by Sara Busone.
Sarah and Dave Snediker of Elephant Back are some of the hardest-working artists in our local music scene. They recently spoke to Sara Busone about the latest Smaz Fest lineup, the current state of local music, recording, and the strength behind their band name.
RRX: So, the first thing I want to ask you is: how was Smaz Fest?
SS: It was awesome! It was a really fun way to get tons of local musicians together in one place at the same time, and it was the perfect day for it. And we got to listen to a bunch of people that we haven’t actually heard from. So that was cool, and we got to make some friendships.
RRX: How did you get involved with Smaz Fest?
SS: I mean, we started playing out back in 2022, and I had reached out to people in different bands and on social media, just to find people to play with out there. The Hard Luck Souls ended up on one of the bills we played with, and Dave Smaz is just like the nicest guy ever, and we’ve been playing with him ever since. So, at least once or twice a year we book gigs. We got him out here in Syracuse last year, and I’ve booked The Fuze Box a few years back and got him in on that with us and … it’s just a really cool collaboration between different areas; music, musicians and things like that. But it was all through Dave Smaz we made that connection. And so, he reached out to us and was like, “Hey, I do this festival every year. You guys want to come and be involved?” And I was like, “Of course, whatever you got going on.”
RRX: That’s awesome. If you could envision what you would love to be doing a year from now, what would that look like?
SS: I mean … what we’re doing now, just more! We got two albums all written, so we’re going to be recording them soon. So, hopefully releasing some albums.
DS: Yeah, it’s kind of been a can’t-stop-won’t-stop adventure since COVID. We took some time during 2020-2021 to write a bunch of music and get together, and then went with videos, and we have been touring and recording, and we just, we really haven’t stopped. We put out four albums already. And we have one that’s getting close to being finalized that we’re going to hopefully put out here at the end of 2026. Then we have the next one in the can and are starting to record the scratch tracks for all that, too. We love playing out; we love the community, especially in the Albany area. Yeah, just playing music. We just can’t stop ourselves.
RRX: You guys are definitely prolific. I’ve noticed you guys really are a hardworking duo. You guys play out a lot, and of course I met you guys when I was presenting your award at the 2026 Listen Up Awards, which was a really cool, fun way to meet you guys. Tell me a little bit about that, how that felt.
SS: It kind of blew us away, to be honest. We got nominated, and we’re like, “OK, let’s go there and network and meet some people.” And all of a sudden, we’re walking on stage! So, it was pretty cool.
DS: Yeah, it was crazy. I didn’t expect to win anything. We were going there for the fun of it, and because we got nominated, and we’re like, “Oh, you know, it’s a night out for us.” We’re usually working so hard that we don’t go out and get a chance to see live music as much as we’d like to because we’re always working on it. But it was crazy to have the first one come up … and then for the second one to come up again, I was like, “Whoa, OK. That’s funny.”
SS: It did feel like a little like, “Ummm, everybody’s looking at us. Like, who are these people?”
RRX: That’s funny. So, as a working band, I wanted to ask you, what do you guys think about live music in the area right now? I know we’ve lost a couple of venues. What do you see as pros or cons? What would you change?
SS: Well, we like to play, you know? We like to play. There’s a circuit that we have in our head from Rochester to Albany. We like to play wherever we can, and when we go into Albany, there are always good venues. It’s kind of disappointing when the venues don’t make it, and you have to find new venues. I kind of have a feeling of “if we build it, they will come” kind of thing.
DS: It’s been kind of odd to me. Like post-COVID, I figured people would be coming out in droves, you know, to relax, but it seems like people got content with staying home. So, I wish people appreciated what all these hardworking musicians are doing, not to say that they’re not. Smaz Fest was awesome, and there are certain venues in certain places that still get good crowds and get a good community going, but it’s not as many as there used to be. You find yourself saying, “Oh, remember the good old days,” kind of thing. It’s still there, but you’ve got to be positive about everything.
RRX: What do you think about the democratization of art … the way that people are able to sit down and make an album in their home? The way that people have more accessibility to different platforms? What are your perspectives on that?
DS: I think there’s some good and bad. I don’t want to date myself too much, but I can remember being in bands, and all we wanted to do was make a record. And the only way to make a record was in the studio, so you’d work for six months at a job just to get enough money to go into the studio for a day and cut a record. And nowadays it’s so easy to make a record. I actually love it. You do have people that are making records that probably shouldn’t be making records, but the really good stuff floats to the top and is recognized.
SS: I mean, it’s twofold. It’s like COVID allowed us personally to… I took courses online through Berkeley, and I was able to get a Pro Tools certificate. So, I have the ability, and we were able to get equipment that we can record at home, and if that wasn’t available, we wouldn’t have put out the first album. So, our first album was completely done in-house. We recorded it ourselves. We mixed it ourselves, and we had someone master it for us. So that album, that first album that got us out into the universe, wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t have technology available for, like, at-home use. However, on the flip side, on the next two albums we went crazy, and we drove all around the world to record. We recorded at Abbey Road Studios. We recorded at Cyber Sound in Boston. We did a whole bunch of stuff … we recorded in Ithaca, Syracuse, etc. But I think there is value in having the knowledge of what needs to be mixed, where and how and why. So, the availability of Logic and all of these other programs and YouTube videos … you can YouTube anything these days. It kind of floods the market – anybody can do anything. I think, like Dave said, you know, the cream rises to the top at the end of the day. So I think it’s getting more people interested in doing things; I think that’s a positive for sure, and I feel like hopefully the people that are working harder, it’s paying off.
RRX: I feel like you guys are the hardest working band locally. I’ve got to ask this … please tell me about your band name!
SS: That’s a big Dave question.
DS: OK, I’ve had the name in my back pocket for many years, and I always thought of it as like a symbol of strength. People have won wars off the backs of elephants, so it’s like elephant back, you know? With a lightning bolt on back of the elephant, and I just had that image in my mind. I sat there when we were first getting together and playing, and I’m like, “I have this idea for a name and a logo,” and she’s like, “Oh, I can do that.” And then she comes up with the logo.
SS: Yeah, it was pretty fun because when we first started writing music together, I was like, “Well, do you have any ideas?” “I’ve always wanted to name a band Elephant Back.” Yeah, he had this idea for the logo, and I was like, alright. I messed with it, and we came up with it. So, it’s been interesting because I think every time we tell somebody that’s our name, they’re like, “… what???” (laughs)
Be sure to check out Elephant Back October 9th at Artisanal Brew Works in Saratoga Springs. They will be releasing a video for their song, “Soundbite”, very soon.
