Reiper - How long have you guys been together as a band, and how did you end up forming?
Nasty - The Unit as a whole has been together since 2005. We went under the name Dangerous Doll for a few years with a
different lead singer, when that vision ran its course we decided to change the name and change directions with our new
singer Stephanie. This is just a new chapter in a musical journey for us. As far as the formation me and the drummer did
some recording, he brought in the bass player then I grab a old friend for guitar. Then in early 2008 when we parted ways
with our former singer we brought in Stephanie who we had known for a few years. That how all that went down. It has been a
smooth transition.
Reiper - How many CD's have you guys put out and do you have any new ones in the works?
Nasty - We did two Demo's has Dangerous Doll, We have a five song Demo now as Snow Black Sunday, It will be available at some
shows and on pretty much all Digital Distribution channels. We plan on releasing another demo this year so we are working
on material as we speak.
Reiper - How did you guys choose the name Snow Black Sunday as the band name?
Nasty - It came about as a joke at first kind of a play on snow white but Stephanie said snow black..which i said was a cool
name however the is a band called snow black so one day i was thinking and i said Snow Black Sunday and it just fit well
and sounded kind of cool and had a marketable appeal and still left the consumer kind of guessing what the product could
sound like leaving the actual creative process pretty wide open for us. It was important that the new name not land us or
label us in one particular musical category thus leaving us open to explore.
Reiper - Have any of you been in any other bands other than Snow Black Sunday?
Nasty - Myself and Marty have been in many bands. Marty in a few local acts and plays in a few regional cover bands, myself i
played in a original band in California for about ten years. Raymond and Bill have played in many local acts ranging from
country to Jazz.
Reiper - Who would you say your main target audience is?
Nasty - Anyone willing to listen . I am always amazed and feel blessed if someone likes a song I have written or as a unit we
have crafted to me that is the pay off having a song someone finds some inspiration or pleasure in listening too and wanting
to own.
Reiper - What can people expect when they see you guys play at a show?
Nasty - A solid performance, Songs that rock, a high level of energy mixed with some humor and having fun. We like to have fun and
see people smile we don't take ourselves to seriously, If people are paying to get into a club, buy drinks and use gas
getting there they need to be entertained.
Reiper - I'm assuming Nasty is just a nickname, how did you end up with it?
Nasty - The full name is Nasty Unicorn, It started as a joke we all had weird animal names somehow mine stuck, I have started a
small business with my wife under that name and own the copyright to it. I am a small Gene Simmons. I guess my humor tends
to go to the disturbing so it kind of fits.
Reiper - What is it like being a rock band in a city like Nashville that has a strong history of being a country music city?
Nasty - It is not really a great town to do original music and it has nothing to do with the country market it has to do with
almost everyone in town being a musician of some sort and just being jaded and self absorb. In California it was little
scenes of bands that wrote originals and came together to form shows. There were no clubs that did writer nights because
the band was the writer you didn't have a market for some dude to write songs for people. Also clubs here are so stuck on
their legacy that the club almost overshadows the performer. You also run into dinosaur bands who have been in the scene
forever and help no new bands and play with the same bands from 2001 it is like a self inflicted wound to a already
struggling scene. It is my take that if you are a washed up musician you somehow come to Nashville to die slowly. If you
look around half the old hair metal bands live here so what does that tell you. Also If you play past midnight the bar
clears out it is like a Nashville curse.
Reiper - What is it like having a female singer in a genre of music that has always been dominated by all male bands?
Nasty - You run into the typical guys hitting on her and sometimes making rude comments but I think having a female perspective
added to four male perspectives helps make a more lethal cocktail song writing wise. Coming from the old standard formula
of a male singer it has been sometimes refreshing not having to deal with the male singer ego issue. There was a time when
you lost some street cred with the boys in the scene with a female singer it was viewed as a gimmick but now with more
females emerging kicking ass I think it more and more becoming the norm then the oddity. I think if done properly it adds an
awesome dynamic.
Reiper - What do you guys do when you're not recording, and playing music?
Nasty - Well not to pull the curtain open and reveal the ugly truth but most of us have real jobs that pay well so we work a lot.
I wish I could say I sat at home and wrote all day and and did glamorous things but I don't. We all have families and such
so we got to balance music with work and family. I spend a lot of time booking and arranging for the band we all have
different little jobs that help fuel the monster. Plus the older I get the more sleep I guess I need, my days of sleeping
in a van in a Wal-Mart parking lot eating crackers and crumbs are over. That's fun when you are in your twenties but nor so
cool in you late thirties. Plus I like to shower every day .
Reiper - Do you have any gamers in the band?
Nasty - I do not know to be honest, Marty likes video games I think he has every system. I like Uno back in the late '90s I
went to Singapore as part of the U.S. Uno Championship Team However due to a mean Uno Card cut while shuffling I was
sidelined and had to retire. Also I think Stephanie is into Dungeons and Dragons I think she is a fifth level troll or
something.
Reiper - How much has MySpace helped with getting the band's name out there?
Nasty - MySpace in my humble opinion has helped rewrite the history of the local musician, My life would have been so awesome
back in the day with MySpace. I do about 75% of my booking through MySpace and it has helped almost erased the need for a
press packet. With tools like MySpace and sonic bids and reverb nation it has become easy to get a large amount of people
from all over the world to hear you music and with the likes of Cdbaby and tunecore makes it possible to sell you music
without a distribution deal. I think MySpace helped father all these new formats that help the performer promote himself
instead of relying on a corporate deity. Thanks to bulletins and Widgets and such exposure is easier than ever.
Reiper - What's your view on illegally downloading music?
Nasty - I think back in the day we would trade cassettes with friends that was the caveman way of illegally downloading. I
think it is impossible to stop and I think I would love to have people listen to our music by hook or crook. I like how NIN
has given the fans the opportunity to download a album then the option if they like it to buy it in a store a month or so
later. A true fan will do that just for the bonus material, I think if you are a new band trying to break in to the business
giving your music away for free is a great idea. The record industry is all but dead the day of the record deal is almost
gone. I think bands need to embrace the Digital Era and help user in the dawn of a new day. I think the possibilities are
endless and the opportunity to promote yourself is there for the taking with the right ambition and the right tools we can
all be rock stars and isn't the dream.
