Priority Access: Snarky Puppy

Vic Firth takes you onstage and behind the scenes with Robert 'Sput' Searight and Nate Werth of Snarky Puppy!
ABOUT SNARKY PUPPY:
The once Texan, now New York-based quasi-collective has gone from the best-kept secret to one of the most respected names in instrumental music. Although still "underground" in many respects, the band has earned high praise from critical stalwarts like the BBC, Village Voice, Guardian, and Boston Herald, and has performed at some of the best venues and festivals in Asia, Europe, Australia, and North America.
The band has always used live performance as its chief form of evangelism, and maintains a more intense tour schedule than almost any band in the idiom. Over the course of 2013, Snarky Puppy will give almost 200 performances and workshops on four continents, including North Sea Jazz, Monterey Jazz Festival, Jazz á Vienne, Blue Note Tokyo, and the Melbourne International Jazz Festival. Their last album, the live DVD/CD "GroundUP," reached #14 on the Billboard Jazz Charts and #3 on the ITunes Jazz Charts in 2012, topped only by Grammy winners Robert Glasper and Esperanza Spalding.
Snarky Puppy seamlessly fuses a deep knowledge and respect for musical tradition with sonic and conceptual innovation in a way that is able to reach the most critical- or most carefree- audience. The convergence of musicians from white and black America (who also perform regularly with artists like Erykah Badu, Snoop Dogg, Kirk Franklin, Justin Timberlake, Roy Hargrove, and Marcus Miller among others), which occurred while the band was in its adolescence at the University of North Texas, has naturally established a system of balance that instantly draws listeners to the music- raw funk and sensitive dynamics, relentless pocket and lyrical melodicism, lush harmony and soulful simplicity, and most importantly, a delicate mixture of composition and improvisation.
The group is led by award-winning bassist/guitarist/composer/arranger Michael League, whose creative grass-roots approach to a tougher-than-ever industry has created a new model for independent artists. Snarky Puppy is a three-headed creature: first, and most obviously- an original music ensemble. Second- a production team and session band for individual artists. Third, and probably most importantly- Snarky Puppy is a group of musicians enthusiastically committed to music education and community outreach. Working with groups like ROAM (Roots Of American Music) in inner city Cleveland and the Music Lab at Jefferson Center in Roanoke, as well as giving clinics at hundreds of colleges, high schools, and middle schools worldwide, the band has made a strong commitment to spreading their love of music and general positivity to a young generation looking for something real to be inspired by.

[@jabronasaurus]

Nate Werth doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves! Amazing Musician. We already know Sput is Killin'!

[@samcooke343]

Jabrond Gamble Definitely. Loads of the stuff you assume is Sput is actually Nate.

[@drumtravelfun]

+Jabrond Gamble Agree!

[@keeganhammond1545]

sam 방탄 so very true

[@SylarTheBest]

Damn, this is why I like Vic Firth, they put all this effort in making these interviews, giving us these videos etc. They don't just make sticks, they include us in the process. On another note, the band leader reminds me of Jojo Mayer

[@CraigThePoet]

these two are really the life of the band, love to hear them play

[@MoVed33]

Luuuv these Puppies! From the 1st moment I heard them, can't get less excited&enthusiastic about them!

[@pattyluss]

My God, I love this band!

[@udomatthiasdrums5322]

still love it!!

[@eternallyminded7]

they wrote "spud" haha!

[@drewb5775]

the cringe

[@Titus4Jesus]

Thanks for this, I really enjoyed it.

[@JonEastling23]

Always enjoy Snarky Puppy!

[@KGBDrums]

Please look them up!! They are amazing...

[@ikarooz]

I hadn't heard of this great band until their recent Grammy win. Oh yeah, excellent sticks, too. ROCK ON

[@strantheman]

Never heard of them before. Diggin' it

[@MOsullyvan]

these two cannot disappoint

[@drewper73]

Holy cow! Be ready for the drum fill at 5:40! He plays that killer fill and hits that super-offbeat accent right at the end of the fill like it's nothing. I've never seen a drummer place his or her 2nd snare where the floor tom normally goes. Sput has a 2nd snare that's lower pitched with more snare action and it's where most drummers have their floor tom. But on the badass fill at 5:40 I couldn't hear a snare. I guess he turns the snares on and off depending on the song. Then again, just b/c I didn't hear any snare during that fill doesn't mean they're not on.

