Interview: Five Minutes with Little Snake
Little Snake (real name Gino Serpentini) resides in Calgary, Alberta. His music deconstructs dancefloor norms and subverts traditional structures, balancing intricacy with explosive bass weight. His tracks have become a staple in Flying Lotus’s DJ sets who signed him to his label Brainfeeder in 2018, describing his productions as “fkn insane”.
This kind of praise and recognition is undoubtedly hard to ignore, however, the young artist is mostly unconcerned with how his music is received:
“There is something I am trying to get across now that may only be picked up by a few certain people. It might only be one person. And while that can bring sorrow, it is the most fulfilling way I could approach this passion..”
Little Snake’s latest EP “YATDC”, released on the 7th of February via Brainfeeder, comprises of four new productions that juxtapose space, texture, melody, tempo and rhythm in his utterly inimitable style:
“ “YATDC” does not fit into the category of an EP, an LP, or anything in between. “YATDC” is a message, delivered to you by omnipresent entities that have appeared in your skies for some time, via Little Snake as a vessel. It is something you have known for a long time, and you will soon return to it. Although you could not be told this directly, and even when you have deciphered it in full, words cannot fathom it. Through the centre point of every force and motion within this message, you will find the truth…”
With “YATDC”, there was a generous amount of conceptual fuel behind the writing process, utilizing the space and time of the long-form experimental tracks to get across exactly what he intended to communicate. Serpentini is, however, in no rush to spell it out for his us:
“I left this one pretty cryptic on my socials for a good reason. Try and crack it.”
“YATDC” follows Little Snake’s “ENTER” EP, inspired by the Gaspar Noé film “Enter The Void”, and 2019’s “LOST IN SPIRALS” EP informed by math rock, textural noise, acid techno and jungle.
While his last EP does not directly correlate with this new one, it still has a subconscious cohesiveness to it. The ambient bits in the last track of “Lost in Spirals” were carried on into the new record.
“When I started planning “YATDC”, I knew I was going to be making a series of records. So all in all, the really conceptual stuff is all tightly interwoven with each other intentionally, while the other projects are as well, they are more just in the same nebula of thought.”
Currently on a break from touring, Little Snake is eager to use this time to develop his skillset and grow as a producer before he gets back on the road.
“Right now I’m taking a crack at learning Max for Live… I’ve made more music in the last 6 month than I have in my life which feels great. I can’t share too much about releases or tour dates but we have lots coming. Maybe another sample pack :)”
The burgeoning creative is steadily carving out an idiosyncratic groove with his creative approach and output. He encourages any fellow aspiring artists and creatives to “find the fourth wall and break it.”:
“Even if you’re not writing experimental music, pushing to find something as original as you possibly can in a world where you can’t possibly think of anything truly original helps the creative process.”
“YATDC” is out now:
https://littlesnake.lnk.to/YATDCLT
Follow Little Snake:
Facebook – SoundCloud – Bandcamp – Spotify – Twitter
By Alaric Hobbs
