Snowcone For President's Jeremy Neese Discusses Upcoming Album

Interview by Jessica Klausing

Snowcone For President. Photo by Emily Neese.

“A vote for Snowcone For President is a vote for a heavy sonic candidate.”

Snowcone For President is an alternative rock band straight out of Carrollton, Georgia. Their high energy performances coupled with the antics of band mascot Snowcone the Bad Panda have earned the band attention within the indie music world. The band consists of Jeremy Neese (lead vocals, guitar), Evan Crowther ( back-up vocals, guitar) Alden Harper (percussion), and Bain Griffith (bass). Currently, Snowcone For President is gearing up for the release of their upcoming album, Thomas’ Garden. The first single, “I Need it” releases May 8th.

In this interview frontman Jeremy Neese discusses his musical projects, the new Snowcone For President album and Snowcone the Bad Panda’s origins.

How would you describe Snowcone For President’s music?

Jeremy: Our music has eerie rock melodies with R & B vocals. It is very lyric and bass driven.

Has your music evolved since Snowcone's earlier music incarnation (circa 2000s)?

Jeremy: Our music has undergone total reconstruction from all new members (excluding frontman Jeremy Neese) to a re-established style and persona.

How do you think that you have grown as a band since forming? What has remained the same?

Jeremy: Snowcone has undergone so much reconstruction, the only constant variable has been myself and Snowcone the Bad Panda. The new guys that I am playing with have really breathed new life into this band.

Where did the idea of "Snowcone the Bad Panda" come from?

Jeremy: I wanted to add some sort of visual aspect to our shows. If you watch any famous band's live performance there are all of these lights and theatrics. I decided to create a mascot for our band and pandas are my favorite animal, so what better than a mischievous panda named Snowcone?

When I told the guys I was playing with at the time we needed to buy a Panda costume with the money from our next gig they thought I was crazy, but everyone loves to grind on our panda at the shows, and it's always interesting to see what kind of trouble he will get into. He has been our mascot for ten years now.

Snowcone is also counting on your vote in the 2020 presidential campaign…seriously, I'm currently in the process of designing campaign signs!

Jeremy Neese in the studio. Photo by Blackbird Academy.

I know you've spent time as a solo artist (Jeremy Goodmusic) and you were involved in a blues band (Blind Cadillac). How did your journey as an artist first begin to where you are now?

Jeremy: I started playing drums at an early age. My father is a very talented musician, and he would take me to his gigs, normally smokey pool rooms, and would let me sit-in on a song or two each night. Around that time I was in a band with some of my middle-school friends. Our singer ended up moving, so I went from drums to vocals. Shortly after they kicked me out of the band because I wasn’t very good at the time.

My family and friends told me singing wasn't for me and that I should stick to drums, but I knew I was supposed to be a talented writer and singer. Insert a lot of hard work and fast-forward 20 years later, I have received several awards and publications on my vocal ability and performance, and I am currently finishing my greatest piece of work, Thomas' Garden with the help of some extremely talented musicians.

How do you go about writing your music?

Jeremy: It always starts with a good vocal melody. I bring it to the guys and they add their own ideas to it. It's always cool to hear the end result because Evan, Bain and Alden all have awesome ability, and they have a knack for knowing what direction the song needs to go. I'm so pleased to be in a band with these guys.

Alden Harper in studio. Photo by Blackbird Academy.

What do you hope is the message of your music? What do you hope people take away from your songs?

Jeremy: Most of our songs are written about overcoming drug/alcohol abuse and mental-health issues. We hope to raise awareness to the internal conflict that everyone deals with.

What has been your most memorable musical moment so far?

Jeremy: I'm very much a pessimist so there is one terrible show that sticks out the most. I remember one time we were hired to play a festival in Tallahassee. There was a severe tornado warning in the midst as we were driving to the show. At the time the band was a two-piece consisting of myself and my brother, Josh. We had to stop driving several times because the weather was so severe, but the event coordinator kept saying the show was on because of how much time and money was invested.

When we arrived there were maybe 20 people attending, the engineer was bitten by a dog, most of the equipment was ruined, we got stiffed the money we were promised, and I was stung in the neck by a bee during my big vocal finale. All of the bad shows considered, we have had so many amazing blow-out shows and have many more to come.

Snowcone the Bad Panda artwork by Skinwerks Tattoo and Design.

I understand the new album will be released soon. Can you tell us about the recording process?

Jeremy: We were given an awesome opportunity to record our album at world famous Blackbird Studios via the Blackbird Academy. It was such an amazing environment to record in and we have very high expectations with the release.

We went to another well-known studio in the Nashville area in January to do the mixing and mastering. We will be releasing singles off of the album so please follow us on Instagram for funny behind the scenes content and updates on the release @Snowcone_for_president

What is your favorite song off the new album?

Jeremy: My personal favorite is "My Love is a Garden" which expresses the similarities of emotional love and tending a garden. "My love is a garden, gardens need time, sometimes there's next year, sometimes loves die, my love is a garden, till it with care, protect it from wither when winter is near, my love is a garden."

Your first single, “I Need It” releases May 8th. Can you tell us more?

Jeremy: It’s the heaviest song on our upcoming album. It was written about the internal conflict people have within themselves, as well as dealing with addiction. Be sure to follow this LINK to pre-save the single when it comes out on the 8th.

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