Golden Years — Red Snapper Keeps On Swinging

Three decades on, Red Snapper remain one of the UK's most persistently unclassifiable acts. Born from the experimental ferment of 1990s London, the trio of Rich Thair (drums), Ali Friend (double bass), and David Ayers (guitar) carved out their own sonic quarry by refusing the easy comfort of genre conventions. Where other acts of their era settled into the confines of acid jazz or trip-hop, Red Snapper continued to push outward, weaving together dub, breakbeat, surf guitar, and Afro-jazz into something timeless yet utterly contemporary. Their early albums on Warp Records—Prince Blimey, Making Bones, Our Aim Is to Satisfy—established them as pioneers willing to follow their musical instincts wherever they led, supporting everyone from Massive Attack to Björk along the way.

The band's recent return with Barb and Feather signals a celebration of their storied past and a bold statement about their creative present. Released on Lo Recordings, the album combines two recent EPs in a conscious nod to their 1995 debut compilation Reeled and Skinned, which first gathered their early Flaw Recordings releases under one roof thirty years ago. But where that collection announced a band finding its voice, Barb and Feather reveals artists who have learned to trust their instincts completely. The album splits cleanly between two distinct sonic worlds: the dub-drenched modular collaborations with David Harrow on one side, and the blazing live band recordings featuring new guitarist Tara Cunningham and longtime saxophonist Tom Challenger on the other.

This duality reflects Red Snapper's enduring refusal to be pinned down by expectation or precedent. The Harrow collaborations, conducted between London and Los Angeles, showcase the band's continued fascination with studio experimentation and electronic texture. Meanwhile, tracks like their commanding cover of David Bowie's "Sound and Vision" demonstrate the raw power that has made their live performances legendary among those who know. The album pulses with what the band describes as a "burning presence"—whether channeling the frozen terrain of modular synthesizers or the blazing heat of North African-influenced horns.

In our conversation, Ali Friend reflects on the unexpected freedom that came from working with Harrow, the persistent challenge of genre classification in 2025, and the physical joy of live performance after thirty years of making music. He discusses the band's relationship with their own legacy, their admiration for David Bowie's restless creativity, and why Red Snapper's greatest strength may be their refusal to repeat themselves.

Michael Donaldson: Barb and Feather serves as both a 30-year celebration and a new chapter. Is there a particular tension or harmony between honoring your past and pushing forward?

Ali Friend: When we decided to start writing with David Harrow, we weren't thinking about our 30th anniversary; instead, it was born from the ‘significant’ birthday for David, who wanted to celebrate the year by releasing a track every month. So we suggested a collaboration. At that point, it was about Snapper trying something new again, and we had no idea where that would take us creatively. The collaboration seemed to untangle us from some of our past music—we freed ourselves from our own and perhaps others' musical expectations.

The harmony between past and present was evident with the idea of this time releasing separate EPs and then putting them together to make an album, mirroring the process of Reeled and Skinned 30 years previously. But, I think we are aware of the tensions between holding onto the past and pushing forward, because it’s always tempting to imitate previous successes, although you know they will never be the same or as good as the previous tracks. We have to keep making forward leaps of faith.

Michael: I enjoy how the album is split between live band tracks and experimental modular dub collaborations with David Harrow. It creates an interesting duality. Was this division intentional from the beginning, or did it emerge organically during creation?

Ali: This emerged as we wrote and produced with David. Rich and I wanted to be able to respond freely to what David was sending us, and we were equally excited about how he would be inspired by the ideas and beats we sent him.

Gav and Jon from our label, Lo Recordings, had been super impressed and inspired by our live shows, particularly with the bedding in of new guitarist Tara Cunningham. So, we all felt that we needed to write an EP centered around the live setup, drawing on musical input and creativity from Tom and Tara, alongside Rich and me. Thus, a lovely duality between the two EPs was forged. I wondered whether putting them next to each other on an album might be confusing for people, but the reaction has been amazing; there seems to be a recognized freshness about that juxtaposition.

Working with David, sending ideas back and forth between here and LA, meant the tracks were very production-oriented and studio-focused, which allowed us to play with studio ideas more. The tracks with Tara and Tom came from live playing and were intentionally more about us as a performing band.

Michael: You've described the album as having a "burning presence"—some tracks with "blazing heat" and others with "frozen terrain." How do you translate temperature and texture into musical sound? Are these sensory qualities you discuss explicitly during creation?

Ali: I think music has a temperature and very often a color. It's normally after the very first ideas are put together in a track that you can get a sense of its temperature (which might also be associated with a particular place). We often then follow that tone. Rich and I have been lucky enough to travel a fair amount, both with the band and personally—I think it's really important to both of us to witness new people and places—and I think this informs some of the music we create. Music can convey sensory qualities, but for us, the details are not necessarily something we identify until the creative process is well under way; following a color or tone can be a fruitful process for us.

Michael: Your cover of David Bowie's "Sound and Vision" is definitely a fan favorite. What drew you to this particular song? Do you see parallels between Bowie's artistic restlessness and your own?

Ali: We had talked about doing a cover for over 30 years—the right song was never universally loved by the whole band, so it was difficult to decide on one, or it lost its luster the more we spoke about it.

