Rocket Shop 4/30/2014: SnakeFoot

Words by Valentina Frimi. Photo by Lily Chau.

Ross Travis, otherwise known as SnakeFoot, stopped by Rocket Shop last week. He is a DJ and electronic music producer in the Burlington area, and has recently taken on his biggest show yet, opening for Dan Deacon at Arts Riot. The young and thoughtful UVM alumnus got into producing electronic music along with some of his friends. Prior to becoming a producer, he played drums and was in a band, but found it difficult to coordinate with the other members. By teaching himself how to use Ableton, the professional computer program used by producers across the map. He DJs around the area, notably at the Half Lounge, but when doing it, mostly plays tracks other than his own, and caters to the setting he is in. With influences such as The Gaslamp Killer, Mr. Oizo, and Flying Lotus, He infuses his interest in rhythm and percussion to become the main appeal on his original music, while sampling jazz and new-age. He recently finished a full-length record, ‘SnakeFoot & Friends II,’ that he put on cassette. He says that he was influenced to use cassettes by local tape label, NNA Tapes, and the low manufacturing price (about two dollars per tape) and physical durability is what appealed to him when choosing cassettes to distribute his album. He is already beginning to formulate ideas for a new collection of songs. More information about Snakefoot, including his album, ‘SnakeFoot & Friends II,’ can be found on www.soundcloud.com/snakefoot