[@PenguinMcDuck]

+drewper73 Probably a floor tom with a snare wire underneath it. :P I have long pondered whether that is the case. It does sound like a floor tom just before 5:55. Guessing it to be a 14" floor tom.

[@drewper73]

PenguinMcDuck You gotta love these creative, inventive, no rules havin, killer chops havin' cats who call themselves puppies. haha! I love the cd/dvd they released last year, Sylva. Now they have a new one coming out on Feb. 12th. Family Dinner Volume Two. I've watched the only two videos from that dvd that have made it to youtube and it's a whole other level. They're coming to Nashville which is about an hour away from me, and you can bet I'll be there.

[@PenguinMcDuck]

drewper73 Lucky you, I'm one Pacific Ocean away at the closest distance so fat chances for me. :( I can only dream, or fly to the States just for a gig.

[@drewper73]

PenguinMcDuck Aw man. So where are you exactly? Eastern Asia somewhere? You never know where Snarky Puppy might play. In the time since my comment about them coming to Nashville, I bought my ticket. Damn good seats for a good price. And it comes with dinner too! The venue is called City Winery. There's one in NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, and Nashville. Sounds swanky.

[@PenguinMcDuck]

drewper73 New Zealand. Next to Australia, but significantly less um, land mass and population. Pretty much the last place you'd go for a gig or something, unless you're a rich pop star or something. :) Anyway, I hope that dinner you had at City Winery came before the music. I'd probably have left my food untouched on the table just gawking at the band if they played while I was eating. Hahaha.

[@watergraffiti]

All band leaders in their own right, able to create the ultimate collective.

[@mhcdrum]

That was great

[@lpstklvr1]

WOW!

[@PenguinMcDuck]

6:47 - 6:55 I totally agree. Vic Firth sticks have way awesome grip feel. And I'm not a heavy player myself. But unfortunately, if I'm practising several hours a day I do find myself running through a pair within 3-4 weeks. Either the tip starts chipping on the snare drum or ride, or the shoulder has lost much weight from being chipped off on the hats. (I use the standard 5A.) I tried using Vater to remedy my money problem for a while, at the sad expense of the feel. Hands would get numb after 2 hours. A few months of that and I had enough, switched back to Vic Firth, never looked back. :)

[@BraydenRoqs]

+PenguinMcDuck Try Promark.

[@Macpee18]

+Brayden Roque but in the end, its all personal.. ( most of the aspects)

[@AndresCastellanos]

snarky so good.

[@israelsantos4628]

sound of music!!! news sound!!!

[@terrymiller111]

Nate Werth = Chandler from "Friends" is a percussion virtuoso "I'm in the room!"

[@MrPistons4life]

Nate is the truth

[@seanmehaffy849]

What that song at the beginning? 0:01

[@terrymiller111]

3:39-4:03 "Africa"

[@prostheticsouls]

wow what are those highhats

[@Darbohne]

I guess, that the top cymbal is a meinl soundcaster fusion trash crash in 16"

[@tdrum21]

what kind of hats are those?

[@MBblink182]

What is the first song called??

[@MBblink182]

oh its strawman

[@ekowchancellor8653]

What song is it at 3:44?

[@afrothunder98]

Someone please tell me what the song is called at 5:25 ?

[@flashythingme]

It's called "What About Me."

[@awkward007]

what song is at 4:50? want to dig into it more. Thx

[@js2240]

I'm pretty sure its called "celebrity". should be a live version youtube somewhere bruh

[@freddiegarner4945]

it's called 'what about me?'

[@martinkent_]

“robert ‘SBUD’ searight” oh for the love of god

[@dr.afulayahmedbouzid2628]

Anyone know the song from 0:00 to 0:02 ?

[@Macpee18]

+Ahmed BOUZID get out. x'D

[@charidhananjay]

amour tes la

[@keithlambson]

What stick is Sput using at like 7:00?

[@AquaAnim]

Keith Carlock signature stick

[@keithlambson]

Thanks!

[@AquaAnim]

Keith Lambson no problem bud!

[@hermanmelville3871]

Anybody know the song at 7:00?

[@roarsack503]

+Herman Melville It's called Thing Of Gold

[@hermanmelville3871]

+Roar Sack Gracias.

[@richardsiima3004]

JESUS CHRIST loves y'all

[@TrickysBen]

what the heck kind of hi-hat is that?

[@hhamudi]

he usually uses a couple of crashes

[@lucasdasilva5631]

this bass player kinda talks like jojo mayer..

[@Jordarr8994]

Lucas DaSilva Jojo has that thick German accent