Riding upon the wave of success generated by their well-received debut single ‘Everything Is Green’ back in 2000, Sneak immediately hit the road for their first ever major tour supporting the likes of Deadstar and Taxiride. But as fate would have it, their record label at the time Festival Mushroom were going through some major upheavals which saw them end up dropping a quota of artists from their roster, and Sneak unfortunately happened to be one of them. Frustrated yet determined, the band soldiered on with a number of line-up changes along the way. But those dark days turned to light when the band eventually signed to new label Zomba in October, 2001.

Though the band’s background is varied (try: Beaufort, a Victorian town of 1000 people, Brisbane, Gisborne and outer Melbourne), they remain united by a commitment to the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll.

For frontman and vocalist Andy Grant – who bears an uncanny resemblance to the youthful looks of former Free singer Paul Rodgers – his calling to the mic came at the age of eight via the Railway Hotel in downtown Beaufort where Queen’s "Bohemian Rhapsody" was played ad nauseam on the juke box. "It killed me," he recalls. "It was so big and bombastic." Then several years later, he was asked to babysit his art teacher’s whopping-great vinyl collection for six weeks over the school holidays, a gesture which introduced Andy to one very special summer of love and the power of great lyricism.

Andy is first and foremost a singer/songwriter. And Sneak is upfront, no shenanigans about it, a band ruled by superb, unadulterated musicianship. Seasoned musicians now after spending years woodshedding in various cover bands - the rest of the line-up includes Pete Robinson (guitars), Anthony Dawkins (Bass), Ricki Rae (Drums) and John Bara (Keyboards/guitar) - the lads play grown-up rock with adult themes.

A Sneak show is more than just the great melodies and music, it’s an all out assault on your ears; an immense wall of sound. "That wall of sound" explains the lively Grant over a coffee in the intimate surrounds of an inner city café, " is what we’re trying to achieve night after night. The light and shade dynamic is extremely important to us. But at the end of the day, and it’s not at all being egotistical or selfish, but so long as the vocal is in there that’s where the main melodic content is. There’s barely a guitar solo to be found but, there is little overlaying of parts here or there or little things sneaking out without being a solo so to speak. I use a Shure Beta 58 but I’ve toyed around with the Audix, just experimenting for the loudness. But with our band onstage, we found that with Rikki and his Yamaha kit and Brady and his Snare Drum kit, it pretty much sets the volume. The Audix’s are great and cuts out a lot of extraneous noises. The Betas are really live and are beautiful microphones that are really powerful and strong especially for a bigger stage. I love that because the clarity with the Betas are just beautiful".
And what do the other band members use to build this ‘wall of sound’- brick by brick? "Well Pete uses a Maton Mastersound electric guitar" reveals Grant. "A Fender Telecaster Custom 1972 re-issue, a Fender Stratocaster and a Gibson Les Paul. He also uses a Maton CW80 acoustic guitar. All this gets plugged into a Marshall 100watt Super Lead and a 1972 Marshall Quad Box (Vintage 30s) through a Boss GT5. Ricki uses a Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute with a 10 x 7 1/2 Tom, 14 x 12 Tom, 16 x 14 Tom, 22 x 18 Kick and a 13 x 7 Brady Snare. Jon, a Roland Keyboards, an Akai S3000 XL Sampler, a rack mounted Pod Pro and a Maton EM325 acoustic. And finally, Anthony plays a ‘75 Fender P Bass through an Ampeg SVT HLS 4 x 10 and a Gavitron 1200 Watt Amp. He also has an Akai Shred-O-Matic".

At last year’s touring M-One festival, Sneak performed to some of their biggest crowds to date, showcasing the band to a wider audience amidst a higher profile setting. "We did the Midnight Oil support after the M-One shows" begins Grant. " Then later we did some shows with Barnesy which were fun because we got to play a whole set with him, because we were the only other support band. We’ve just finished doing shows with Taxiride and once we get back from our East Timor shows, we’ll be moving into overdrive and will tour the new album".

As is their background, so too are their musical influences varied. "We’re all into that melodic kind of thing" muses Grant, "Though we all come from that, it’s intensely varied. Like Anthony grew up listening to Jazz while John is right into the sounds of bands like Radiohead. Amd with me, I’m more into the classic rock stuff. I love the Zeppelins, the Queens and the Purples". Classic rock sounds indeed.

With the recording sessions for ‘Still Life Moving’ – which saw the band working alongside former Southern Son and now producer Peter ‘Reggie’ Bowman – Sneak decided to take their time in the studio. "We started in mid January 2002" says Grant, "And finished recording round about June or July of the same year. We may have had done it quicker but ’Reggie’ was running another project simultaneously with ours. So there was a couple of weeks where we’d go out of the studio and have a bit of time to listen to it and be objective about everything. ‘Reggie’ did a lot of fantastic arrangements and trimmed a lot of the fat off our stuff. Like he would drop a four bar from a pre-chorus idea that would help tighten up and bring in the chorus a little quicker. In his inimitable way, he took it back to that classic rock sound. We recorded everything onto Pro Tools but in the mixing process, Michael Letho offered to dump it onto analog and then ran it back through it again so there was file upon file in the mixdown".

With ‘Still Life Moving’ out on the streets as you read this, the boys are preparing to hit the road and are looking forward to it all. But apart from the normal craziness associated with a life being on the road, they intend to stay focused and will be utilizing their time with lots of writing. "We are going to constantly keep writing" expresses Grant. "Like at the moment we already have eight new songs". And what does Grant find musically inspiring these days? "I’ve just discovered Nick Drake’s ‘Pink Moon’ album" he says. "He was this beautiful Englishman who unfortunately committed suicide and was quite a lonely individual. But he made some of the most beautiful sublime music I’ve ever heard".

By Joe Matera