in 2015, when he collaborated with Skrillex and Diplo on their Jack Ü project. Recently he signed to Skrillex’s own OSWLA imprint.

Durand started out playing in metal bands and listening to bands like Slayer as a teenager, but he was ultimately drawn to producing electronic music, which allowed him to create even noisier, louder sounds.

“When I play, I want to play metal songs, and when I produce, I want to go hard—do some riffs, make something similar,” Durand told Billboard in 2016. “I come from the background, and I feel like a big part of bass music is in that genre. When I see all the people head bang and break their neck … that brings me back.” RVLTN Presents Snails at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel, November 26.

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