Bowie, of course, is a massive inspiration to musicians, whether they particularly like his music or not. We love what he has given the world, and "Sound and Vision" is especially loved by Rich and me. From a beautiful and very honest album, Low, it chimes with us—and people we know—who are getting through dependency and mental difficulties. On top of that, the instrumentation and even the playing styles sit so well with Snapper—the sort of beat Rich would play, the kind of bass line I would play, etc. It felt quite natural to us, and then we made it our own by allowing the Snapper sound to shine through. The Moog sequences we have been using for the last few years seemed to seal it. By chance, mine and Tara's voices also sit well together and seem to enhance each other and the song.

As far as parallels between him and Snapper go, without wanting to compare us too much—Bowie's artistic restlessness was quite exquisite—but I guess we have always strived to reinvent our musical direction. It's uncomfortable sitting on the same step for too long.

Michael: As a band dedicated to "casting convention aside," what conventions in today's music landscape do you find most stifling? Are there any you've embraced rather than rejected?

Ali: I'd say that we are conventional only in that we try to release material and play live shows. Musically, we are a bit of an oddball—even when there seems to be a recognizable musical line, we try to subvert it.

The other convention I guess we are forced to abide by as musicians is that we are constantly a bit broke and fucked over by streaming platforms and major labels.

Michael: I’ve only heard raves about the recent Red Snapper live shows and hope to witness one someday. Thirty years later, how has your relationship with live performance changed in contrast to the studio recordings?

Ali: I think if anything, we love the live playing more now than ever. It's to be cherished and remembered. There was a time when the purpose of live shows seemed to be about pointing an audience to recorded material, as a promotional tool. In my mind, it is very much its own thing now. We still recognize that our live gigging output is quite different from our releases, and that will continue. It's a great thing to have both sides of our musical creativity, and they are not mutually exclusive in terms of appreciation; our fans love both sides.

Personally, the physicality of playing is very important to me—it allows me to get taken by the moment and be thrown into that swirling, chaotic world of improvisation and heightened emotion. At those points, I allow myself to care less about what I am playing and more about how and why. I'd like to think Rich is similar. At that point, a different instinct takes over from the musical one.

Michael: After working with various labels throughout your career—from Warp to Lo Recordings—do you find the current independent music ecosystem offers freedoms that weren't available during your early years?

Ali: We were—still are—proud to have been associated with Warp and the great people who work there, some of whom are still good friends. A pioneering group of people. Now Lo is equally supportive and believes in what we do—again, it's all about the people there: Gav, Jon, Al. As long as there is belief in it, we are very happy to release music. Clearly, independent labels can be limited by finances, but they offer support that allows us to maintain our musical freedom. We expect reduced financial returns from releases, but with Lo, we know that there is a huge love for what we do, and their insistence on the best possible product, with amazing artwork, immaculate mastering, and persistent PR, among other things, is paramount. We ask for a run of vinyl, for example, and they oblige!

Michael: Red Snapper’s collaborated with filmmakers like Martin Scorsese on the Touki Bouki restoration, and your music has appeared in El Camino. Has cinema influenced your sound architecture beyond specific soundtrack work?

Ali: Rich and I (and David Ayers before) share a love of film and cinema, and our music has often been described as cinematic, perhaps in part because it is mostly instrumental. We were chuffed to have a track on El Camino—it worked so well—and the Touki Bouki experience, which spawned our album Hyena, was a highlight of our time. We have all individually composed to image as well. I think we understand how that can work. But I'd say that cinema soundtracks have informed us of the need for space and simplicity in music. An image needs space around it, which music wouldn't normally fill. However, even without the image, it's important for us as Snapper to allow the listener space to make their own pictures around our soundtrack. It is something I love to watch during our live shows when the audience closes their eyes at moments and sway, smiling.

Red Snapper Live - Ali Friend and Rich Thair

Michael: Terms like ‘acid jazz’ and ‘trip-hop’ were used to describe your earlier work—terms that feel almost historical now. How do you look back on those categorizations, and what’s your relationship to the concept of genre?

Ali: It's quite strange to hear both trip-hop and acid-jazz talked about again in musical parlance. There's a new generation of fans for both, I'd say. We have always struggled with the idea of being placed in a genre bracket because our music varies so significantly from track to track. I think this has helped our longevity because, as musical scenes come and then go, we perhaps do our own thing.

Perhaps the classification or characteristic that has persisted is the jazz in our music. I quite like how we are described as being part of the jazz/electronic scene and how we have inspired many other acts and musicians, but of course, ultimately, we continue to make our own slightly odd amalgam of sounds and emotions regardless of classification.

Michael: When you encounter newer artists working in similar jazz-electronic fusions, do you hear your influence?

Ali: It's a source of pride and frustration when I hear bands who have been influenced by us, sometimes to the point where they seem almost indistinguishable from us. But we didn't invent jazz/electronic music, we didn't invent the double bass and the drum kit—they can sound universal! I think I would just like to be acknowledged and appreciated for being a point of inspiration to other players and bands.

Michael: What current music excites you precisely because it's nothing like what you do?

Ali: I love coming across new music that's nothing like us; it's the most inspiring thing. I'm still drawn to African and world music influences, such as Tarta Relena, Ëda DIaz, and The Zawose Queens, as well as the dancehall-infused, poppy style of Nadia Rose, among others. Also producing an album by a punk outfit called King of the Sand.

Visit Red Snapper at redsnapperofficial.com and follow the band on Instagram and Facebook. You can purchase Barb and Feather from Bandcamp or Qobuz and listen on your streaming platform of choice.