This was a great request sent to me by one of my subscribers and i want to thank them for
sending this idea in. For their whole career the band Snot was labelled as a nu-metal act,
but they were so much more than that combining elements of funk, punk and metal. They would only
release one proper album during their short lived career and had almost recorded a full
second album when tragedy struck the group. Today we’re going to take a look at the history of Snot.
Snot frontman Lynn Strait was a complicated person. At the age of 27 he had suffered through
addiction and already racked up a pretty big rap sheet including multiple arrests for burglary ,
assaulting a police officer, and drug posession. At the same time his bandmates remembered him as
a loyal and charismatic friend. Snot guitarist Sonny Mayo would recall to Loudersound
On one level, he was a criminal, On the other level, he’d love you more
passionately than you’d ever been loved. He was somewhere in the middle of those extremes.
In just three short years Snot would go from formation to signing a record
deal to putting out their first album and would see their career come crashing down.
Formed in 1994 in Santa Barbara, Snot would be founded by guitarist Mikey Doling. At the time
he had no other musicians to play with so he made a demo called Eat Snot. It was in 1994 Doling went
to a pizza shop that also served as a music venue that he saw a punk band on stage with a
young charismatic singer who was stage diving into the audience and landing back first at a family’s
table at the restaurant. That singer would be Lynn Strait. Mesmerized by the performance, Doling knew
he had to have him as the singer of his band, but he still needed other players. Doling happened
to be friends with Ugly Kid Joe drummer Shannon Larkin who gave Dolin a cassette tape that showed
three musicians including guitarist Sonny Mayo, bassist John Fahnestock and drummer Jamie Miller.
By 1996 the band finally had their lineup. Just like the band’s musical style, all different
types of people were showing up to their gigs including punk rockers, surfers and metalheads.
Soon enough Snot was playing sold out shows on LA’s sunset strip alongside other up and coming
bands including System of a Down and Incubus in 1996. It was these gigs that caught the attention
of major label Geffen Records who signed the band. The label put out the band’s first and only record
titled Get Some featuring Lynn Strait’s boxer dog named Dobbs on the front cover. According
to guitarist Sonny Mayo the boxer had a litter of puppies the same day as the album cover was shot.
The album didn’t make a huge mark on the billboard charts and reviews were less than steller, but the
band got a high profile gig playing at Ozzfest in 1998 that ended in the arrest of the Lynn Strait.
According to Snot's publicist who talked ot MTV following the arrest,,
Strait emerged completely naked from Limp Bizkit's 13-foot prop toilet,
which sat on stage. After he simulated a lewd
act with an on-stage dancer, Strait was chased off stage by police before being apprehended.
Apparently the whole incident happened on a dare from Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. Strait
was only charged with a misdemeanor but it was eventually raised to a felony according to MTV.
Strait seemed to have a sense of humor about the whole incident as Metal Edge Editor Gerri Miller,
claimed the singer listed his band's name as "Megadeth" on the police report.
That fall following the appearance at Ozzfest, the band headed back into the studio to give
their debut album a much needed publicity boost. They teamed up with Producer Ross Robinson to
re-record the track The Box so it would sound more radio friendly.. It was during this final
recording session they wrote and recorded a new song called Absent, which would be the final
song they wrote as the original band ever recorded together. On December 11, 1998 the band came to an
abrupt and tragic end. According to MTV Strait was en route from his home in Santa Barbara to
Los Angeles during an early friday afternoon. While traveling on coastal highway 101 with his
dog Dobbs in the backseat, Lynn was t-boned by a driver as he tried to turn left across
the southbound lane to get on a freeway ramp. Both Lynn and his dog would die instantaneously.
Following his death the band would announce their dissolution with Doling revealing "We
can't go on without Lynn," it's just bullshit when bands do that" he'd say.
In a statement released by Snot, the band spoke about the unique
chemistry Lynn brought to the band saying "Lynn just seemed to have this special energy,
that no matter who was in the room, all these legends that we were touring with,
they came second to Lynn's vibration. We wish more of the world could have experienced
him. We cannot seem to explain that quality that he had in words. All the memories that we had
with Lynn we will cherish in our hearts forever." That stretch of highway 101 where the collision
happened had been the site of many fatal accidents and injuries over the years and residents in the
area had long complained about safety concerns prior to Lynn's accident. It’s a pretty horrific
statistic. According to the LA Times from 1994 to 1998 more than 120 people have been injured
and four people killed on just 3 miles of the highway. According to the Times For years prior
to Strait’s death residents wrote letters to the state of California and made dozens of phone calls
to transportation officials, only to be told there was no money for safety improvements.
Following Lynn's death the safety improvements would happen at the location of the
accident, but it would be too late for Snot. Despite the fact that the band broke up
following Lynn’s death, many in the metal community wanted to pay their respects.
Prior to Strait's death the band had written ten songs that had no vocals. It was decided by the
surviving memers of Snot that the tracks would be finished up and released as a tribute album.
Snot wanted their label Geffen Records to release the album but they had no interest in doing so
and released the band from their contract. Other labels told the band to come back once the project
was further underway since it seemed impossible to get all of the most popular singers in metal
at the time to contribute to the record given their busy schedule. The surviving members of
Snot would take an unorthodox approach to getting Lynn’s friends to agree to do the tribute album.
Rather than talking to managers and record label people, they approached lynn’s friends
in person to assist with the album and it worked out well as the labels seemed cool with the idea.
Immortal Entertainment President and Founder Happy Walters who advised the
surviving members would tell Billboard magazine "I’m not condoning the way it was done, but it
was the only way to get it done.” Titled Strait Up the album featured vocals from Max Cavalera,
Korn’s Jonathan Davis, Corey Taylor, Fred Durst, and many others in the metal community.
One of the few tracks that appeared on the record that was not written by Snot, was written by three
fourths of Sevendust an acoustic number called “Angel’s Son,”. The track would prove to be the
album’s standout track and a heartfelt tribute to Strait. . Sevendust would release a full band
version of the song the following year. Proceeds from the record would go to Strait’s widow and son
as well as the remaining band members of the band. To help get the word out about the album
a tribune to Lynn was shown on stage prior to Pantera’s set at Ozzfest in 2000. The album
would peak at number 56 on the billboard charts. A couple years later in 2002 Snot would release
a live album titled Alive which was taken from a May 1998 show at the Palace in Los Angeles.
Despite fans thinking that the band would never reunite and members saying the same thing,
the band would play their first performance since Lynn’s death in 2007 with vocalist Jeff Weber.
The following year former bad wolves singer tommy vext joined the group on vocals, but he would
leave the groupin 2014 and he would be replaced by Carl Bensley. The band’s last scheduled tour dates
appeared to be in 2017. You're maybe wondering why would Snot reunite after Mickey doling
ruled out the idea? Well in 2008 when the reunion happened he was interviewed by Blabbermouth
and they brought out that quote he made about never continuing on with the band without Lynn
and here's what he had to say "i've had 10 years to grow up. I've gotten older and I've learned to
live with Lynn being gone. It still hurts just like the day it happened, but now this pain has
subsided just a hair enough to where we can play again. So that does it for today's video
guys. Thanks for watching. Be sure to hit the like button and subscribe and if you guys have
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